Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
1 Kings
Book: 1 Kings
Chapter: 15
Overview:
Wicked reign of
Abijam,
King of
Judah.
(1-8) Good reign of
Asa,
King of
Judah.
(9-24) The evil reigns of
Nadab and
Baasha
in
Israel.
(25-34)
1-8 Abijam's
Heart was not perfect with the
Lord his
God; he
wanted sincerity; he began
Well, but he fell off, and walked in
all the sins of his
Father, following his bad
Example, though he
had seen the bad consequences of it.
David's family was
continued as a
Lamp in
Jerusalem, to maintain the true
Worship
of
God there, when the
Light of Divine
Truth was extinguished in
all other places. The
Lord has still taken care of his cause,
while those who ought to have been serviceable thereto have
lived and perished in their sins. The Son of
David will still
continue a
Light to his
Church, to establish it in
Truth and
Righteousness to the
End of time. There are two kinds of
fulfilling the
Law, one legal, the other
By the
Gospel. Legal
is, when men do all things required in the
Law, and that
By
themselves. None ever thus fulfilled the
Law but
Christ, and
Adam before his fall. The
Gospel manner of fulfilling the
Law
is, to believe in
Christ who fulfilled the
Law for us, and to
endeavour in the whole
Man to obey
God in all his precepts. And
this is accepted of
God, as to all those that are in
Christ.
Thus
David and others are said to fulfil the
Law.
9-24 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the
Lord. That is
right indeed which is
So in
God's eyes.
Asa's times were times
of reformation. He removed that which was evil; there
reformation begins, and a great
Deal he found to do. When
Asa
found
Idolatry in the
Court, he rooted it out thence.
Reformation must begin at home.
Asa honours and respects his
mother; he loves her
Well, but he loves
God better. Those that
have power are happy when thus they have hearts to use it
Well.
We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do
Well; not
only cast away the idols of our iniquity, but dedicate ourselves
and our all to
God's honour and
Glory.
Asa was cordially devoted
to the service of
God, his sins not arising from presumption.
But his
League with Benhadad arose from unbelief. Even true
believers find it hard, in times of urgent danger, to trust in
the
Lord with all their
Heart. Unbelief makes way for
Carnal
policy, and thus for one
Sin after another. Unbelief has often
led Christians to
Call in the help of the
Lord's enemies in
their contests with their brethren; and some who once shone
brightly, have thus been covered with a dark
Cloud towards the
End of their days.
25-34 During the single reign of
Asa in
Judah, the government
of
Israel was in six or
Seven different hands. Observe the ruin
of the family of
Jeroboam;
No Word of God shall fall to the
ground. Divine threatenings are not designed merely to terrify.
Ungodly men execute the just
Judgments of God upon each other.
But in the midst of dreadful sins and this apparent confusion,
the
Lord carries
On his own plan: when it is fully completed,
the glorious
Justice,
Wisdom,
Truth, and
Mercy therein
displayed, shall be admired and adored through all the ages of
eternity.