1 Kings 22:45-53: a reflection

45Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he fought, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 46The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land. 47There was no king in Edom. A deputy ruled. 48Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they didn’t go, for the ships wrecked at Ezion Geber. 49Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not. 50Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city. Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 51Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. 52He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin. 53He served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in all the ways that his father had done so.

This passage sums up the reign of Jehoshaphat, a mostly faithful king. Among the details is a small but telling one. He had built ships to sail for gold, but they were wrecked before they could go, a costly failure that had grown out of an earlier ill-advised partnership with the wicked house of Ahab. And now, when Ahab's son Ahaziah proposes another joint venture, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships, Jehoshaphat refuses. Having been burned once, he will not enter such a partnership again.

Notice that Jehoshaphat learned from his costly mistake. His entanglements with the ungodly house of Ahab had already brought him trouble, and his shipping venture had come to ruin. So when a further partnership with that same house was proposed, he declined; he did not repeat the mistake that had already cost him. He let the painful lesson of the past shape a wiser choice in the present.

That is a wisdom we often lack. We are prone to repeat our mistakes, to enter again the very partnerships, habits, or entanglements that have already cost us, as though we had learned nothing. But Jehoshaphat, having been burned once, would not be burned the same way again. When something has cost you, especially an unwise partnership or entanglement, learn from it, and do not repeat it. Let the painful lessons of the past make you wiser in the present, rather than walking back into the same trouble. It is no shame to have made a mistake; it is folly to keep making the same one. Learn, as Jehoshaphat did, and decline to repeat what has already brought you harm.

Lord, Jehoshaphat, having been burned by an earlier partnership with the wicked house of Ahab and a venture that came to ruin, declined to enter another such partnership when it was proposed; he learned from his costly mistake and did not repeat it. Give me that wisdom. I am prone to repeat my mistakes, to enter again the very partnerships, habits, or entanglements that have already cost me, as though I had learned nothing. But Jehoshaphat, burned once, would not be burned the same way again. When something has cost me, especially an unwise partnership or entanglement, help me learn from it, and not repeat it. Let the painful lessons of the past make me wiser in the present, rather than walking back into the same trouble. Keep me from the folly of making the same mistake again, and help me, like Jehoshaphat, to decline what has already brought me harm. Make me wise to learn from what has cost me.