2365. “Goodness, As A Morning Cloud.”

No. 2365-40:277. A Sermon Delivered On Lord’s Day Evening, March 25, 1888, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

A Sermon Intended For Reading On Lord’s Day, June 17, 1894.

And Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. {2Ch 24:2}

Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and made obeisance to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they left the house of the LORD God of their forefathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for their trespass. {2Ch 24:17,18}

1. There is a book called The Museum of Natural History, and the most extraordinary animal in that museum is man. It would be far more easy to understand any other creature than to understand a human being. He is worthy of very great study; and the more he is studied, the more he will surprise you. There are certain characters that are great curiosities. Alas, there are also other characters that are great monstrosities! You can never tell, from what a man is, what he will be. The case before us is a very extraordinary one, because here is a man with every possible advantage, who through a number of years exhibited the brightest form of character; and yet in the end he was not thought worthy to be laid in the sepulchres of his forefathers with others of the kings of Judah; neither was he worthy of any royal interment, for the latter part of his life blackened and defiled his entire career, and he who began his reign like the dawning of the day ended it like the middle of the night.

2. I wonder whether there are any people here who will turn out to be very sinful and wicked before life is over; I mean, those who have begun well, who are now the hope and joy of those who know them, but who will end badly, in dishonour to themselves, and grief to their households? If there are such here, probably you can find them by this one test. Those who say, “It is impossible that it should be so with us,” are probably the people; while those who are afraid lest it should be so, and ask for grace that it may not be so, are probably those who will be preserved, and whose path will shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

3. Dear friends, what need there is to go below the surface in the examination of moral and spiritual character! I shall have to prove this to you tonight, for in appearance Joash was all that we could wish for; yet, had he really been what he seemed to be, he would have continued so. If there had been that work of grace within his soul which there appeared to be in his life, he would not have turned aside as he did; for where a work of grace is real and true, it is known by its enduring influence throughout the entire life. Where godly principles have been imparted, and a divine life has been infused, these things are not taken from a man. “They went out from us, but they were not of us”; said the apostle John, “for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, so that they might be revealed that they were not all of us.” So it was with Joash. He turned aside from God because he had never truly known the Lord at all, and his last end was worse than the first because his beginning was really not such as it had seemed to be.

4. I trust that every person here desires to have genuine religion, and not to have the sham. There is a prayer that I recommend to everyone as I desire to use it myself, “Lord, let me know the very worst of my case! Do not allow me either to deceive myself, or to be deceived by others. If I am not yours, let me know that I am not yours. If my repentance is only a seeming repentance, and my faith only the mere shadow of faith, and not its substance, Lord, by your good Spirit convince me of my dangerous delusion, and let me know just where I am, and what I am!” I am sure many of you desire to pray like that; and perhaps, while I am speaking, that petition may be answered, especially in the case of some of our young friends.

5. I was very happy, last Sunday night, in preaching as I believe so as to suit the case of one young man of whom I knew only very little; yet it seems that I described him so accurately that he felt that I was speaking especially to him. At the same time, there was another young man, sitting in quite another part of the Tabernacle, who came in on Thursday to tell me how pointedly and distinctly I had described him. On Saturday, I received a letter from central England, from a father who sent me his son’s letter saying that he was here, and that I had looked at him, and distinctly and accurately described him. It is not always that we can hit three birds with one stone; but I have been praying that I may have even better success tonight, and that many may feel, “The preacher is speaking of me, he is describing my character.” May God grant that it may be so!

6. My first point will be taken from the first verse of our text: “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” This is my first division: It is a great blessing when young people yield to godly influences. The second division will be, — But this is not all that is needed; and the third will be, — This yielding spirit may prove a source of mischief. Instead of being a blessing, it will be a curse, if it does not have something more added to it.

7. I. First, then, IT IS A GREAT BLESSING WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE YIELD TO GODLY INFLUENCES.

