Then Shaphan the scribe told [Josiah] the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 2 Chronicles 34:18-19
He tore his clothes. The ancient Israelites would do that to express their raw emotion, whether grief, anger or contrition. It often accompanied repentance. It must have symbolized something like a baring of the chest, an opening of one’s heart for all around to see and understand how deep an emotion was being expressed. Perhaps, too, it symbolized the ripping away of all pretense, all covering-up, all selfish concern with propriety.
This was the king’s reaction to hearing the word of the Lord through the words of the Law. We ought to have a similar reaction when we come before the Lord to read the Scriptures or to pray, not that we would tear our clothes off, but that we would humbly acknowledge our spiritual nakedness before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
