The only metric for determining a good king was whether he was “loyal to the Lord” or not.
Abijam, the son of Rehoboam, took up where his father had left off. Twice we are told, “And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days” (1 Ki 14:30; 15:6). So we also read, “And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam” (v 7). And why this constant turmoil, you might ask? The answer is clear: like father, like son. “And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David” (v 3). Abijam reigned only three years in Jerusalem, was buried in the City of David, and seems to have left hardly a shadow in his passing. Now Asa, Solomon’s great-grandson, comes to the throne. It’s true, he has his deficits. For whatever reason, during his tenure, “the high places were not removed” (v 14). Nonetheless, the Lord records His approbation: “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David. And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made” (vv 11-12). That may not have been the most difficult action he took, since “his fathers”—grandfather Rehoboam and father Abijam—were dead. On the other hand, listen to this! “Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron” (v 13). That took real gumption, since she was very much alive. It’s a difficult thing to stand for God when our family members stand against us. But these were exactly the terms laid out by the kind, loving, and gracious Savior: “He who loves father or mother… son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37). Holiness begins at home.