ve been content that the
"_groves_," with their grosser forms of idolatry, were gone, and that
other forms might be tolerated, just as some, who have conquered their
vices, are morally ruined by what the world calls little sins. But, in
spite of these failings, the judgment of God, who is ever slow to anger
and of great mercy, was that Asa's heart was "_perfect_"--sound, whole,
and sincere, though not sinless.

How happy it is that God judges not as man judges, that He can
unerringly read the heart, and graciously accepts even the imperfect
and blundering service which we sincerely offer to Him. Jehu
accurately executed Jehovah's fiat, whereas Asa's obedience seemed
imperfect; yet the latter was commended, and the former condemned,
because Asa, unlike Jehu, was right in heart. Therefore we may be
encouraged still to do our little part in God's service, in spite of
the failures and imperfections of the past, if only we can say, "_Lord,
Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee_."

AHAZIAH

BY REV. J. G. GREENHOUGH, M.A.

"And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, by coming to Joram; for,
when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of
Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab."--2
CHRON. xxii. 7.

We rarely read this part of the Bible. And I do not wonder at it. For
those particular chapters are undoubtedly dreary and monotonous. They
contain the names of a number of incompetent and worthless kings who
did nothing that was worth writing about, and who were singularly
alike, so that when you have heard the story of one of them you know
pretty well the story of all. It is the good lives that furnish
attractive reading, because there is so much individuality and variety
in them, so many pictorial lights and shadows. A novel in which all
the characters are mean, would be read by nobody. The blackness needs
to be relieved by something good, for darkness is always monotonous.
Bad men show a dreary sameness in their thoughts and doings, their rise
and fall. The godly are like nature illumined by the sunlight,
manifold and infinite; the wicked are like nature when the darkness
covers it, uniform and dismal. Nearly all that is said in the Bible
about these bad kings, is that they walked in the ways of Ahab or
Jeroboam or some other wicked person, that they closely imitated the
doings of their model. The Bible does not waste space in describing
t