THEOSISPhilaret of Moscow (Drosdow)
God bestows blessings upon the lineage of the righteous, granting them glory and wealth that enrich their households, and their righteousness, an inherited virtue, lasts eternally (Psalm 111:2-3). The Lord elevated David, the humble shepherd, to royal prominence; He selected Solomon as his successor; He safeguarded Rehoboam from recklessness that could lead to ruin; He concealed it from deceit and ill-will within His temple, embodied in the infant Joash; and He ensured its perpetual existence on the throne of Jerusalem through the esteemed, though not uniformly praiseworthy, descendants of David. In contrast, the kings of Israel, who sought greatness apart from the true God and derived from a tainted throne, were systematically dismantled by the tempests of insurrection, much like leaves and branches falling from a wilting tree.