1 Kings 15:9-15

Asa’s godliness 15:9-15

Asa came to power close to the end of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel in 910 B.C. Asa reigned from 911-870 B.C., 41 years, an unusually long reign that probably began when he was quite young (cf. 1 Kings 15:2). It was his grandmother (NIV), not his mother (NASB), who bore the name Maacah (cf. 1 Kings 15:2). The queen mother (dowager), not the king’s wife, was the first lady in the kingdom. [Note: Gray, p. 106.]

The rightness of Asa’s acts is clear from his removing the pagan worship practices of Rehoboam and Abijam (1 Kings 15:12-13; cf. Deuteronomy 9:21). He did away with some of the high places (2 Chronicles 14:3), but not all of them (1 Kings 15:14). However, his heart was true to Yahweh all his days (1 Kings 15:14), even though he became somewhat self-reliant later in his life (2 Chronicles 16:7-10).