The righteousness of Jehoshaphat: Some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.

The Second Book of Chronicles, with the life of King Jehoshaphat, shows what the path of righteousness and the fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion, and equanimity) is like for sensible people. The truth is that no one is completely bad or completely good. In essence, only God is naturally good and men can approach the goodness of God by doing acts of righteousness. The spiritual gift of righteousness ("Do to no one what you yourself hate" Tobit 4:15) is progressive, gradual, and edifying.
Like David who ordered the death of his officer Uriah to marry the beautiful Bathsheba, and like Solomon who allowed the idolatry of his numerous foreign wives, Jehoshaphat also committed sins against God, for the simple reason that men are naturally imperfect before God. And this is the message that the wise men of the Bible constantly leave to the readers of this great book with their teachings and lessons. Men before God should not act with arrogance thinking that they "know it all" but rather present themselves with a contrite heart because no one is exempt from sin.
The Bible set Jehoshaphat, this ancestor of the Lord Jesus, as an example to follow, although the Bible tells us that some of Jehoshaphat's political actions were dubious, such as when he allied himself with the King of Israel, Ahab, and for this he was rebuked by a prophet: "Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, ´Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is on you. Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God" 2 Chronicles 19:2-3.
Jehoshaphat, the Bible tells us, was a sensible man who sought God in all his actions, however, some things about this great king displeased God; but the Lord in his wisdom, the Holy Scriptures tell us, had mercy (compassion, kindness) on Jehoshaphat's mistakes and thus blessed him: "And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side" 2 Chronicles 20:30. As in the case of Jehoshaphat, who was upright, God is always willing to forgive human errors, but men must first of all be internally prepared to receive this forgiveness.

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