8. Although Joash came from a bad family, yet he had a good aunt, who was married to the high priest, and the aunt and the uncle took care of young Joash. When he was only an infant, they stole him away, so that Athaliah might not kill him with the rest of the royal seed; and so Joash had this remarkable privilege that for six years he lived in the temple: “He was hidden with them in the house of God for six years.” That is a splendid beginning for any life, to be hidden in the house of God for six years. I do not think we ever value enough those first six years of a child’s life; impressions made then have a remarkable influence over the rest of life. Joash was in the place where God’s praise was sung from day to day, and where holy prayer was perpetually offered. He was seldom beyond the fragrance of the perfumed incense, or away from the sight of the white-robed priests. He heard nothing that could defile him, but everything that could instruct and purify him. He was hidden in the house of the Lord so as not even to go out of it, concealed with godly people for the first six years of his life. Perhaps, indeed, I am sure, some of you now present had similar felicity. The first thing that you can remember is your mother taking you to a place of worship; you can never forget the time when father also led you there, and did not seem to be happy unless his boy was trotting by his side when he went to hear the gospel. Among our earliest memories are the memories of holy hymns, and the sayings of gracious people, in whom, as children, we took an interest when they came to our father’s house. It is a grand thing that the first days of one’s life should bear the impression of the divine finger. It is good when the vessel begins to revolve on the wheel, and the clay is soft and malleable, that the first fingers that should touch and mould it should be the fingers of God’s servants. May God grant that they may be as the very finger of God on our souls! So Joash began his career by being hidden in the house of the Lord for six years.

9. After he was seven years old, he was started on his life’s business in a very admirable way. He was to be the king, but there had to be great care taken to sweep away the usurper from the throne, and to put the little king on it, and Jehoiada managed the whole affair with great skill. He also drew up a covenant for the king to sign, a covenant with God that he would be obedient to Jehovah as the supreme King, and a covenant with the people that he would rule according to equity and right, and not be tyrannical. It was all done so well that no objection was ever taken to it; and Joash reigned with great prosperity and happiness over a people who were blessed by his rule, Jehoiada all the while being his faithful prime minister and guide. It is a grand thing to be started in life properly; it is half the battle, you know, to begin well. Some young men, and some young women, too, are launched in life wrongly; it seems almost a matter of course that they should be too strongly tempted, and in all probability yield to the temptation. But many of you were not started like that; you began with a father’s blessing, and with a mother’s prayers. You remember your first going out into life; some of us remember the ride on the coach when, early in the morning, we had to leave our father’s house for the first time. Perhaps it was a cold and bitter frosty morning when we started out in those old days to go across the country; we remember it well, and how God cared for us, and blessed us; and we desire to praise him that he has preserved us even to this day.

10. I am showing you the bright side of Joash’s career first. After the six years in the house of God, he had a grand start in life with everything to his advantage. Alas, alas, alas, that, with such a bright beginning, he should come to such a sad end!

11. Notice also that, being so well started, “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” While that good man lived, the king was under his influence; he consulted him in every matter of importance, he seems even to have been guided by him to some extent in the matter of his marriage. He was malleable under his uncle’s hand, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; notice that, not only what was right in the sight of good people, but what was right in the sight of the Lord. His life seems to have been at least outwardly obedient to the law of Jehovah, and he yielded himself up, apparently at any rate, to be a loyal servant of the great King; and he did that, not for a short time only, but all the days in which Jehoiada lived. Well, now, have we not known men and women, whose lives have been under the benign influence of some kind elderly person, uncle or aunt, father or mother, and they have done what was right year after year, as long as their godly relatives lived? They have been diligent in going up to God’s house, apparently devout in Bible-reading and prayer, willing to assist in holy work in the Sunday School and all kinds of service for the Lord, and leading outwardly most useful, admirable lives all the time that these higher influences were over them, even as “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest”

