Let Not Your Hands Be Weak

Asa was the third king of Judah after the nation of Israel divided. His father, Abijah, did much evil and his grandfather, Rehoboam, also did evil in the sight of the Lord. Asa was the king for 41 years. His time as king was from approximately 910 BC until 869 BC. He began well turning against the evils of his father and grandfather. Today, I want us to look at the things he did that caused the blessings of God on Judah. I won’t focus on the last few years of his reign, which turned out to be a time of sadness and trouble. As he got older, he got distracted and began making decisions that caused the Lord to withdraw his blessings. You can read about Asa’s decisions and ultimate death in II Chronicles 16. For our thoughts today, I want to look at the previous chapter. Turn in your Bible to II Chronicles 15.

To begin the testimony, we start with a prophet upon whom the Spirit of God descended. He had a message from God for King Asa. His name is Azariah. The prophet shares the message from God in 15:2. “Hear ye me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” (Emphasis mine). The blessings of God are sometimes conditional. Salvation is a free gift but most of the joys of the Christian life are through obedience.

For a long time, Judah hadn’t served God (15:3). Their two previous kings had led them into idolatry. All over the kingdom of Judah sacred idols called “Asherah Poles” were used as a place of pagan worship. An Asherah Pole would have been a special tree or wooden pole that had been set up. The way I have always thought of them is to think of the American Indians and their totem poles. Areas in the high places, the hilly wilderness areas with seclusion are where the immoral activities would happen. The pole was to honor the goddess Asherah (Astarte) who was the fertility god of the pagan worship. Azariah gave him instructions if God was to bless him and the nation. “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded” (15:7). Notice the words “and let not your hands be weak.” Those words mean you keep doing the right thing, over a long period of time, even when you get tired, because God expects it. I think my favorite story about William Carey, the father of modern missions, is when he was asked what he would like his biography to say. He thought for a moment with a serious expression on his face then he said something like this. “I can plod. I can plod. I have the ability to get up every day and perform my tasks. Even when I don’t want to, I can plod.” The word “plod” is an old English word which means “to puddle about, to labor tediously even with slow monotonous steps.” The work of God can get heavy when we are serving. Singing in the choir, teaching a class, preaching sermons, holding an office, or just attending week after week can be exhausting for the children of God. Now what did Asa do? 15:8 gives us a short list.

1. He listened to the instruction. I think this is where it all begins. We must know the directions and decisions that lead us to a place of obedience.
2. He became courageous. “He took courage.” We can mentally get tough and with great determination we will go forward no matter the consequences.
3. He put away the abominable idols. All through the land of Judah, Benjamin, and other cities from the Mt. Ephraim area, the Asherah Poles were being chopped to the ground ridding the nation of the places of idolatry.
4. He renewed the altar of the Lord. A couple more tidbits of information are found in 15:3. “Now for a long season (long time) Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.” Notice the word Israel in this verse. I think this is a reference to the whole nation, not just Asa’s portion, Judah. The Northern Kingdom was always pagan and for a long time the Southern Kingdom of Judah had been also. 15:5 informs us that there is “no peace,” and war is a constant worry. God’s blessings and protecting hand had been removed because their hearts had gone after idols.

Early this morning, I began asking myself about the four things that Asa did in 15:8. I’m asking you to do the same now. Do you have a listening ear for God’s direction? When you know God’s direction are you going to be courageous? Are you going to remove the things in your life that have become idols? (Remember for us, an idol is anything that takes first place from God.) Have you repaired the altar of your heart? All of these questions must be answered correctly if we are to have God’s blessings. The Lord has been good to all of us. Nothing beats being saved and having eternal life when this life is over. Salvation is free, but many of the blessings which we enjoy are a result of obedience. Our lives can bubble over with joy and peace much like an artesian well with crystal clear refreshing water. Asa did this. He plodded for a long time because the job was a big job. How dedicated was he to this great task? He was so committed that he removed his own mother from being the queen. Maachah was an idol worshipper. 15:16 tells us he took away her honored position in the royal house and had her personal Asherah Pole cut down and burned down at the Kidron brook. I’d say he was serious about serving the Lord.

William Carey could plod. Asa plodded for a good while, but in the last years of his reign and life, he faltered. I want to be able to plod right up to the end like Carey. It would be a shame for us to run well but then at the finish line we become weary in well doing. “Let not your hands be weak.”