“O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens?
And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?
In Your hand are strength and might,
and there is no one who can oppose You.”
This is how King Jehoshaphat began the prayer that he prayed standing in the midst of the people of Judah. They were all gathered together, terrified, because there was a huge army coming against them to destroy them. It says that Jehoshaphat himself was fearful and “set himself to seek the Lord.” Then it says “Judah was assembled to seek the Lord, they came to obtain aid from the Lord.”
The following verses describe how the Lord came to their rescue. It was a great and glorious victory and the army of Judah didn’t have to lift a sword! The Lord fought for them as they praised Him.
When we are terrified, discouraged or unsure, what do we tend to do? How long do we wait before we, like Jehoshaphat, set ourselves to seek the Lord? How many great victories do we never experience because we never thought to seek the Lord?
I love the end of Jehoshaphat’s prayer – “We do not know what we should do, but our eyes are on You.”
Read 2 Chronicles 20 for the whole story.