They Relied On The Lord God

Of Their Fathers

But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”

But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 13:10-18

Abijah knew this much: Faithful people in his Kingdom of Judah had continued worshipping God, while the ten tribes of Israel had driven out the priests of God and worshipped pagan gods instead. So Abijah turned confidently to the one true God.

Surely Abijah’s checkered history had caused grave danger. But he knew where to turn in the crisis, and his army won soundly, “because they relied on the LORD, the God of their ancestors.”

Our God welcomes whoever comes to Him and relies on Him.

God will never turn away whoever turns to Him in faith.

Our Daily Bread – August 18, 2016