1 Kings 16:2

1 Kings 16:2. Forasmuch as I exalted thee— It may be asked, how Baasha's exaltation to the kingdom of Israel can be ascribed to God, when it is manifest that he gained it by his own treachery and cruelty? To which it may be replied, that though the manner of invading the kingdom was from himself and his own wicked heart, yet the translation of the kingdom from Nadab to Baasha, simply considered, was from God, who by his decree and Providence ordered it, and so disposed of all occasions, and of the hearts of all the soldiers and the people, that Baasha should have opportunity to execute his judgments upon Nadab, and such success thereupon, as should procure him an immediate and quiet possession of the kingdom. So that his accession to the kingdom was from the divine decree, though the form and manner of his accession was from himself, from his own ambition and covetousness; and, as it was wicked and cruel, is therefore charged upon him, 1Ki 16:7 as a wilful murder.