And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been.
We have here a short account of the short reign of Abijam the son of Rehoboam king of Judah. He makes a better figure, 2 Chr. 13, where we have an account of his war with Jeroboam, the speech which he made before the armies engaged, and the wonderful victory he obtained by the help of God.
Commenting on 1 Kings 15:1-8
Nevertheless, for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem,.... A kingdom there, as the Targum, splendid and glorious, to be continued in his posterity: to set up his son after him; in it: and to establish Jerusalem: to continue that in which the temple was, for the sake of which, and the worship of God in it, there was...
his heart was not perfect with the Lord . . . , as the heart of David his father--(Compare Kg1 11:4; Kg1 14:22). He was not positively bad at first, for it appears that he had done something to restore the pillaged treasures of the temple (Kg1 15:15). This phrase contains a comparative reference to David's heart.