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Jeroboam did not repent after his
son's death; he was wicked all his life long. Rehoboam was dead now,
and Abijah was king of Judah. He and Jeroboam fought against one
another. Abijah was not a good man; but when he saw the army of
Jeroboam coming, he behaved very bravely and very rightly. He stood
upon a mountain, and called to Jeroboam, and to all Israel, and told them
of their great sins and idolatries, in making and serving the golden
calves. Abijah said, "The Lord is our captain, He will fight
for us, and help us to conquer you." And who conquered?
Judah conquered that day, because they trusted in God for safety. It
was not Judah's own power that gave them the victory; but God fought for
them, and smote wicked Jeroboam and his army. Jeroboam did not live
long after; the Lord struck him and he died. Abijah died before
him. The quarrels of these two kings were ended then; their bodies
crumbled into dust in the grave; and their souls went to appear before
God; but we cannot hope that, like good King David and King Solomon, they
were taken to that happy world where only holy people go. We
now come again to the history of a very good king. His name was Asa;
he was king of Judah, and son of Abijah. When Asa began to reign, he
found his people very ignorant of God. They had learnt to be
idolators; to worship images and new gods, and not their own God, the true
God, who made all things. But when Asa was king, he knew it was his
duty to teach his people the right way. So he threw down all the
idol-altars, and the images, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord. Did
God bless Asa? Yes, and He gave rest and quietness to Judah.
All went on well; and Asa built many new cities, and walls, and towers;
and he and his people became rich, and strong, and happy. Why?
Asa told the people—"Because we have sought the Lord our God." Was
there rest in Judah all the years that Asa reigned? No: all
countries, and people, every where, must have trouble sometimes; and Asa
had his troubles. Enemies came to fight against him. They were
very, very many, and they came with chariots and horses, and made ready
for battle. Was Asa frightened? Perhaps he was at first; but
he knew where to find help. Did he trust in his soldiers, and his
armor, and his strong cities? No, Asa knew that all these things
could not help him. There was no power in them; but the good king
went to God, and asked for His help. He prayed, and said, "Lord
we trust in Thee to help us; we have no power in ourselves, but we know
that Thou wilt hear us, and then we shall have the victory. Thou art
our God; in thy name we go to fight against this army of our
enemies. Then Asa and his people felt safe and happy, because they
knew that God would hear and answer their prayer. And so He
did. He smote their enemies, and gave Asa and his people the
victory. God is ready to hear His people's prayers now. We all
have many troubles, and many enemies. Sometimes we have pain, and
sorrow, and sickness: always we have to fight against sin, and
against Satan. What must we do when we are in trouble? We must
do as Asa did; we must go to God for comfort, and help, and
strength. Often it is very hard to fight against our enemies.
Our own wicked hearts, and sinful tempers, and Satan's temptations, give
us trouble every day. But if we ask God, He will hear us. He
will fight for us, as He fought for Asa. He will conquer our evil
passions, and subdue our iniquities, and give us the victory. Then
we shall be "more than conquerors," not by our own strength, and
wisdom, and goodness; but by Him who loves us, and keeps us, and fights
for us, if we put our trust in Him alone. God
now gave peace to Judah for many years. He sent a prophet to Asa to
encourage him to go on, and serve the Lord. This prophet brought a
message from God; he said, "If you will still love and serve the
Lord, then He promises to be with you, and to bless you in all you do; but
if you forsake Him He will forsake you. Now, be strong, and put your
trust in God, and all shall be well with you." Asa and his
people attended to what the prophet said. They met at Jerusalem, and
there they offered sacrifices, and made a covenant with God. They
promised to seek him with all their hearts and souls. That was a
joyful day in Jerusalem. The people shouted, and sang praises to
God, and prayed to Him, and asked His help and blessing. Did God
hear them? Yes: God was pleased to hear His people's prayers,
and praises, and promises. He sent His Holy Spirit among them, and
gave them His blessing, and made them all happy and peaceful around them. Asa
was growing an old man. He had had many happy and peaceful years,
but now trouble came again. The king of Israel and his army fought
against him. Did Asa remember the kindness of God in past
times? Did he go to him again for safety? No, Asa forgot to do
this; he did not now trust in God, but he went to the King of Syria, and
asked help from him. The king of Syria was very willing to help
Asa. He sent captains and soldiers to fight for him, and soon the
Israelites were conquered. But Asa had displeased God, because he
had trusted more in the king of Syria than he had trusted in the Lord; and
therefore a prophet was sent to Asa, to tell him how angry God was.
Asa had sinned, and God must punish him. The prophet said,
"Thou hast done foolishly. Thou hast trusted in the king of
Syria, and not in God. Now thou shalt have wars, and battles, and
fighting in thy kingdom, all the rest of thy life." This was
sad news for Asa. He had been foolish and wicked too. When we
are in trouble, God alone can give us true help and comfort. How
foolish and ungrateful we are when we forget this! The
rest of Asa's life was not happy, as it had been before. When people
forget and disobey God, they cannot be happy. Asa was not humbled
when he heard God's message to him. He did not, like David, confess
his sin directly, and ask for forgiveness. No, Asa was very angry
with the prophet who told him what God said. This was still more
wrong in Asa. The prophet spoke as God commanded, and Asa should
have attended humbly to the message he brought, and prayed to be enabled
to do better in future. Asa, in his anger, shut up the faithful
prophet in a prison, where he could speak to him no more. But God's
message was true, and Asa suffered from wars all the rest of his life,
while the poor prophet was alone and sorrowful in his prison. When
Asa was an old man, God sent a new punishment upon him; for God must
always punish His people when they sin against Him, to make them repent,
and return to Him. Asa was troubled with a disease in his
feet. It gave him much pain and suffering; he could not walk about
now, as he used to do. Did he humble himself before God? No,
the Bible tells us that, "in his disease, he sought not unto the
Lord, but unto the physicians." He wished to be well, and he
called all his wise doctors, and asked them to take away his pain, and
make him strong again. But Asa forgot who sent the disease, and who
alone could take it away. When
we are sick we should be patient in all our pain, and submit humbly to
God's will. It is not wrong to send to physicians when we are
ill. We ought to be very thankful for kind and wise friends who will
visit us in our sickness, and try to comfort us, and make us well; and we
ought to attend to what they say, and thank them for their advice.
But it is very wrong to trust more to physicians than to God. And
this was what Asa did. Physicians and medicine can do us no good
without the blessing of God. He alone can take away our pain, and
make us well. Then, when we are sick, let us trust all to Him.
He is the good physician, the best friend we can have. He can cure
our soul as well as our body. He will take away our sin, the worst
of all diseases, if we ask Him to do so, for his dear Son's sake; and then
we need not be afraid of bodily pain and sickness.
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