Psalm 31:1-4

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in 2 Chronicles 35—the passover of Josiah.

2 Chronicles 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

He cleansed the land of the idols worshipped in the days of his grandfather Manasseh and his father Amon (2 Chronicles 33:21-25; 34:1-7), repaired the House of God in Jerusalem (34:814), recovered the oracles, the word of God, and humbled himself to its message (34:15-28), went into the House of the LORD and read the Law to the people, and made a public oath to the God of Israel, and commanded the people to follow the LORD and His Law (34:30-33).

And, moreover, that is, on top of all he had already done, Josia restored the passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 35:1).

Along the still waters, I thought of how proud his mother must have been. She is named in 2 Kings 22:1-2, Jedidah. Her name means beloved.

Jedida was the last mother of a good king. Also, the only mothers named for good kings, who did “that which was right in the sight of the LORD,” were kings of Judah. Those named for kings of Judah who did evil in the sight of the Lord are Bathsheba (Solomon), Naamah (Rehoboam), Maachah (Abijam), Athaliah (the worst—Ahaziah), Hephzibah (Manasseh), Meshullemeth (Amon), Hamutal (Jehoahaz and Zedekiah), Zebudah (Jehoiakim), and Nehushta (Jehoichin). Nine bad kings, verses 8 good kings in Judah. (There are more mothers named for Judah than Israel because Judah continued for more than a century after Israel was destroyed.)

But as for Israel, no mother named gave birth to a good king.

In the Mother’s Hall of Honor are Maachah (Asa), Azubah (Jehoshaphat), Zibiah (Joash), Jehoaddan (Amaziah), Jecoliah (Uzziah), Jerusha (Jotham), Abi (Hezekiah), and Jedidah (Josiah).

It does not follow that the mother who gave birth to an evil son was necessarily evil. Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom, is named in both lists. Her son Asa did what was right, but her son Abijah did evil.

The most wicked of the Queen mothers was Jezebel (Joram), and her daughter, Athaliah (Ahaziah).

As I pondered this, I thought: The mothers are known by their sons. A mother’s reputation rests on her sons.

Also, I thought, not all mothers are named. For example, David mentions his mother but does not reveal her name (1 Samuel 22:3-4). It appears that the mother’s name is given when there is some significant connection between that mother and her son’s reign. A son can honor his mother, or dishonor her.

The exhortation from this Devotional is “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12).

There is no better way to give her honor than to “do that which [is] right in the sight of the LORD.”

In the valley, I heard Jesus say, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed as we entered the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