“Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber”
— 1 Kings 22:48
Solomon’s ships had returned in safety,
but Jehoshaphat’s vessels never reached the land of gold. Providence
prospers one, and frustrates the desires of another, in the same
business and at the same spot, yet the Great Ruler is as good and wise
at one time as another. May we have grace to-day, in the remembrance of
this text, to bless the Lord for ships broken at Ezion-geber, as well as
for vessels freighted with temporal blessings; let us not envy the more
successful, nor murmur at our losses as though we were singularly and
specially tried. Like Jehoshaphat, we may be precious in the Lord’s
sight, although our schemes end in disappointment.
The secret cause of Jehoshaphat’s loss is well
worthy of notice, for it is the root of very much of the suffering of
the Lord’s people; it was his alliance with a sinful family, his
fellowship with sinners. In 2 Ch. 20:37, we are told that the Lord sent a
prophet to declare, “Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the
Lord hath broken thy works.” This was a fatherly chastisement, which
appears to have been blest to him; for in the verse which succeeds our
morning’s text we find him refusing to allow his servants to sail in the
same vessels with those of the wicked king. Would to God that
Jehoshaphat’s experience might be a warning to the rest of the Lord’s
people, to avoid being unequally yoked together with unbelievers! A life
of misery is usually the lot of those who are united in marriage, or in
any other way of their own choosing, with the men of the world. O for
such love to Jesus that, like him, we may be holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners; for if it be not so with us, we may expect to
hear it often said, “The Lord hath broken thy works.”
No comments:
Post a Comment