Actually this is not the final epitaph summarising King Asa’s life. It was the words of his prayer to God that inspired the writing of the famous nineteenth century hymn by Edith Cherry, “We rest on thee, our Shield and our Defender”.

This hymn is usually sung to that wonderful piece of music called Finlandia. This was the hymn sung by Jim Elliott and his four companions before they made their fateful missionary trip into the Amazon rain forest (Ecuador) to bring the good news of Jesus to the Auca people, a trip that resulted in them all being martyred. God answered the prayer of Asa dramatically with an amazing military victory. But what about Jim Elliott and his companions? Did God not answer their prayer? Yes, He did, but perhaps not in the way many might have anticipated. They suffered death, but later many from that tribe became followers of Jesus, including several of the warriors that carried out the executions. See the Hymns Illustrated website for further details.