The setting is the Kingdom of Judah, the southern half of the Promised Land that God gave to the descendants of Abraham. Hundreds of years have passed since then. This was after David, after Solomon. A king named Jehoshaphat sits on the throne of Judah. All of his life, this guy has depended on God. He wasn’t perfect, but He was one of the few kings that was good in God’s eyes. He tried to rule according to God’s will. One day Jehoshaphat gets the message that a vast army was marching against them, and it was coming quickly. This news shook him up. But he didn’t panic and start thinking, “What do I do?” The first thing he did was announce that all the people of Judah should fast and pray to God. People from all across the nation came to Jerusalem to pray with him. (2 Chronicles 20:1-5) When a large crowd had gathered outside the Temple, Jehoshaphat stood up and offered this prayer:
2 Chronicles 20:6-9 “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
1. Recognize God’s Power
Jehoshaphat had a pretty good grasp of the situation. He understood an enemy army was about to invade his territory, but he also knew that God had given him that territory and that God was strong enough to protect it. “Who can stand against you?” he prayed. He recognized God’s power. Recognizing God’s power means that you take Him more seriously than you do yourselves. When you get up in the morning and think of all the things you’ve got to do and you start to worry “how am I going to get it all done” … do you completely overlook the fact that you got up this morning? It was God’s power working in your lives that let you do so. If you are going to receive God’s help you’ve got to take your eyes off of what you can and can’t do and focus on what God can do and is doing. You need to remember the awesome power of God is at your disposal.
2 Chronicles 20:10-12 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
2. Depending on God means that you ask for God’s help.
Jehoshaphat asked God to help him. He recognized his own helplessness, and asked the One who was able to help him. That sounds pretty obvious. But think about it – when you come up against a difficult situation, what’s the first thought that goes through your head? If you’re like me, it’s usually “what am I going to do?” That’s a self-reliant thought. A God-dependent thought would be “Hey God, what do you want to do?” You know that you are depending on God when that thought comes first. “God, what do you want to do?” Jehoshaphat didn’t say: “Oh, no, I’m the king! It’s all up to me! What am I going to do?” The first thing he did was say, “Let’s ask God.” And when you ask God, be ready for an answer.
2 Chronicles 20:13-17 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”
3. Depending on God means that you listen for His guidance.
You recognize His power, you ask for His help and then you wait until He answers you. This is where it gets hard – waiting for an answer from God. The tendency is to say, “Ok, I’ve asked God to help, now I’m going to get out there and fight” which usually means, “I’ll pray and then I’ll go ahead and do what I had planned. I’ll listen, but only for the answer that I want to hear.” Sometimes God may actually tell you what you want to hear. But His answer may be something far different from what you expect. God’s guidance may be “you will not need to fight. Just wait.” It is waiting for the Lord.
The people of the Old Testament understood about waiting. God had promised a Savior. Those who believed that promise waited in faith until God fulfilled it by sending His Son. He was in control. You have to believe God is in control and then let Him be in control. Don’t try to snatch the reins away from him. Things don’t work well that way. Sometimes God’s guidance comes in ways you don’t expect. But the point is that depending on God means that you wait for His guidance before you act. God told Jehoshaphat, “Don’t worry. It’s not your battle. It belongs to Me and I will take care of it. All you have to do is show up. I’ll take care of the rest.”
2 Chronicles 20:18-19 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
4. Humble yourself and worship in God’s presence.
Jehoshaphat was so moved that God had answered that he was literally awestruck. How great was this God who would come to help! How often do you do that? How often are you so overwhelmed by God’s goodness that you get down on your knees and thank Him? When you are amazed at what God has done in your family, in your marriage, in your church, in your life, it’s a pretty good indication that you’re depending on Him. When you recognize His goodness, don’t forget to do what Jehoshaphat did: Give thanks and praise to God.
2 Chronicles 20:20-21 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”
5. Follow God’s Guiding
“Have faith in the Lord your God.” Jehoshaphat was telling the people, “We recognize God’s power and He’s on our side! We’ve asked Him to help. He’s given us guidance. We humbled ourselves and worshiped Him. Now it’s time for us to trust in God’s plan. He set the stage. All we’ve got to do is what He told us to do …” … which, in their case, was to go to the battlefield and simply watch. Watch what God was going to do. Except that it wasn’t that simple. It was pretty risky. It required them to walk into a battle, a deadly conflict, completely vulnerable. If God didn’t come through, they were dead. Literally. That’s what it means to depend on God.
Now, you and I will probably never be told by God to do something that risky or dramatic. But there are areas of your life and mine where God is saying to us in a very specific way “trust my plan and I’ll help you.” That’s the issue. Everyone of us has to make a commitment to our way or a commitment to His way. You can recognize God’s power, ask for his help, listen for his guidance, humble yourself and worship, but in the end you’ve still got to do what he says. Anything less is self-reliance. And we’ve already said that God is not interested helping self-reliant people. Fortunately, for Jehoshaphat and company, they did the risky thing – marched right out on the battlefield, not with swords, but with songs.
2 Chronicles 20:22-24 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
That’s hard to believe, isn’t it? But God was in control. The invading armies turned on each other, and God’s people were spared. It is hard for us to receive God’s help because we often don’t believe it can happen. But it does. God comes through in the most unbelievable ways. Like He did at Calvary. Letting His Son take your place, die your death, and earn your forgiveness. God had a plan, and He carried it out for the helpless.
6. Give God the Glory
The story of Jehoshaphat ends with a victory. The Bible says that for three days the people of Judah gathered up the spoils of the battle. Then on the fourth day, They had a great assembly for the purpose of praising God. And they returned to Jerusalem still rejoicing. It was pretty obvious to Jehoshaphat and his army that they didn’t do anything. God did it. So they gave the Glory to God. Giving God the glory means that you just say so – to Him and to everybody else. God did it. He deserves the credit. He deserves the praise.
That is true in our lives as well, especially when it comes to our salvation. God did it. He did what we could not do. He had a plan, carried it out, and told us to just show up and collect the spoils, which are forgiveness of sins and eternal life for Jesus’ sake. Don’t we owe Him unending praise for what He has done for us through Jesus? And what about all the ways He continues to help us in our lives as His disciples? Give God the glory.
The help you need been provided through Jesus.
