Wisdom Does Not Necessarily Increase With Age

I Kings 15:9,11; II Chronicles 16:1-2,9: "In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah . . . . Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done . . . . (Yet) in the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign . . . Asa took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus . . . . (then Hanani the seer said to Asa) You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war."



Asa is one of those kings that started strong in obedience to the LORD but fizzled out in the later years of life. To be sure, he did not have a good example to follow from his father (King Abijah) and grandfather (King Rehoboam) for both of these kings committed detestible acts of rebellion against the Lord. Still, Asa rose early in his life above the example of his fathers and did what was "good and right in the eyes of the LORD" (2 Chronicles 14:2). Asa removed the pagan places of worship and commanded that all of his kingdom (Judah) seek the LORD.



Asa then called upon the strength of the LORD when he was faced with war against the mighty Cushites. Asa knew that he would need the LORD's help to defeat such a mighty foe, and so he cried out to the LORD: "there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army" (2 Chronicles 14:11).



God provided victory for Asa and the people of Judah. Asa was so strengthened by the LORD's help that he took courage and ordered that anyone in his kingdom who would not seek the LORD was to be put to death. Therefore, all of the people "sought God eagerly, and he (God) was found by them and (God in response) gave them rest" (2 Chronicles 15:15).



Yet after 36 years of ruling as king, during which time he saw the mighty works of deliverance from the LORD, Asa lost faith in God. When Baasha, king of Israel, sought to invade Judah, Asa sought the aid of Ben-Hadad king of Aram. Asa went to the point of taking the silver and gold out of the temple and his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad as a bargaining tool to gain the favor of the Aramean king. In response to such faithlessness, God sent the seer, Hanani, to Asa to rebuke the king. Hanani reminded Asa of God's deliverance from the Cushites years before when the king sought the aid of the LORD; but now, since Asa determined to bring deliverance through his own efforts, God declared that the king would only see war for the rest of his life.



One would think that the king of Judah would have repented at that point; however, the king became angry at the words of rebuke from Hanani and had him imprisoned for presenting such a scathing admonishment. Within three years, the king was afflicted with a debilitating disease; still, the king refused to seek the LORD. He sought only the help of his physicians for his sickness. Within 2 more years, the king was dead.



Asa's story is one of triumph turned tragedy. He started so strongly in obedience to the LORD, that one would have expected that the king would have been recorded as one of the greatest kings in the history of Judah; instead, one finds that King Asa would finish his reign as a brazenly defiant monarch, who did not seek the LORD. He went from experiencing the blessing and peace of the LORD to seeing war and personal illness. He is the consummate example of one who underachieved his potential for the LORD.



We would do well to remember the story of Asa as a word of instruction about the need to continue in faith, knowing that the LORD is to be honored in all stages of life. We never get to a point in life when we can put our obedience to the LORD in park. We must strive throughout the entirity of life to be committed to God and trust in Him. If we will put our faith in the LORD, we will reach our potential that God has desired for us, and we will not finish short like King Asa.