12. Yes, and more than this, he was zealous for the externals of religion: “It came to pass after this, that Joash decided to repair the house of the Lord.” He actually chided Jehoiada, his uncle, because of the slowness of the Levites: “The king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, ‘Why have you not required the Levites to bring in the collection from Judah and Jerusalem?’ ” Yes, and there are some whose hearts are not right towards God, who nevertheless are very zealous about the externals of divine worship. It is a much easier thing to build a temple for God than it is to be a temple for God; and it is a much more common thing for people to show zeal in repairing temples than in reforming their own behaviour. So this young man, you see, went even beyond his uncle in intense zeal for the cause of God, just as there are many now who, trained up in the ways of the Lord, are indefatigable in rendering some external service to the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. They would give to the building of a church; they would work hard to promote the paying for it, and so forth; but, alas, you may give, and you may work, and you may attend to all the externals of religion, and yet have no part nor lot in the matter! Mr. Bunyan says that, when he was an ungodly man, he still had such a reverence for the externals of religion that he would gladly have kissed the ground that the clergyman walked on, and every nail in the door of the church seemed holy to him. That is all very fine; but unless there is a great deal more than that in us, we shall fall far short of the requirements of God.

13. All this while, Joash influenced other people for good. As king, he kept back the nation from the worship of idols; as king, he threw the cloak of his patronage over those who worshipped Jehovah; and things seemed to go well for years, “all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” As long as Jehoiada lived, Joash seemed to be all that he should be.

14. II. Now I am going to turn, for a few minutes, to the second point, to show you that, good as all this is, IT IS NOT ALL THAT IS NEEDED.

15. For, notice that, this is not yielding the heart to God. “My son, give me your heart,” says God. All that Joash had done was to give his heart to Jehoiada, not to Jehovah. It is very easy to be outwardly religious by giving your heart to your mother, or your father, or your aunt, or your uncle, or some good person who helps you to do what is right. You are doing all this out of love for them, which is at best only a very secondary motive. God says, “My son, give me your heart.” If your religion is taken up to please any creature, it is not the religion which pleases the Creator. Your homage is due, not to any one here below, but to him who sits in the heavens, whose kingdom rules over all. Dear Christian friends, as you think yourselves to be a Christian because of the Christianity of your parents, I beseech you to remember that true religion must be a matter of your own heart, and of your own soul. If you merely attend to it out of respect for the dearest and most precious person under heaven, you do not reach the standard that the Lord has set up.

16. Note next, that this yielding to godly influence may exist without any personal, vital godliness whatever. You may associate with God’s people, and yet not be one of God’s people. You may give attention to God’s servant, and yet not be God’s servant yourself. A young man may yield to his mother’s advice, and yet never be really repentant on account of sin. He may listen to his father’s word, and pay respect to the externals of his father’s religion, but yet never have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. You yourselves must repent, and yourselves believe in Christ, or else all the rest will aggravate your sin by increasing your responsibility, but it will not go even a hair’s breadth towards your salvation. I would have every person here, whether young or old, examine himself to see whether his religion is vital to his own soul. Have you been born again? I do not enquire now about your mother, or father, or friends. Have you been born again? Are you now condemned under sin, or are you justified by faith in Jesus Christ? There can be no proxies, and no sponsors here; every man must give account for himself to God; and each man, each woman, must come to the Saviour personally, and accept him, and be saved by him, or else eternal ruin is certain.

17. I also believe, dear friends, that a character like that of Joash, a yielding character, an externally pious character may even prevent men from being saved at all. I mean, you may take it for granted that you are saved; but you must not take anything for granted between God and your soul. I charge you to make sure work here; take your wealth for granted if you like; take the title-deeds of your estate for granted if you please; but between God and your soul let everything be settled, and straight, and clear, and sure, and have no mistakes about this matter. It is so easy to have been under religious influence from our youth up, and then to go on, year after year, never having asked the question whether we are Christians or not, saying to ourselves, “Of course it is all right.” You will be much nearer the truth if you say, “Of course it is all wrong.” You will be much more likely to come to an honest conclusion if you rather suspect yourself too much than believe in yourself too much; I am sure that, in speaking like this, I am giving you sound teaching.

