And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the first ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim,

And Jehovah was with Jehoshaphat, for he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto the Baals;

And Jehovah is with Jehoshaphat, for he hath walked in the first ways of David his father, and hath not sought to Baalim,

And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he went in the early ways of his father, not turning to the Baals,

And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father, David. And he did not trust in the Baals,

The first ways of his father David - The Septuagint and several Hebrew manuscripts omit "David," which has probably crept in from the margin, for David's "first ways" are nowhere else contrasted with his later ways. The real meaning of the writer is, that Jehoshaphat followed the example set by his father Asa in his earlier years 2-Chronicles 14:1-15; 15.
Baalim - On the plural form, see 1-Kings 18:18 note.

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat - "The Word of the Lord was Jehoshaphat's Helper." - Targum.

And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the (a) first ways of his father David, and sought not unto (b) Baalim;
(a) That is, his virtues meaning before he had committed with Bathsheba, and against Uriah.
(b) Did not seek help from strange Gods.

And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat,.... Guiding and directing, prospering and succeeding him in all things; he had, no doubt, his gracious presence in spiritual things, as well as his powerful and directing presence in things civil; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord was for his help;"
because he walked in the first ways of his father David; which were his best; some of his last ways not being good, as in the affair of Uriah and Bathsheba, and his numbering of the people; Jehoshaphat followed him in the one, but not in the other: or, "in the ways of David and his father, the first"; the first of them both; for the latter ways of his father Asa were not so good as his first, as the preceding chapter shows; and the Septuagint version leaves out the word "David", and so restrains it to his own father:
and sought not unto Baalim; as did Ahab king of Israel, who now reigned there; 1-Kings 15:24.

he walked in the first ways of his father David--He imitated the piety of his great ancestor in the early part of his reign before he made those unhappy lapses which dishonored his character.
and sought not unto Baalim--a term used for idols generally in contradistinction to the Lord God of his father.

Sought not, &c. - It is true, he recovered from that fall. "Yet perhaps, says Mr. Henry, he never, while he lived, fully retrieved the spiritual strength he lost by it."