2 Chronicles 25:20-28: a reflection

20But Amaziah would not listen; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom. 21So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22Judah was defeated by Israel; so every man fled to his tent. 23Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits. 24He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in God’s house with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, and the hostages, and returned to Samaria. 25Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, aren’t they written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28They brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.

King Amaziah, after a victory, grows proud, and turns to the gods of the people he had defeated. When warned, he will not listen; and the text notes that his deafness to warning was itself part of God's judgment, for he had forsaken God. His pride and refusal to heed lead him into a rash war he cannot win; he is defeated, Jerusalem is plundered, and in the end he is killed in a conspiracy. The pride that would not listen carried him to ruin.

Notice the deafness that pride brought. Amaziah, grown proud after success and turned from God, would not listen to warning; and that refusal to heed led him into disaster. Pride had closed his ears; he was too sure of himself, too far from God, to take correction or warning. And the unheeded warning proved true, as his pride carried him into a defeat he could have avoided had he listened. His refusal to heed was the road to his ruin.

That deafness of pride is a danger we can share, especially after success. Success can breed a pride that stops our ears to warning and correction; we grow too sure of ourselves to listen, and so we walk into avoidable disaster. But the wise heed warning, even when success has made them confident; the proud, like Amaziah, will not, and it destroys them. Do not let success breed in you a pride that stops your ears to warning and correction. Stay humble enough to listen, even when you are confident, even when things have gone well; the unheeded warning may be the very thing that would have spared you. Amaziah's pride made him deaf, and his deafness led to ruin; keep your ears open to warning and correction, especially after success, rather than letting pride close them, as it closed Amaziah's, to your own destruction.

Lord, King Amaziah, grown proud after victory and turned to other gods, would not listen to warning, and his deafness led him into a rash war, defeat, and death; the pride that would not listen carried him to ruin. Show me that danger, which I can share, especially after success. Success can breed a pride that stops my ears to warning and correction; I can grow too sure of myself to listen, and so walk into avoidable disaster. But the wise heed warning, even when success has made them confident; the proud, like Amaziah, will not, and it destroys them. Keep success from breeding in me a pride that stops my ears to warning and correction. Help me stay humble enough to listen, even when I am confident, even when things have gone well; the unheeded warning may be the very thing that would have spared me. Amaziah's pride made him deaf, and his deafness led to ruin; help me keep my ears open to warning and correction, especially after success, rather than letting pride close them, as it closed Amaziah's, to my own destruction. Keep me humble and teachable, Lord, even in success.