But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
From the beginning of his reign Jehoshaphat showed personal loyalty to God by walking in the early and first ways of David his father. He refused the worship of Baalim and sought instead to the Lord God of his father and fathers. He walked in God's commandments and did not follow after the doings and practices of Israel. By that course he worked to safeguard Judah from the idolatrous sins then characterizing the northern kingdom under his contemporary Ahab. That loyalty to God distinguished him from Israel.
Because of this integrity and obedience the Lord was with him and established and strengthened the kingdom in his hand. The blessing included riches and honor in abundance. Faithful obedience in this way brings the Lord's favor and bears evidence of God's approval.
His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord to take away the high places and the idolatrous groves out of Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent princes to teach in the cities of Judah from the book of the Lord. That teaching produced a religious revival marked by earnest effort to understand God's requirements and to lessen transgression. As a result the fear of the Lord fell upon the surrounding kingdoms so that they made no war against him.
For God's people living at the close of this earth's history, the verse calls for determined effort to walk in the fear of the Lord. It calls them to live lives that convince unbelievers of the power of the grace of Christ.
From the beginning of his reign Jehoshaphat showed personal loyalty to God by walking in the early and first ways of David his father. He refused the worship of Baalim and sought instead to the Lord God of his father and fathers. He walked in God's commandments and did not follow after the doings and practices of Israel. By that course he worked to safeguard Judah from the idolatrous sins then characterizing the northern kingdom under his contemporary Ahab. That loyalty to God distinguished him from Israel.
Because of this integrity and obedience the Lord was with him and established and strengthened the kingdom in his hand. The blessing included riches and honor in abundance. Faithful obedience in this way brings the Lord's favor and bears evidence of God's approval.
His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord to take away the high places and the idolatrous groves out of Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent princes to teach in the cities of Judah from the book of the Lord. That teaching produced a religious revival marked by earnest effort to understand God's requirements and to lessen transgression. As a result the fear of the Lord fell upon the surrounding kingdoms so that they made no war against him.
For God's people living at the close of this earth's history, the verse calls for determined effort to walk in the fear of the Lord. It calls them to live lives that convince unbelievers of the power of the grace of Christ.