He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
To know the Lord is to do judgment and justice by judging the cause of the poor and needy, defending the vulnerable and securing their fair treatment through practical care and just dealing. Such just action is what it means to know Him, in contrast to covetousness, oppression, and violence. This just dealing for the vulnerable is why it was well with the king, Josiah, and it stands as evidence of true knowledge of the Lord.
The verse contrasts Josiah with his son and successor Jehoiakim, who should have been a wise spiritual leader foremost in confession of sin and in reformation and good works. Instead Jehoiakim lived for selfish pleasure, planning to build himself a wide house with large chambers ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion, using his neighbor's service without wages and giving him nothing for his work through fraud and oppression. In contrast to his father's justice to the poor and needy, his eyes and heart were only for covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression and violence, which the surrounding context condemns. Judgment was therefore pronounced on him that there would be no lament for him as brother or sister or lord or for his glory, but he would be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Judah's unfaithfulness to God's trust, despite its light and blessings, is presented as the reason calamity and desolation came upon the nation. The same condemnation applies to the liquor trade, whose sellers and makers rob people by taking money without giving anything of equal value, so that every dollar gained brings a curse on the spender. That trade turns God's gifts of grain and fruit into poisons that bring misery and ruin.
To know the Lord is to do judgment and justice by judging the cause of the poor and needy, defending the vulnerable and securing their fair treatment through practical care and just dealing. Such just action is what it means to know Him, in contrast to covetousness, oppression, and violence. This just dealing for the vulnerable is why it was well with the king, Josiah, and it stands as evidence of true knowledge of the Lord.
The verse contrasts Josiah with his son and successor Jehoiakim, who should have been a wise spiritual leader foremost in confession of sin and in reformation and good works. Instead Jehoiakim lived for selfish pleasure, planning to build himself a wide house with large chambers ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion, using his neighbor's service without wages and giving him nothing for his work through fraud and oppression. In contrast to his father's justice to the poor and needy, his eyes and heart were only for covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression and violence, which the surrounding context condemns. Judgment was therefore pronounced on him that there would be no lament for him as brother or sister or lord or for his glory, but he would be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Judah's unfaithfulness to God's trust, despite its light and blessings, is presented as the reason calamity and desolation came upon the nation. The same condemnation applies to the liquor trade, whose sellers and makers rob people by taking money without giving anything of equal value, so that every dollar gained brings a curse on the spender. That trade turns God's gifts of grain and fruit into poisons that bring misery and ruin.