2 CHRONICLES 20:1-12 – After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And 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 fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it 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 out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and 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— behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
King Jehoshaphat was a very good king for Judah. He was known for his heart for God and commitment to bring needed reforms to God’s backslidden people. As godly a leader as Jehoshaphat was, he was still just a man, a sinner at that, and shared the same weaknesses as us. Go back and read today’s scripture and identify at least one of those weaknesses. He suffered the fear of people. The ruthless band of ungodly Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites came against him to do battle and he was afraid.
Think of the many times we are afraid, and often for the same reason – people, but there are many other reasons. Things like a dangerous world, a medical diagnosis, financial uncertainty, anxiety over our children, and the list goes on and on and on. The fall in the Garden of Eden brought into the human experience that of being afraid (Genesis 3:10). When those times come upon us, what do we do? One of two things.
First, we fret, stew, worry, keep awake at night, and may experience physical illness, or emotional turmoil that is not the way God would have us deal with unhealthy fear. Next, we follow the example of King Jehoshaphat which calmed his fear and brought honor to God. Once again go back and read today’s scripture to ponder the king’s actions to combat his fear.
He prayed. Not alone either. He got the people of Judah together and sought the Lord. And he didn’t just ask for deliverance from his enemies. He acknowledged God’s sovereignty, His unmatched power, pleaded His promises to care for His people, and confessed his and the people of God’s complete dependency on His power to deliver them. What a pattern of prayer! And what an answer to calm our fears. Spend time meditating on the good king’s prayer and make his pattern ours. In doing so, we will drive away any and all fears that grip us in life.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive when I don’t immediately resort to prayer when fear comes into my life.”
QUOTE: “We will either deal with fear in the strength of weak selves and fail or seek God who never fails.”