“Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”                                    -2 Chronicles 14:11

Last month, we saw how Rehoboam did not follow the Lord and expanded the idol worship that began under his father, Solomon. 2 Chronicles 13-16 and 1 Kings 15:1-24 detail the reigns of Rehoboam’s son, Abijah, and his grandson, Asa. Both of these kings of Judah had moments of trusting the Lord and faltering in that trust.

If we only read of Abijah’s reign from 2 Chronicles 13, he would seem like a good king who relied on the Lord. Fighting against Jeroboam, King of Israel, he gave a rousing speech professing their reliance on God to deliver them even though they were severely outnumbered and outmaneuvered. We would wonder why after such a convincing victory that Abijah would only reign in total for three years.

However, the answer is found in the account of Abijah’s reign from 1 Kings 15:1-8, including verse 3 which says that Abijah “committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.”

While Abijah cried out to the Lord in a moment of need, his heart was not set on the Lord alone. He continued the worship of idols and pagan practices that his father Rehoboam had started. It is not enough for us to worship God, but we are commanded to worship God alone. It was the sin of idolatry that aroused God’s anger the most, especially when this false worship was mixed with the worship of the Lord. As the Lord promises in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.” We, too, need to cry out to the Lord in worship, not just in times of need, but at all times.

After the death of Abijah, his son, Asa, succeeded him on David’s throne as king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Asa started off strong. He expressed his trust in the Lord like his father Abijah, but he also destroyed the idols in Judah and put an end to the detestable pagan practices his father continued. However, near the end of his 41-year reign, he wavered in his reliance on the Lord. When faced with a threat from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, he used the treasure from the temple of the Lord to make a treaty with the king of Aram to assist him. This angered God since Asa trusted the strength of men more than the power of the Lord. When God struck Asa with a debilitating foot disease, Asa sought advice only from the doctors and refused to seek help from the Lord, and he died from that disease.

These accounts encourage us to ensure that our hope is set squarely on the Lord. We are to trust in His strength, wisdom, and guidance alone to guard us and lead us safely through the trials of life.

Blessings, Pastor Barry