044. Prayer Of Asa.
PrayerOf Asa.
Asa, son and successor of Abijam, king of Judah, was among the few monarchs on the throne of David, who displayed the virtues which adorned the life of that eminent saint, and who aimed to practice upon those principles, in the administration of the government, which had guided the man after God’s own heart.
Early after his accession, Asa began a thorough reformation of the manners and morals of the people. He removed from public stations the advocates of idolatry, and reformed the infamous practices which had grown up with idol worship. He deprived his own mother, who Had erected an idol to Astarte, of the dignity of queen; and her idols he caused to be burned in the valley of Hinnom. He carried into the house of the Lord the gold and silver vessels consecrated by his father Abijam. He fortified and repaired several cities in various parts of the kingdom. And when these several objects had been effected, he levied three hundred thousand men in Judah, armed with shields and spikes; and two hundred and eighty thousand men in Benjamin, armed with shields and bows.
About this time Zerah, king of Ethiopia, a country of Arabia, marched against Asa, at the head of an army consisting of one million of men and three hundred chariots of war. This immense force took port at Mareshah; while Asa, advancing to meet them, encamped in the plain of Zephathah. The advantage of numbers was greatly against the king of Judah; but his cause was the cause of God. His people were God’s people; a glorious reformation had recently been effected among them. The worship of God in its purity had been restored; and, once more, after a lapse of years, the city of David was a “city of righteousness.”
Asa and his army might, therefore, well repose confidence in God. They might anticipate the divine interposition and cooperation in the mighty conflict approaching. But that interposition and cooperation were to be sought in humble and fervent prayer. Many a pious Israeli soldier, doubtless, supplicated the aid of the God of his fathers. Asa himself, we are informed, while the armies were preparing for battle, cried unto the Lord of hosts. His prayer, which has been preserved, and has a place in the inspired volume, was most appropriate.
He appeals to God, as his God, and the God of his people; he recognizes the power of God, as able to deliver the weak from the strong; he rests himself upon the divine arm; places his cause in the hands of God; and in his name goes forth against the multitude. “O Lord, thou art our God,” says he; “let not man prevail against thee;” against thy people; thy worshipers; thy cause.
Asa is graciously answered. God gave his troops the advantage over the enemy. The latter were soon broken, and scattered in confusion and dismay. They were pursued, and despoiled of vast treasures; with which Asa and his army returned in triumph to Jerusalem.
Favored is that nation, indeed, which, when aggression upon its rights is attempted, has a prince or president at its head, who acknowledges the providence of God, and who is willing to let his people and his armies know that he prays. In a righteous cause, such a one may expect to succeed.
And, should not every Christian nation select, as far as possible, men of religious principle? Men of prayer, not only to preside over their national affairs, but also to lead their armies? Such men would seek the guidance of God in the management of the nation’s foreign relations, and would shun, as far as is consistent with national honor and national safety, all grounds of war; or, if war could not be avoided, they would have an interest in the love and protection of God. But we are nearer, we trust, by some thousands of years, to the day when wars shall for ever cease, than was the hero of Zephathah; so we devoutly hope. Oh, It is time that this scourge of nations; this savage art of butchery and bloodshed; this wholesale mode of making widows and orphans, were driven from the earth. We must, indeed, find inscribed on the records of history, the story of those butchers and murderers of mankind; the Alexanders; the Caesars; the Tamerlanes; the Napoleons; who have made their way to power through the groans and blood of millions. But let us pray that the future page of history may be stained by no such other names, and that future generations may execrate them as cordially as, once, thousands lauded them; and may turn with disgust from the perusal of the tragic scenes of Austerlitz, Borodino, and Waterloo. Let us pray for the advent of the Prince of peace. “Come then let this prayer linger on our lips, as we close our eyes to sleep, and be our early morning aspiration:
Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns, Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth, Thou who alone art worthy!
We may not live to see the day when, under the perfect reign of Jesus, the sword shall be converted into the plowshare, and the spear into the pruning-hook. But it will come, and it will be a happy day. Our children, or our children’s children, may be so blessed. Even now, I seem to myself to catch a glance of those golden times, sung by the “harp of prophecy:” The lion, and the libbard, and the bear, Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon Together, or all gambol in the shade Of the same grove, and drink one common stream:
Antipathies are none. The mother sees, And smiles to see, her infant’s playful hand Stretched forth to dally with the crested worm, To stroke his azure neck, or to receive The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue. In the heart No passion touches a discordant string, But all is harmony and love.