This king's reign was also remarkable in another point of view; namely, “Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, all the days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him."

His uncle's influence was over him for good from a child. But "Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days and died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died."

From this time there was a difference in Joash. Wicked men got hold of him, (ver. 17) and he hearkened to them. "And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass." He went on from worse to worse, and the crowning point of his guilt was the murder of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, who came by the Spirit of God, and warned the king and the people. "They conspired against him, and stoned him with. stones, at the commandment of the king, in the court of the house of the Lord." "Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son." But when this prophet died, he said, "The Lord look upon it, and require it." Not, as we may suppose, in the

spirit of

prophecy.

revenge, but in the spirit of

It is to this prophet the Lord Jesus is supposed to refer, when he said, "upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." (Matt. xxiii. 35.) To hate those who tell them of their wickedness, has always been the way with the haters of the Lord. And to persecute them, even unto death, has often been the conduct of such persons when they have had the power. So it was with Asa king of Judah, who put the seer in prison for reproving him. So Ahab hated and imprisoned Micaiah. So Herod imprisoned and beheaded John the Baptist. So the Jews crucified the Lord of glory.

Then how miserable was the end of this king. First, the army of the Syrians came, and "with a small company, executed judgment against Joash." And "when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him, for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed and he died."

These are sad and bloody tales to tell

and to hear. But they are written for us. And they seem to convey to us lessons and warnings, as it were written in letters of blood. Let us attend to them.

First, who would covet the high places and the high honours of this world? The bloodiest tales of history, whether ancient or modern, are connected with kings, and queens, and empires, and thrones. These are the slippery places of the earth, on which so few stand without falling. We see how hardly they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. The gilded dust that blinds the eyes of the rich, and noble, and great, is more fatal in its effects than the dust of poverty. "Seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them not." Be content with your lot, if you are poor. For God who has so placed you, has removed from your reach many thousand temptations and difficulties, that are drowning others in eternal perdition.

Then, secondly, while we see how great a blessing it is to have the guidance and the good influence of a religious friend, we see also that if a person does not do what is right on other accounts than this, his religion is likely to come to nought. As it was with Joash, whose goodness lasted only the life

time of the good priest Jehoiada. When he was gone, then all Joash's goodness went also. We see how persons may deceive themselves and others, by an outward goodness, which is only kept up by some outward cause, and which does not really spring out of a heart under the influence of divine grace. Who would not have said, Joash was a holy man, who would never fall away from God, when they saw all his great zeal in restoring the beauty of God's house, and setting up His worship again! Who would have thought the day would come, when this same man would take all the holy and dedicated things from the temple, and with them pay Hazael king of Syria, to buy him off from attacking Jerusalem, instead of trusting and praying for help from the God whose temple he first honoured and then robbed. Nay, who would have said this king would one day have been as zealous in promoting the worship of false gods and

serving groves and idols," as he was then in serving the true God! And who, above all, would have thought it a possible thing, that this same young man, who was so beholden to the priest his uncle, who so regarded him and followed his good advice, should yet one day give a commandment,

that the son of that priest should be stoned to death, only because he had been faithful and kind in warning him of his evil ways! Yet such was the case. The inward depravity of his heart was checked and restrained by the presence of his uncle, then afterwards under other and bad influence, it ripened into these evil actions.

Are there not such cases in the present day? Surely, it is no uncommon thing to find persons only serving God a little from some outward cause and influence, instead of loving and serving Him heartily, from the power of truth and grace in the heart. Must we not examine well the foundation on which we are built. We do many things right and proper, perhaps. We conform to the outward ordinances of religion. We are moral and respectable in our outward demeanour. We do no great crimes, and look on and speak with horror of those who do them. So far, this is well. But all the while, have we got the root of the matter in our hearts? Do we know what it is really to abhor that which is evil, and have we a real taste and relish for godly things, so that our prayers and attendance on God's service, are not things done from mere constraint, but from choice, and are therefore spiritual