18. After all, to be under godly influences year after year, without any great trial or temptation, may leave the personal character altogether undeveloped. Some put children under continual restraint, never permitting them to have any kind of temptation. It is so with children sometimes in large institutions; they do not have any money, and they cannot steal any, because there is no one else who has any; they are kept out of the world altogether, they live only among their own company, and there is very much of prayer and everything that is good; and often, when they go out into the world, those who have trained them are altogether disappointed with them; yet they need not wonder very much. If a person on dry land thinks he can swim, it is not certain that he will swim when he gets into the sea. We must have some kind of test, or else we cannot be sure of the character; we cannot know whether a child is honest or not if he never has any chance to take what is not his own. You cannot be sure about principle being in any young man if he has been kept under a glass case, and if his principles have never been tested. That was the condition of Joash; the real character of the man had never come out at all, because Jehoiada, as it were, covered him. He was guided and influenced by the high priest; but his own disposition only needed an opportunity of developing itself. I have heard of an officer in India, who had brought up a young leopard. It was completely tamed, apparently it was as tame as a cat, and the officer had no fear of his leopard. It went up and down the stairs, and entered into every room of his house; he never suspected for a single moment that it would be guilty of bloodshedding; but, while he was asleep, one afternoon, in his chair, the leopard licked his hand in all tenderness as a cat might have done; but after licking for a while, it licked too hard, and a little blood began to flow. It no sooner tasted blood than the old leopard spirit was up, and his master was his master no more. So it happens to many that, by being shut in, and tamed, as it were, but not changed, subdued but not renewed, kept in check but not converted, there has come a time afterwards when the taste of blood has called out the old nature, and away the man has gone. You would never have thought that he could act as he did; but he did so because he did not have a new nature. It was human nature held in check for a while, not the Spirit of God creating a new life, and infusing a new character into the soul.

19. Do you see what I am driving at, dear friends? I am speaking to those of you who have not passed from death to life, to you who have never been renewed in the spirit of your mind. Please do not imagine that natural religion is spiritual religion. Do not mistaken the lessons learned at your mother’s knee for the teachings of the Holy Spirit, do not confuse a change with the change; and do not think that anything that can come to you by your first birth can serve your purpose without a second birth. “You must be born again,” or else, even though you spent the first six years of your life in the house of God, and though you were raised under the most hallowed influences, you only need an opportunity, a temptation, a particular stress laid on you, and you will go off wherever the old nature carries you, and you will find out for yourself and to the horror of others that all your early training had accomplished nothing because it fell short of the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

20. III. Now, in the third place, I wish to show you that THIS YIELDING CHARACTER MAY EVEN PROVE A SOURCE OF MISCHIEF.

21. We like young people to be obedient, we are very glad to deal with those malleable characters that are readily moulded, but, at the same time, we ought never to be too sure about them. A person with grit in his character, if really affected by the grace of God, may turn out a far better man than your too malleable, pliable character. Oh, dear, how many we know who are very good, but there is nothing in them at all! We have known some others who were dreadfully hard to manage, and to get at; but when at last a change has been accomplished by divine grace, that very obstinacy and wilfulness of theirs, when sanctified, has given a strength to their character, and instead of being a drawback, it has been a help.

