"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
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 Chron. 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 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."
From Spurgeon's Devotional
topic and art Placed by streamglobe
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