These verses offer us a cluster of truths which we may gather.

I. THAT OUR FATE IS COMMONLY BOUND UP WITH THAT OF OUR FRIENDS. Ahaziah "went with Jehoram the son of Ahab" (ver. 5); and, allying himself with him in war, he visited him as a friend when he was at his home at Jezreel. But this friendship with God's enemies led him to his destruction; his coming to Jehoram was "of God" (ver. 7); it was the way taken by Divine Providence to bring upon him the penalty of his guilt. For he perished with his friend on the same day and at the same hand (vers. 8, 9). When we are determining upon our alliances and our friendships, it is well not only to consider the station, the income, the reputation in society, of those who invite us to their confidence, but also to inquire concerning their probable whither-ward. In what direction are they moving? Toward what goal are their faces turned? What will their end be? Are they on an upward or on a downward course? For nothing is more likely than that we shall share their fate, that we shall become what they are becoming.

II. THAT THE INFLUENCE OF A GOOD MAN GOES FAR BEYOND HIS OWN GENERATION. "They buried him, Because (they said) he is the son of Jehoshaphat," etc. (ver. 9). He was Jehoshaphat's grandson; but though they had to go back two generations, the memory and the moral impression of the good king had not faded - at any rate, had not been effaced. "The memory of the just" abides; it is fragrant after many years have gone; and the influence of the holy lasts when the memory has disappeared. Knowledge in the memory, peace in the mind, soundness in the soul, beauty and usefulness in the life, - these are the fruits of the good man's life, though they are not traced to his hand and not referred to his working; they are influences which spread and widen as the years go on.

III. THAT IF WE PLACE OURSELVES UNDER THE DOMINION OF EVIL, WE DO NOT KNOW TO WHAT DEPTH WE MAY DESCEND. We have here a woman, who was brought up in a civilized court, and who had the opportunity of acquainting herself with the Law of the Lord, causing all her own grandsons to be murdered, in order that she might have the helm of the state in her own hands! To what a bottomless depth of moral degradation can a woman sink, when she gives herself up to the power of evil! And we do not, any of us, know the lengths of wrong-doing, the depths of iniquity, to which we may go, if we once yield to that strong temptation - impurity, avarice, indulgence in strong drink, the intoxication of applause, or whatever it may be - which is assailing and even threatening us. Shun the first step in an evil course, for the slope becomes steeper as we go further, and it leads down to a deep and dark gulf of shame and ruin.

IV. THAT WOMANLY KINDNESS HAS A LARGE CONTRIBUTION TO BRING TO THE CAUSE AND KINGDOM OF GOD. It was a very great service, fruitful of large results, which Jehoshabeath now rendered (ver. 11). It was a very valuable service that womanly kindness and fidelity rendered to our Lord when he lived and when he died for us. The Apostle Paul had to thank womanly kindness for succour in the course of his career. Pity, with the hand of help it stretches forth, is a handmaid of piety, a valued servant in the king's household.

V. THAT IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD WE MAY FIND A HIDING-PLACE FOR OURSELVES. (Ver. 12.) His aunt hid the infant Joash in the house of God (ver. 12). Many times, in many lands, has the house of God been a sanctuary, a place where men have taken refuge and have hidden themselves from the wrath of the pursuer. But there is a better way in which God's house may be to us a sanctuary. We may go there to hide ourselves in him whose house it is. We may go there with our troubled or our sin-burdened heart, and we may hide in him who is the God of all grace and consolation, in him who is abundant in mercy and truth (see Psalm 27:4, 5). When we cherish a living faith in God our Saviour and our Friend, we "hide ourselves under the shadow of his wings" (Psalm 17:8). - C.

I. ITS BEGINNING THROUGH HOME INFLUENCE. Here all start life in right or wrong direction. Home influence affects societies, Churches, and nations.

II. ITS CONTINUANCE BY EVIL COUNSELLORS (ver. 4). A nation with evil legislators like a ship directed in the midst of rooks — in imminent peril.

III. ITS END IN JUDGMENT WHICH IT ENTAILED.

(J. Wolfendale.)