1So Abijah went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David, and Asa his son became king in his place; in his time the land was quiet for ten years. 2And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God; 3For he took away the altars of strange gods and the high places, and had the upright stones broken and the wood pillars cut down; 4And he made Judah go after the Lord, the God of their fathers, and keep his laws and his orders. 5And he took away the high places and the sun-images from all the towns of Judah; and the kingdom was quiet under his rule. 6He made walled towns in Judah, for the land was quiet and there were no wars in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. 7He said to Judah, Let us make these towns, building walls round them with towers and doors and locks. The land is still ours, because we have been true to the Lord our God; we have been true to him and he has given us rest on every side. So they went on building and all went well for them. 8And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah armed with body-covers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand of Benjamin armed with body-covers and bows; all these were men of war. 9And Zerah the Ethiopian, with an army of a million, and three hundred war-carriages, came out against them to Mareshah. 10And Asa went out against him, and they put their forces in position in the valley north of Mareshah. 11And Asa made prayer to the Lord his God and said, Lord, you only are able to give help against the strong to him who has no strength; come to our help, O Lord our God, for our hope is in you, and in your name we have come out against this great army. O Lord, you are our God; let not man's power be greater than yours. 12So the Lord sent fear on the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah; and the Ethiopians went in flight. 13And Asa and the people who were with him went after them as far as Gerar; and so great was the destruction among the Ethiopians that they were not able to get their army together again, for they were broken before the Lord and before his army; and they took away a great amount of their goods. 14And they overcame all the towns round Gerar, because the Lord sent fear on them; and they took away their goods from the towns, for there were stores of wealth in them. 15And they made an attack on the tents of the owners of the cattle, and took away great numbers of sheep and camels and went back to Jerusalem.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom. - Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vexation. Asa consulted with his people how to make a good use of the peace they enjoyed; and concluded with them that they must not be idle, nor secure. A formidable army of Ethiopians invaded Asa's kingdom. This evil came upon them, that their faith in God might be tried. Asa's prayer is short, but it is the real language of faith and expectation from God. When we go forth in God's name, we cannot but prosper, and all things work together for the good of those whom he favours.