Morning
Time: 12:18 AM PST
"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
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
morning's 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."