The true believer must know that God is faithful and that He does not renege on His promises. Faithfulness is one of the most important attributes of God that we can tap into. When God makes a promise to you, He keeps it irrespective of what people do. Irrespective of what the enemy tries to do, that promise will be kept.

God would have destroyed Judah but He didn’t because of David’s sake. The Bible says, “Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children”, (2 Kings 8:19).

We all know the story of David well; how he was picked by God from being a shepherd and made a king over Israel; but committed adultery and murder later. However, when God pointed out his sins to him, he accepted it and repented. He accepted the consequences of his actions. It goes without saying, we reap what we sow. There is no punishment in Heaven. So David received punishment for his sins whilst he was on earth. Actions have consequences. But David had a heart for God. He was very repentant and yearned to be in His presence at all times.

So what was the promise that God made to David that was mentioned here in 2 Kings? In 2 Samuel, we learned that when God had given David “rest round about from all his enemies” he decided to call for Prophet Nathan. When Nathan came, David told him of his desire to build a house for God. But God gave word to Nathan to give to David. God asked David if He had at any point in time in leading the Israelites requested for a house to dwell in. In short, God told David He would appoint a place for the Israelites to dwell so that they would not be moving around anymore. He also told David that he would not build a house for Him, but his own son would do. You can find this story in 2 Kings 7. God was very impressed with David and promised him. Part of the promise was, “My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever”, (2 Samuel 7:15-16).

So God promised to establish the kingdom of David forever. Because of that promise, when Solomon became idolatrous, God split the kingdom for David’s sake. God would have taken the kingdom away from Solomon and give to another person from a different tribe, but because of the promise He made earlier to David, He divided the kingdom into two: South and North. The Southern Kingdom comprised of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin with its capital, Jerusalem. The Southern Kingdom is commonly referred to as “Judah”. The Northern Kingdom comprised of the remaining ten tribes, with its capital, Samaria; and commonly referred to as “Israel”. So in the book of Kings, stories about the lives of the kings from both kingdom were documented. But the Book of Chronicles was explicitly about the acts of the kings from the Southern Kingdom, Judah. We don’t have the chronicles of the kings of the Northern Kingdom in the Bible – we know of them in the Book of Kings.

King Jehoram was 32 years old and reigned 8 years after the death of his father, Jehoshaphat, (2 Kings 8:17). (Note: King Ahab also had a son with similar name, “Joram” who reigned at the same time over the Northen Kingdom). In the Book of Kings, you would notice that most of the wicked reigns were from the Northern Kingdom, “Israel”. The Southern Kingdom had the better kings who set their hearts towards God. But every now and then, there arose a wicked king in Judah and Jehoram was one of them. Instead of walking in the ways of the kings of Judah, he “walked in the way of the kings of Israel [the Northern Kingdom], as did the house of Ahab”, (2 Kings 8:18, Emphasis mine). Because of His promise to David, God didn’t destroy Judah.

God’s faithfulness lies in His unchangeable character. For He said, “I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed”, (Malachi 3:6). David was humble enough to accept his faults and repented. You and I can be like David. We can be humble when our faults and sins are pointed out to us. We should be ready like David to turn away from them and live godly. Because of David, Judah was not destroyed. If you live a pleasing life to God, God can sustain your family because of you. God can sustain your seed because of you. Yes, God has done it in the past and He can do it again. So continue believing in God. Continue to do what His Word says. Continue to live by faith so that you can please Him. For those who please God are well taken care of by God.