Kings in Jerusalem

by S. Scott Smelser

Saul was handsome,
Saul was tall,
Sad to say,
that was all,
from the throne
he was rejected,
and a shepherd
was selected.

David took Goliath down.
David’s line would keep the crown.
King Saul’s daughter
was David’s wife,
What Saul wanted
was David’s life.
David lifted not his hand
against the Lord’s anointed,
Even if some of his men
were likely disappointed.
A man of sheep,
A warrior strong,
A man who sinned
and did great wrong,
He confessed his sin.
He mourned in song,
For a clean new heart
He prayed and longed.

Solomon gave wisdom
to the young and simple.
He gave us many proverbs,
he also built the temple.
Solomon was very rich
and he was very wise,
till he ignored what he had taught,
and followed foreign wives.

King Rehoboam
wanted to be tough,
he thought, “I’ll show ‘em”
and spoke very rough.
So, leaving Rehoboam,
the northern tribes all sided,
with new king Jeroboam
and the kingdom was divided.

Abijam opposed the idols
Jeroboam had put in.
But Abijam also walked
in his own father’s sin

Asa usually
did good and right,
but when corrected,
he reacted in spite.

A very good king
was Jehoshaphat,
sending out teachers,
and things like that,
But he offered to evil
a welcome mat.
Joining Ahab’s daughter
to his own son Joram,
who became more evil
than the kings before him.
By Joram’s bloody sword
his own six brothers fell
He walked after Ahab
and wicked Jezebel.
His wife, their daughter,
the wicked Athaliah,
Their son, the next king
they named Ahaziah,
An evil mama’s boy
during his short reign,
till Jezebel was killed,
and Ahaziah slain.

With her puppet king dead,
Athaliah took the throne,
she killed the royal heirs,
killing grandkids of her own.
But a baby boy was saved
by a sister of the king.
Protected by a priest,
it was kept a secret thing.
When the boy turned seven,
Jehoida brought him out,
“Long live the king!”
Athaliah heard them shout.
So she was put to death,
while claiming it was treason,
but Joash grew up well,
and Jehoida was the reason.
So Joash started off ahead,
far better than most after him,
but once the guiding priest was dead,
he turned and followed Asherim,
When a prophet gave rebuke,
and showed what he’d forsaken,
he had the prophet stoned to death,
and his own life was soon taken

Amaziah, like his father,
started better than he ended,
after he defeated Edom
then their idols he befriended.

Young Uzziah
became a great king,
he set his heart
to do the right thing.
Taught by a prophet
and seeking the right,
a builder, a farmer,
a great king of might,
He defeated Philistines,
and expanded his powers,
He armored his men,
and built catapult towers,
But he entered the temple,
where priests were allowed,
he ignored their warnings,
for he’d become proud.
So, a leper he turned,
for assumption and pride,
and a leper he stayed
till the day that he died.
So, in a separate house
the Leper lived aside,
while Jotham filled his seat,
having seen the cost of pride.
So, though a king of might
it went not to his head,
and unlike other kings,
Jotham served the Lord instead.

Jotham’s son and Jotham's grandson
would be very different kings:
Ahaz was a wicked failure,
Hezekiah did great things

Ahaz sacrificed his sons,
he sinned as heathens did,
then attacked on every side,
in a heathen trust, he hid.
Isaiah brought a message
telling Ahaz not to fear
for Israel and Damascus,
would both soon disappear.
But trusting not the message,
and trusting not the Lord,
Ahaz put his trust instead,
on Assyria’s pagan sword.
He made a copy of an altar
of the gods of an enemy,
thinking since their gods helped them-
those gods will now help me.
He also shut the temple doors,
while idol gods he served.
He was not buried with the kings,
an honor he’d not deserved.

To the throne came Hezekiah,
the great King and the good.
Being nothing like his father,
he did opposite what he would.

The northern kings of Israel,
had never walked well,
and in year four of Hezekiah,
the Northern kingdom fell.
Shalmenezer and Sargon,
the kings of Assyria
conquered all the northern tribes
and they took Samaria.
In year four of Hezekiah,
came destruction of the north,
they’d not listened to the prophets,
when the Word of God went forth,
bowing down to graven idols,
serving many pagan things,
and the North from start to finish,
had always only evil kings.

The divided kingdom over,
so now Judah stood alone,
with Isaiah as a prophet,
and Hezekiah on the throne.
He opened up the temple,
and renewed the sacred rites,
he tried to lead the people back
and took down idol sites.
Then Assyria invaded,
and took town after town,
but Jerusalem was spared
when an angel took them down.

Manasseh ruled,
both long and wrong,
He was one of the worst.
Worse even than the Canaanites,
who’d been cast out at first.
Even into the temple,
he brought idols accursed.
He later had a change of heart,
but the nation was not reversed.

Amon was a wicked king,
but soon was off the throne,
two years in, the king was killed,
by servants of his own.

His little son Josiah,
a boy of only eight,
became the King of Judah,
and was one of the great.
He set his heart to serve the Lord,
when he was not yet grown.
He followed God and was the last,
of good kings on the throne.

His sons and grandson followed him
but they were evil all:
Jehoahaz was taken out
when Pharaoh came to call.
Neco took him down to Egypt,
(where that was the end of him),
and replaced him with his brother
whom he named Jehoiachim.

Then Jehoiachim was taken,
by the King of Babylon,
And his son Jehoiachin,
met the same fate further on.

His uncle Zedekiah
was the last king taken out,
and his sons were killed before him
and then both his eyes put out.

Then Jerusalem was taken,
and the temple it was burned,
and the walls were broken down,
in a judgment they had earned.

After many years as captives,
then a remnant would return,
like Zerubbabel, then Ezra,
Nehemiah, all in turn.

Then, for many years, they waited
for the promised righteous King,
'til the shepherds came to see Him
when they heard the angels sing!

Notes:

• Some of the information is from Kings, and some from Chronicles.
• If you prefer some of the "also-known-as" names in your classes, feel free to substitute them as needed.