God Over People and Things

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.

—Psalm 20:7-8 NLT

These words from our reference verses today were written by King David and are almost reminiscent of another Psalm, Psalm 118:9, which says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” After King David’s reign, there was King Solomon. After King Solomon, there was King Rehoboam (who we read about last week). Then there was King Abijam and after King Abijam there was King Asa. Somewhere along these generations, this principle of trusting God, instead of horses and chariots, started to drift from among the kings of Judah. We see specifically through studying the life of King Asa that trusting God over people and things was a concept that had not been broken and therefore a concept that needed not to be fixed.

King Asa was noble in comparison to many of his predecessors in that, instead of worshiping idols the way Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijam did, King Asa wanted to remain faithful to God by removing all the shrines, idols, and detestable items being worshiped in Jerusalem. For this reason, King Asa’s loyalty to God was rewarded consistently. For example, he had a combined army of less than six-hundred thousand people. However, at one point, when an Ethiopian army of one million men rose up against King Asa’s army, 2 Chronicles 14:11 says, “Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone.” Verse 12 then says, “So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled.”

However, King Asa’s reliance on God, unfortunately, did not last very long. Years later, when the king of Israel tried to wage war against King Asa, Asa made a treaty with the king of Aram. He took silver and gold from the treasury of God’s Temple and asked the king of Aram to break his treaty with the king of Israel in order to form a treaty with him instead. The king of Aram obliged and, together, they were able to cause the king of Israel to retreat. However, the next verses say in 2 Chronicles 16:7-9:

At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

This news angered King Asa. Nevertheless, his heart never softened back up to the idea of trusting God over trusting things or other people. 2 Chronicles 16:12-13 says, “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to his physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign.” King Asa knew the formula to success through seeking help from God but refused to implement it. In comparison, we can observe the successful life of King David, who said, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.” Let us remember to follow King David’s example. God will always choose to be with those who choose to be with him.

Lots of Love, XO