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Part 2 of the Series:
How do I know if I am a success? A useful tool is comparison. Observing others to identify the differences or similarities and decide our status. Children compare who got the biggest slice of cake, who is punished more severely, to determine who is the favourite child. Often, they reach the wrong conclusion! The world judges success by material things such as brand of clothing, number of likes, retweets, and so on - too often the comparison is shallow, causing dissatisfaction.
The Lord often used comparisons: two men went to the temple to pray; two men built houses; a man had two sons; two men passed the victim on the Jericho road and a third ‘came where he was’, Luke 10. 33. Comparison is an effective tool, and used properly gives an indicator of where we are spiritually. The temptation to think like the Pharisee in Luke chapter 18 verse 11, ‘I thank You that I am not like other men’, is to be avoided.
Judah’s kings are sometimes compared to Israel’s greatest king - David. Acts chapter 13 verse 22 quotes Samuel: the Lord had found ‘a man after My own heart, who will do all My will’. Wait! What about Bathsheba? Uriah? Surely David failed. Yes, but his heart was right - he wanted what was right and, on the occasions when he failed (see Psalms 32 and 51), he was quick to repent and put the matter right with God.
When Asa was confronted with his failure, in his rage he imprisoned his accuser. When faced with his sin, David repented immediately and put the matter right. That is the reason that ‘his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father’, 1 Kgs. 15. 3 ESV. The recorder does give Asa his due: when he does good, we are told, ‘Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David’, 1 Kgs. 15. 11. He was different to David in the matter of repentance.
Later we come to Amaziah, a man who appeared to be doing well, but scratching the surface reveals that he encouraged idolatry in the nation, even making offerings to idols, 2 Chr. 25. He went to war against Israel despite God’s instruction. ‘He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal heart’, 2 Chr. 25. 2; ‘not like his father David’, 2 Kgs. 14. 3. He differed from David in reality.
Amaziah’s great-grandson was Ahaz. His was a reign of failure. He walked in the idolatry of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his son to an idol. Besieged by Syria and Israel, he surrendered to the Assyrians, removing the treasures from the House of God, giving them, and his liberty to them, ‘I am your servant and your son’, 2 Kgs. 16. 7. What a difference with David! Ahaz ‘did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done’, 2 Kgs. 16. 2. The contrast with David is in his rebellion.
Ahaz’s son was Hezekiah, his great-grandson Josiah. These were remarkable kings. They discovered the word and worship of God, and though neither were perfect they were reforming, diligent kings, determined to make a difference for God. Hezekiah ‘did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done’, 2 Kgs. 18. 3; Josiah ‘did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left’, 2 Kgs. 22. 2. They were the same as David in their resolve. Perhaps the reason for Josiah’s resolve was his decision, ‘while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David’, 2 Chr. 34. 3.
What about us?
