Hearts at Rest

2 Chronicles 15:12
They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.

Through the chapters between here and the last heart, the godly king = victorious king theme continued. Abijah, Rehoboam's son, made a speech to Israel's army, describing Judah's continuing true worship of True God. Ambushed from behind by a numerically superior army, they had a God-given victory.
Abijah's son Asa took over as purifier, wreaking holy destruction on pagan sites, including the high places that would be so persistent later.
The result was peace. It's something I've noticed as well in my daily readings. For Israel, being right with God vanquished all other problems. Being right with God was better than military superiority. It was better than superior diplomacy.
Asa prayed boldly, "...in your name we have come against this vast army." (v. 14:11) It should be my prayer everyday, every hour, as I face anxiety over the disturbing events near and far.
Though he seemed to be going strong, the encouraging words of the prophet Azariah lit a fresh fire in him, and he renewed his war on false gods and invited all of Judah and the other tribes that had joined them to join in renewed commitment to Yahweh.
That sets the scene for today's heart. It is the heart of a nation, of greater Judah I'll call them. The revival was not without cost, as those of rebellious heart were purged that day. I want to add two more verses completing this story, one of them the next heart:
14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

Unset Heart

2 Chronicles 12:14
He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.

He is Rehoboam. As verse 12 says, "Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah."
The previous heart gave a pretty good impression of Solomon's son, but chapter 12 starts out calamitously. Rehoboam and Judah abandoned the law of God, and God abandoned them. Surrounded by a threatening army, they had the sense to say simply, "The LORD is just." (v. 6) God is so good, so merciful, that he cancelled the wrath and let them off with an unpleasant experience of servitude.
The chapter keeps coming back to the relationship of Judah to God. Nothing else matters. This verse is a caution. We don't have to seek evil to do evil. We leave a dangerous vacuum when we are not actively seeking the Lord.
God, help me to set my heart on seeking You. Help me to never fail to seek You.

Seeking Hearts

2 Chronicles 11:16
Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Only two chapters later, the glory of Solomon is over, and Israel the nation isn't even what it was. Rehoboam, Solomon's son, is king, and his accomplishments are those of a king at war. He fortifies cities, he sends his sons throughout the land to watch his back.

Because only Judah, his own tribe, and Benjamin stayed with him. He had one more tribe, though: the Levites. Rehoboam had Jerusalem, and he had the worship of the true God, and the priest-tribe left anything and everything to stay on the side of their God. Not only that, others came from all over Israel, from every tribe, their hearts set on seeking the Lord.

I love this. I'm not sure I ever really took it in. For some, True God was more important than tribe, and tribe was very, very important. Yahweh was more important than land.

God, be all to me, more important than anything.

Heart Wisdom

2 Chronicles 9:23
All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

A heart full of wisdom. So great a reputation that all the kings of the earth went to Israel to hear him speak. What was that world like, the earth of two or three millennia ago? If you lived there, it wasn't like anything. It just was.
It was an earth without the sound of machines, but plenty of animal sounds and smells. It had rivers and seas, and naturally grown food. Somehow some people managed to live very opulently, Solomon among them, as well as some of those other kings. Many other people lived simply, very simply, almost unimaginably simply. Small houses made of earth or stone. No glass. Cooking over a fire, camp-style, or in the simplest of fireplaces or ovens. They lived close to their animals and their crops, and the medical help was very primitive. They must have lived close to death as well. They had music. There was always music. If you have nothing else, you can still sing. They knew about God. And the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.