22. This young Joash was extremely supple in the hand of Jehoiada, but alas! Jehoiada was dead. Other counsellors came and flattered him: “Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and made obeisance to the king.” Do you not see those gentlemen coming, bowing and scraping a hundred times before they get up to him? They “made obeisance to the king.” Jehoiada had not often made much obeisance to him; he had treated him with due respect as his king, but he had also spoken to him honestly and faithfully. Joash had someone to look up to while Jehoiada lived, and now he found himself a great man, with everyone looking up to him; and the princes of Judah, the fashionable part of the realm, the respectable people who never had been worshippers of Jehovah, but who had always preferred the more abstruse, ritualistic, and sensuous service of Baal, the philosophical god, came, and bowed, and made obeisance to the king. I think I can hear what they said: “Royal sir, we congratulate you on being released from leading strings. Now you can think for yourself. It is a fine thing for a young man to be delivered from the power of his old uncle; he was no doubt a very excellent person, we were present at his funeral, and we paid him all due respect; still, he was a regular old fossil, one who never had made any progress at all. He clung to the worship of Jehovah, and served the God of his forefathers. Royal sir, we congratulate you on the liberty to which you have attained. Besides that, we fear that you have been considerably priest-ridden. This Jehoiada was a priest, and of course you respected and venerated his character; but you could not indulge yourself as long as he lived. We have always had high thoughts of you, royal sir, we always believed that you would break out one of these days; and now that the good man is laid asleep, we are sure that you will not let his dead hand rest on you, but you will wake up, and be abreast of the age, and keep up with the spirit of the times.” You know how they do it; it is always being done, this pouring of drops of poison into the ear, these soft, subtle flatteries. Even when a man has reached Joash’s age, he is not beyond the power of flattery; I wonder how old a man would be when he would be too old to love flattery. Of course, he always likes to be told, “Ah, dear sir, I know that you could not bear flattery,” being at that moment more highly flattered than at any other time in his life. So these princes of Judah did; and poor Joash, good Joash, Joash who repaired the temple, Joash who was even more intensely earnest than Jehoiada himself, was led astray by the soft words of the deceivers, and we find him burying his religion with his uncle. In Jehoiada’s grave he buried all his piety. Some whom I have known, and over whom I have wept, have acted in very the same way.

23. After that, he went off to sin. The images which he had broken down were set up again; the groves which he had cut down were planted again; and he who seemed so zealous a servant of Jehovah had now become a worshipper of the foul Ashtaroth, and bowed before the accursed Baalim. Oh, sad, sad, sad mischief this! There was a lack of principle in Joash, and it is of that I want to warn all our friends. Please do not be satisfied with the practice of piety without the principles of piety. It is not enough to have a correct creed; you must have a renewed heart. It is not sufficient to have an ornate ritual; you must have a holy life, and to be holy you must be renewed by the Holy Spirit. If this change is not created in you by the Holy Spirit, you who yield so readily to good will yield just as quickly to evil.

24. What happened next? Joash refused reproof. God sent prophets to the people, and they came, and warned them, testifying against the idolaters: “But they would not listen.” This Joash, who had spent his first six years in the temple, now would not listen to the Lord’s prophets. He was always ready to listen to Jehoiada, but now he would not listen. He was a tremendous zealot for repairing the temple, with most costly architecture, and gold and silver without limit; but now he will not give heed to God’s servants at all. They may speak with all their heart and soul; but he is like the deaf adder that will not hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. Yet he was once your good young man, your pious young man! Oh, what a sifter London has been to many like Joash! I remember many whose story was like this. They always had been to the house of God; they were brought up where there was a family altar in the house; everyone considered them to be Christians; and they came to London. At first, they went where their father exhorted them to go, to some humble place where the gospel was preached; but after a while they thought it was not wrong to go on the Sabbath to see one of the more showy religious places. That done, they went to some showy place that was not religious. They worked so hard all the week that they must go out a little into the fresh air on the Sabbath; and by degrees they found companions who led them, little by little, from the path of integrity and chastity until “the good young man” was as vile as any on the streets of London, and he who seemed to be a saint became not only a sinner, but the maker of sinners.

