“The LORD Will Be With You”
After this the Moabites and Ammonities, and with them some of the Meunites,
came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Messengers came
and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming
against you from Edom, from beyond
the sea; already they are at Hazazon-tamar” (that is,
En-gedi). Jehoshaphat was
afraid; he set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah assembled to
seek help from the LORD; from all the towns of Judah they came to
seek the LORD.
Jehoshaphat stood in the
assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house
of the LORD, before the new court, and said, “O LORD, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven? Do you not rule over all the
kingdoms of the nations? In your hand are power and might, so that no one is
able to withstand you. Did you not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of
this land before your people Israel, and give it
forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? They have lived in it, and
in it have built you a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon
us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this
house, and before you, for your name is in this house, and cry to you in our
distress, and you will hear and save.’ See now, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom you
would not let Israel invade when
they came from the land of Egypt, and whom
they avoided and did not destroy – they reward us by coming to drive us out of
your possession that you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not
execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this
great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do,
but our eyes are on you.”
Meanwhile all Judah stood before
the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then the
spirit of the LORD came upon Jhaziel son of
Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel,
son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the middle of the assembly. He said, “Listen, all
Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not fear or be
dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s.
Tomorrow go down against them; they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, before
the wilderness of Jeruel. This battle is not for you
to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD on
your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with
you.”
2 Chronicles
20:1-17
The King knew he had no power against
the great multitudes; nor did he know what to do. He knew he had to turn to
God, and he did. As a coalition of armies marched against Jerusalem, the people
of Judah gathered to
seek God’s guidance and help.
In stressful, confusing situations, we
might ask what comes next? But if we look to the LORD
and trust in His care, our fear will be replaced with peace.
Faith ends
where worry begins,
and worry ends
where faith begins.
Our Daily
Bread – October 27,
2006