2 Chronicles 15:7-8
“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
There are two extremes to which mankind are prone:
The ungodly are inclined to presumption.
The righteous are inclined to despondency.
King Asa was a man who “did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, 2 Chronicles 14:2,” and “his heart was perfect all his days, verse 17.” Yet he needed encouragement from a prophet of the Lord, to sustain his fainting mind.
In the passage before us, we have,
I. A historic record.
Asa had been enabled to vanquish a host of not less than a million of Ethiopians, with an army of little more than one half their number. But in his own kingdom there was a great work to perform, a work which he despaired of ever being able to accomplish. God, however, mercifully sent him a prophet, to raise his drooping spirits, and to animate him to his appointed work. Hear the message delivered to him.
“Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” Think nothing too arduous to be attempted, provided the Lord calls you to it, Joshua 1:6-7; Joshua 1:9. 1 Chronicles 28:20. Never doubt of success in anything that you undertake for Him.
Mark, too, the effect produced upon his mind.
“He took courage.” And how did he evince the power of that grace which had been bestowed upon him? He put down idolatry throughout his dominions, verse 8. He summoned all his people to enter into a solemn “covenant with God, to serve Him with all their heart, verse 12.” “King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley! verse 16”.
In this noble conduct Asa has left to us,
II. An encouraging example.
Every one of us also has difficulties to encounter.
Great are the corruptions by which we are assailed; and fierce will be the opposition which will be made to us, if we exert ourselves for the reformation of others.
But to us, no less than to Asa, are the prophet’s words addressed, “With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts: Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you! Isaiah 35:3-4.”
We should “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, Ephesians 6:10;” and if we “hold fast our confidence in him, we shall have a great recompense of reward, Hebrews 10:35.” We are assured that “our labor shall not be in vain in the Lord! 1 Corinthians 15:58.”
In us, also, God’s encouragements should produce a similar effect.
They should encourage us to serve the Lord alone; to serve him with our whole hearts; to serve him “without partiality, and without hypocrisy, James 3:17. 1 Timothy 5:21.” The nearest friends must be withstood, and our most endeared lust must be mortified!. Not a right hand, or right eye, must be retained; everything that is offensive to God must be sacrificed without reserve.
APPLICATION.
If Asa acted thus on one single word of encouragement, then what may be expected of you who have had all the promises of God set before you from week to week, through many successive years? If Asa, under that dark dispensation, acted so noble and consistent a part—then what may be expected of you, who live under the full light of the Gospel, and are instructed in all the wonders of redeeming love?
Charles Simeon