25. What did Joash do next? He killed his friend’s son. Old Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah, one of those who had helped to put the crown on young Joash’s head, was at last moved to come out, and speak in the midst of the temple service to the people, as he had a right to do; and he began to upbraid them for turning aside from Jehovah to the worship of the foul idol-gods. Now, see, the tiger’s blood is up! Joash ordered them to kill him! How dare he testify against his king? True, he is the son of his best friend, he is his own cousin, he is one who helped him to ascend the throne; but does all that matter to this once good young man? The milk of human kindness is soured now. The oil that was so soft burns fiercely when it once takes fire. “Let Zechariah die. Kill him in the temple. Bespatter the sacred altar with his blood. Stone him. He has dared to speak against me.” See your soft clay, how hard and coarse, and rough it has become! I have seen this change come over men. I believe that the worst persecutors in the world are generally made from those who once were tender and soft-hearted. Nero would at first scarcely sign the death-warrant of a criminal; and yet he lived to delight in wholesale murder. When the son of perdition was needed to betray his Lord, the raw material of the traitor was found in a disciple. You cannot make an out-and-out bad man except from one who seems to be good. You must take the man who has been in the temple for six years, the man who has done what is right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada, to make such a devil as Joash turned out to be when he killed the son of his benefactor in the courtyard of the house of the Lord. Oh, I could look steadily into the face of some here tonight, and in the spirit of prophecy I could burst out into tears to think of what they will yet be, what they will yet do, and what they will yet say! Perhaps you look at me, and ask, “Is your servant a dog that he should do this thing?” Oh, sir, you are worse than a dog; there lurks within you a heart “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Oh, that you did know it, and would turn to God, and say, “Oh Lord, renew me! Lord, make a new creature out of me! Lord, save me, so that I never may do such things as now, today, I think it impossible that I should ever do!”

26. This Joash, perishing, miserable, having no faith in God, robbed the temple, and gave all the gold and treasures to Hazael the Syrian. Personally, he was full of disease, and eventually his own servants, disgusted with him for his conduct towards Jehoiada’s son, killed him on his bed. What a death for the young man who was hidden away in the house of the Lord for six years! Oh, if I could tell some of you what will become of you, you would never come to this place again, you would be so angry with me! If I could prophesy to some good young fellow here, — I mean, outwardly good as Joash was at first, but without a new heart, without the grace of God in his soul, — if I could prophesy to him what he will be, he would spit in my face in indignation that I should dare to foretell such a thing. There is not a man or woman here who is safe from the most abominable sin until they yield themselves to Christ. There is not one of you who is sure that the deepest damnation of hell will not be your portion unless you come and commit your soul into the hands of Jesus, who is a faithful Keeper of those who put their trust in him. Can there be a Character Insurance Society? There can be no such Society formed by men who can insure our character; yet God has formed one. “The righteous also shall hold on his way; and he who has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” The Lord will keep him, and preserve him from evil, for “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day.” I do implore you, by the living God, my hopeful young friend, yield yourself to Jesus Christ, and seek his guardian care, lest the fair blossom of today should never produce fruit but end in disappointment.

27. May the Lord grant that all of us may meet in heaven, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {2Ch 24:1-25}

This chapter gives us the story of the reign of Joash. He was the only one of the royal seed who was preserved alive when Athaliah sought to destroy all the family of Ahaziah. He was hidden away for some six years in the temple by his aunt Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, who arranged matters so well that, when the child was seven years old, Jehoiada caused him to be crowned king, and he put to death the cruel she-wolf Athaliah, who had destroyed the royal family. You see, therefore, how much this young king owed to his uncle the high priest. Now let us read the story of his reign.

1. Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem.

He might have reigned much longer had he not erred and turned aside from the right way, and so brought judgment on himself.

1, 2. His mother’s name also was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

As long as his uncle lived, that truly devout statesman as well as priest of the Lord, “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord.”

3, 4. And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he fathered sons and daughters. And it came to pass after this,

Probably, some twenty-three years after, —

4. That Joash decided to repair the house of the LORD.

Jehoiada had with him broken in pieces the images of Baal, and battered down the temples of the idols; and now the young king “decided to repair the house of Jehovah.”

5. And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you expedite the matter.” However the Levites did not expedite it.

It is a great pity when those who live in the house of God do not have enough interest in it to see to its repair. The fact was, the offerings presented at the temple, like the tithes in modern times, were intended not only for the ministers, but for the maintaining of the structure, too. But these priests and Levites would not allow anything to be deducted from their own income even for the repair of the house in which they served. So Joash ordained that special collections should be made for that purpose.

