It’s not the years in your life that count but the life in those years—and that life comes from God.
There isn’t much more to say about Amaziah. He “turned away from following the Lord” (2 Chron 25:27), and in short order, Judah turned away from following him. “They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.” Thus he joins the roll of those kings that started well and finished badly. What next? “All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father” (26:1). Remarkably, “he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem” (v 3), some of that time as co-regent with both his father and son. Notice that verses 5-20 in this passage are unique to the Chronicler. We have a record of his first exploit, completing his father’s war with Edom and securing Elat as a southern seaport (v 2). Encouragingly, we read, “he did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (v 4), “he sought God in the days of Zechariah” (v 5), and “God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabians…and against the Meunites. Also the Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah. His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong” (vv 7-8). These are all very encouraging statements, but another portentous comment is added, like a ticking time bomb: “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper” (v 5). Thus the fatal flaw in this too-frequent process. A man seeks the Lord. The Lord helps the man. The man gains success. The man claims the favorable results are of his own doing. The man acts independently from God. Disaster results. Our prayer might be taken from the words of the apostle Paul, “That I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24).