'They ... sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found of
them: and the Lord gave them rest round about.'--2 CHRON. xv. 15.
These words occur in one of the least familiar passages of the Old
Testament. They describe an incident in the reign of Asa, who was the
grandson of Solomon's foolish son Rehoboam, and was consequently the
third king of Judah after the secession of the North. He had just won
a great victory, and was returning with his triumphant army to
Jerusalem, when there met him a prophet, unknown otherwise, who poured
out fiery words, exhorting Asa and his people to cleave to God and to
cast away their idols. Asa, encouraged by the prophetic words of this
bold speaker for God, screwed himself up, and was able to induce also
his people, to effect a great religious reformation. He made a clean
sweep of the idols, and gathered the sadly-dwindled nation together in
Jerusalem, where they renewed the covenant with the Lord God of their
fathers. The text sums up their work and its result. 'They sought Him
with their whole heart, and He was found of them; and the Lord gave
them rest round about.' The words express in simplest form what should
be the chief desire of our hearts and occupation of our lives, and
what will then be our peaceful experience. We shall best bring out
these points if we take the words just as they lie, and consider the
seeking, the finding which certainly crowns that seeking, and the rest
which ensues on finding God.