6-9. And the king called for Jehoiada the high priest, and said to him,“ Why have you not required the Levites to bring in the collection from Judah and Jerusalem, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness.” For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD they bestowed on Baalim. And at the king’s commandment they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of the LORD. And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God imposed on Israel in the wilderness.

Everyone must give his half shekel by way of redemption money, and this had not been brought in.

10-14. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end. Now it came to pass, that at the time the chest was brought to the king’s office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. They did this day by day, and gathered money in abundance. And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and, also such as worked with iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. So the workmen laboured, and the work was completed by them, and they restored the house of God to its original state, and strengthened it. And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, from which were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer as well, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the day of Jehoiada.

See the influence of one man. One man can sway a state. One man can check sin. One man can be the head of a host who shall serve God, and honour his name.

15. But Jehoiada grew old,

It happened to him as it must happen to us all; for the best of men must grow old, and pass away. Let us value them while we have them. Too often we give them stones while they are alive, in anticipation of giving them bigger stones to remember them when they die. “Jehoiada grew old,” —

15. And was full of days when he died; he was a hundred and thirty years old when he died.

An unusual age for that time; short enough as compared with the years of the antediluvian patriarchs, but still a great age for those days.

16. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both towards God and towards his house.

That is the best kind of good which begins with doing good towards God, and then goes on to doing good towards God’s house. The Church is to be served, but even it must be second to God’s glory. God first, and then the very best must come next.

17. Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and made obeisance to the king. Then the king listened to them.

These flatterers came with all their daintiest manners, and made obeisance to the king, and “the king listened to them.” All the days of Jehoiada, these princes had been afraid to set up the fashionable worship, the worship of Baalim, that had been introduced by the Sidonian queen Jezebel, that wicked woman of strong and masterful spirit. This worldly and false religion had been put down by the strong hand of Jehoiada; but when its adherents thought they had a chance to get to the forefront again, they came and flattered the king, and “the king listened to them.”

18. And they left the house of the LORD God of their forefathers, and served groves and idols:

Or, “Asherah and idols.” The word is mistakenly translated “groves.” These were certain horrible and disgusting emblems of the heathen goddess Ashtaroth, or Astarte: “They served Asherah and idols.”

18, 19. And wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again to the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not listen.

“These old Puritans have come back again,” they said. “We will not listen to them.” The common people were still mostly worshippers of Jehovah; but the great ones of the earth had gone over to the idols, and they could not endure that one after another of the prophets, often very humble and unlearned men, should come and bear testimony for Jehovah.

20. And the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord he has also forsaken you.’ ”

He spoke very temperately and affectionately. The warning was faithful; but it was delivered in the very best and kindest spirit. But now see what the wicked men did.

21. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones by the command of the king in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.

This is probably the prophet to whom Christ alludes when he speaks of Zachariah, “whom you killed between the temple and the altar.” It was a most foul crime to murder the son of Jehoiada, one of those who had helped to put the crown on the head of the king. To do this evil deed in the courtyard of God’s house, when the prophet was engaged in his Master’s business, and delivering a divine message, was to heap sin on sin.

22, 23. So Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said, “The LORD look on it, and require it.” And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

God did not delay the punishment of the evildoers for long. When his servants are persecuted, he will speedily avenge his own elect. “They destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people.” Was that not remarkable? These were the authors of the sin; and they had chiefly to endure the penalty. It is not always that invaders lay hold only on the princes and kill them; but these Syrians did so.

24, 25. For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their forefathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings.

When one set of executioners had gone, his own servants conspired against him and killed him.

Here ends our reading. May it be profitable to us!

