2 Chronicles 23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people.… Jehoiada knew that it would be of very little use to be rid of one ruler and to place another on the throne unless the nation itself could be bound in strong bonds to Jehovah, its true and almighty Sovereign. Hence the action he took as here described. I. THE TRUE BASES OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY. Not a population outgrowing that of all other countries; nor an army and navy such as no other nation can equip; nor a full national exchequer; nor an extensive and extending territory. A country may have any or even all of these things, and yet be declining in strength and on the road to utter weakness and decay. The foundation of a people's strength is in the possession of the Divine favour. And this because: 1. God will grant his Divine blessing to those that seek him. 2. And because God "loves righteousness and hates iniquity," whether in the individual man or in the nation; and it is in "the fear of the Lord" that all moral and spiritual integrity rests as in its very root and source. That people, therefore, which would live and thrive must be a people seeking God's face and acting in accordance with his will. Then will it enjoy his blessing - that favour and succour with which it cannot fail to prosper, without which it is bound to fall. II. A SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH. Jehoiada took advantage of the dynastic revolution to make it an occasion for entering into a solemn covenant "between all the people and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people. The time was suitable for this renewal of their covenant with God. He himself, a priest of the Lord, had headed, indeed had originated and effected, the overthrow of the old idolatrous regime; the young king was to be placed on the throne as a worshipper of Jehovah, and now they might pledge themselves, in the most solemn and binding form, to be loyal to that Divine Lord whose, indeed, they were by a thousand ties. It was wisely and worthily done. Acts of national acknowledgment of God must need be rare. But it is open to Churches, to families, and especially to individual men, to renew their vows of attachment to their Divine Lord; to affirm to themselves or to declare to their friends and neighbours that they are the Lord's people." It is right and wise to employ any and every favourable opportunity of doing this. Such opportunity is found in: 1. The time when the soul returns to God from the far country of indifference and disloyalty, and realizes that it is admitted to the Father's home. 2. The time when the spirit is recalled from a temporary lapse, and again recognizes the supreme claims of a Divine Redeemer. 3. When we meet one another at the table of the Lord, and there are vividly reminded of the supreme fact that he "gave himself for us" unto shame and death. 4. On the reception of any special, personal, or domestic mercies at the kind hand of our heavenly Father. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD'S people. |
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