2 Kings 14:15-20: a reflection

15Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 16Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. 17Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years. 18Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 19They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 20They brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in David’s city.

This passage is a set of brief regnal notices: Jehoash of Israel died and was buried; Amaziah of Judah lived on some years, and then, when a conspiracy formed against him, fled, was pursued, and killed, and was buried with his fathers. Whole reigns, whole lives, are summed up in a few short verses of accession, deeds, and death. The kings rise and reign and die, one after another, and the record moves on to the next.

Notice how briefly these lives are summed up. Reigns that filled years, with all their events and struggles, are compressed into a few verses: he reigned, he did such things, he died, he was buried, and his son reigned in his place. However great these kings seemed in their day, the record of their lives is brief, and moves on. It is a quiet reminder of how our lives, too, pass, and are summed up more briefly than we imagine, as the generations succeed one another.

That brevity is worth pausing over. Our own lives, which loom so large to us, will one day be summed up briefly, and the world will move on, as it moved on from these kings. This is not cause for despair, but for perspective: to hold our own importance lightly, and to consider what, in a life so briefly summed up, will truly last. What lasts is not the reign or the achievements that fill a few verses, but what is done for God and endures beyond the grave. Hold your own life and its importance with humility, remembering how briefly even kings are summed up; and give yourself to what will last beyond the brief record of your days. The kings reigned and died and were succeeded; live for what endures when your own brief record is written and the world moves on.

Lord, this passage sums up whole reigns and lives in a few brief verses: the kings reigned, did their deeds, died, were buried, and their sons reigned in their place. Let that brevity give me perspective. My own life, which looms so large to me, will one day be summed up briefly, and the world will move on, as it moved on from these kings. This is not cause for despair, but for perspective: to hold my own importance lightly, and to consider what, in a life so briefly summed up, will truly last. What lasts is not the achievements that fill a few verses, but what is done for you and endures beyond the grave. Help me hold my own life and its importance with humility, remembering how briefly even kings are summed up; and help me give myself to what will last beyond the brief record of my days. The kings reigned and died and were succeeded; help me live for what endures when my own brief record is written and the world moves on. Fix my life on what lasts, Lord, beyond the brief record of my days.