Do you know what a “fit of pique” is?
It’s when someone reacts badly to a particular circumstance because of hurt pride.
It happens a lot – and it happened to Asa.
I suppose Asa felt God owed him something. After all, he had been a good king, he had commanded Judah to “seek the Lord,” he gave God credit for the blessings they had received and acknowledged God had been the source of their great victory over the Cushites (chapter 14). He even initiated spiritual reform in Judah, opposing and deposing his own mother for her pagan practices.
For twenty years, Asa ruled with success and faced no real opposition.
Then, his counterpart in Israel, Baasha, marched against him and Asa panicked. He took treasures from the Lord’s house and hired the protection of Beh-Hadad, the king of Syria (Aram).
What happened to all his faith, his confidence, and his dependence on God?
Somehow, it vanished. Perhaps years of ease, a lack of challenge, made him spiritually flabby. Whatever the reason, this huge mistake made him dependent on Syria and was an insult to God. Asa believed God should have kept things the way they were. He resented that his “mistake” should have such far-reaching and negative consequences and, angry with God, in a “fit of pique,” he turned against the Lord – or rather, refused to turn to Him.
I’ve seen it many times. Someone blessed by God makes a mistake, acts in a careless manner, and receives the consequences. Because God couldn’t, or wouldn’t, just “let it slide,” they turned from the Lord. Their pride is their undoing – as was Asa’s.