 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 23” 23 @@ "(Version 3)"}
 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Desires After Holiness — Prayer For Holiness” 652}
 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Desires After Holiness — Longing For A Pure Heart” 645}

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 23 (Version 1)
1 My Shepherd will supply my need,
   Jehovah is his name;
   In pastures fresh he mikes me feed,
   Beside the living stream.
2 He brings my wandering spirit back
   When I forsake his ways:
   And leads me, for his mercy’s sake,
   In paths of truth and grace.
3 When I walk through the shades of death,
   Thy presence is my stay;
   A word of thy supporting breath
   Drives all my fears away.
4 Thy hand, in spite of all my foes,
   Doth still my table spread;
   My cup with blessings overflows;
   Thine oil anoints my head.
5 The sure provisions of my God
   Attend me all my days;
   Oh may thy house be mine abode,
   And all my work be praise!
6 There would I find a settled rest,
   While others go and come;
   No more a stranger, or a guest,
   But like a child at home.
                           Isaac Watts, 1719

Psalm 23 (Version 2)
1 The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want
   He makes me down to lie
   In pastures green: he leadeth me
   The quiet waters by.
2 My soul he doth restore again,
   And me to walk doth make
   Within the paths of righteousness,
   E’en for his own name’s sake.
3 Yea, though I walk through death’s dark vale,
   Yet will I fear no ill;
   For thou art with me, and thy rod
   And staff me comfort still.
4 My table thou hast furnished
   In presence of my foes;
   My head thou dost with oil anoint,
   And my cup overflows.
5 Goodness and mercy all my life
   Shall surely follow me;
   And in God’s house for ever more
   My dwelling place shall be.
                        Scotch Version, 1641.

Psalm 23. (Version 3)
1 The Lord my Shepherd is,
   I shall be well supplied;
   Since he is mine, and I am his,
   What can I want beside?
2 He leads me to the place
   Where heavenly pasture grows,
   Where living waters gently pass,
   And full salvation flows.
3 If e’er I go astray,
   He doth my soul reclaim;
   And guides me in his own right way,
   For his most holy name.
4 While he affords his aid,
   I cannot yield to fear;
   Though I should walk through death’s dark shade,
   My Shepherd’s with me there.
5 In spite of all my foes,
   Thou dost my table spread;
   My cup with blessings overflows,
   And joy exalts my head.
6 The bounties of thy love
   Shall crown my following days;
   Nor from thy house will I remove,
   Nor cease to speak thy praise.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 23 (Version 4)
1 The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
   And feed me with a Shepherd’s care;
   His presence shall my wants supply,
   And guard me with a watchful eye;
   My noonday walks he will attend,
   And all my midnight hours defend.
2 Though in the paths of death I tread,
   With gloomy horrors overspread,
   My stedfast heart shall fear no ill,
   For thou, Oh Lord! are with me still:
   Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
   And guide me through the dreadful shade.
                     Joseph Addison, 1712.

The Christian, Desires After Holiness
652 — Prayer For Holiness
1 Oh may my heart by grace renew’d,
      Be my Redeemer’s throne:
   And be my stubborn will subdued,
      His government to own.
2 Let deep repentance, faith, and love,
      Be join’d with godly fear;
   And all my conversation prove
      My heart to be sincere.
3 Preserve me from the snares of sin
      Through my remaining days;
   And in me let each virtue shine
      To my Redeemer’s praise.
4 Let lively hope my soul inspire;
      Let warm affections rise;
   And may I wait with strong desire,
      To mount above the skies.
                        John Fawcett, 1782.

The Christian, Desires After Holiness
645 — Longing For A Pure Heart
1 Oh for a heart to praise my God,
      A heart from sin set free!
   A heart that always feels thy blood,
      So freely spilt for me!
2 A heart resign’d, submissive, meek,
      My great Redeemer’s throne;
   Where only Christ is heard to speak,
      Where Jesus reigns alone:
3 A humble, lowly, contrite heart,
      Believing, true, and clean;
   Which neither life nor death can part
      From him that dwells within:
4 A heart in every thought renew’d,
      And full of love divine;
   Perfect, and right, and pure, and good,
      A copy, Lord, of thine!
5 Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;
      Come quickly from above;
   Write thy new name upon my heart,
      Thy new, best name of love.
                     Charles Wesley, 1742.