II Chronicles 34:2 “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.”
Josiah became king of Judah when he was just eight years old, but when “he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images” (II Chronicles 34:3). He had the Word of God read to him and then went on to purge out the ungodliness, the idolatry, and the immorality that had taken seed in the latter days of Solomon and had now overtaken Judah, even the priesthood was corrupted. He is known as “Good King Josiah” for the good things he did in the service of his God. However, Judah had tasted the addictive corruption of idolatry and after king Josiah was killed in battle with the Egyptians, they soon began to return to their ungodliness which ultimately led to their utter destruction by the Babylonian army. Let us pray for leaders like Josiah, who love the Lord, who read His Word, who have the God-given wisdom and strength to stand up and do right no matter how great the opposition may be and seek to do “that which” is “right in the sight of the LORD”.