The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 210

a Hebrew gencml's life, and we have a form of words strikingly suggestive of the true nature of all 8Rcrcd service. We look at both. I. TrrE 0HARACTEB OF AMASIAH's SERVICE, By the phrase here employed it WI\B probably meant that he entered upon his work as a. captain of Jehosha.phat's army in a spirit of reli!;ious devotedness. We need not be surprised at that, The idea of the essential wrongness of war is modern, is Christian. It would not occur to the mind, and would not therefore trouble the conscience, of any man living in that age. There would be no reason, in his mind, why he should not give himself up to the soldier's profession, and go through all military duties of every kind in the spirit of self-surrender to the service of God. And whatever we may think on this subject, we should cer- tain!:, conclude, and a.et upon the conviction, that, in determining our course of life, we 1;hould seek and find that to which we can give ourselves with religious earnestness, There is no reason why any pi·ofession should not be a vocation; that to which a man feels himself C1tl1ed of God ; that in which he may be continually serving God and honouring his Name; that in which he will make every effort to illustrate the essential graces which Jesus Christ has commended to us, both by his words and by his example. II. AN ESSE?ITIAL FEATURE OF ALL ACCEPTADLE SERVICE. It must surely be recorded in the " book of life" concerning every heir of heaven, that he" offered himself willi'Tlgly unto the Lord." For what other service than that is worthy of acceptance? 1. The submission and surrender of our will is the act of entrance upon the life which is Divine. It is not knowledge, it is not feeling, it is not compulsory action, or action wrought for recompense, that constitutes true childhood; all of these may exist, and yet there may remain estrangement from God. But however slight be the know- led~e, and though emotion be but small, and before any deeds of service have become possible, if a man bows his will to the will of God and resolves to surrender himself to the service of his Saviour, then he has entered the kingdom; be is one of the redeemed of the Lord ; bis feet are found in the path of life eternal ; he bas only to go on in the way in which he is walking. 2. Our daily service is excellent and accept.able in pro- portion to its cheerful willingness. To do the right thing with indeed the consent of our will, but only with a reluctant and struggling acquiescence, places the servant at one end of the scale. To do the right thing with alacrity, with cheerfulness, with earnestness of spirit, with an animating eagerness and abounding joy, places the servant at the other end of the scale of Divine acceptableness, commendation, and reward. « God loves the cheerful giver;" not only the giver of his money, but of his tirne,of bis strength, of his intellectual resources, of e.J.l the forces of his soul, of all the opportuni- ties of his life.-C. Vers.1--6.-TheaccessionofJehoshaphat. l. TBEDATEOFBIBCORONATION. 1. The thirty-fifth year of his age. He wa.s thus born in the sixth year of Asa's reign (eh. xvi. 14), during the ten years of quiet. His mother was Azubab, the daughter of Shilbi (1 Kings xxiL 42). A man of mature years when he ascended the throne, he was better qualified to bear the load of responsibility bis father's decease had, in God's providence, cast upon him. 2. The fourth ye,ar of .Ahab King of Israel (1 Kings xxii. 41). If Judah wa.s fortunate in getting such a sovereign as Jehoshaphat, Jeshosbaphat was unfortunate in having such a neighbour as Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 30-33). Man is always more or leRs influenced by his surroundings, and especially by his neighbours. These, when good, a.re a blessing; when evil, a curse. In the latter case, if be cannot improve them, they will deteriorate him ( eh. xviii. 1). II. THE RENOWN OP HIS THRONE. The throne: 1. Of a prospei·ous kingdom. Judah if small, was valiant and religious. Under the preceding reign it bad achieved b ~ t feats in battle, and advanced considerably on the path of religious reform. 2. Of a good father. With all his imperfections, Asa was one of the best of Jude.h's kings and it was no slight honour that Jehoshaphat should have descended from and succ~ such a pa.rent. Noblase obUge: it entailed on Jehoshaphat the duty of walk- ing in his father's footsteps as man and king. 3. Of a/amOUB Q,11,cestor. The throne he ascended had come down from David, the second king of united Israel, in direct and unbroken succession, whereas the throne of Israel bad thrice changed dynasties and always for the worse (1 Kings xv. 27; xvi. 10, 22). 4. Of a great God. The throne on, xvn. 1-19.J THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 211