Feeling unsettled no matter how much you binge watch or play video games? Always seem to have that dark sense of foreboding hanging over you when you stop focusing on anything? Let me take you on a journey back in time, in light of this current coronavirus pandemic, to look at a story in Scripture that I think may help give you a much more peaceful outlook. So…to the story.
In the early morning light, in the desert of Tekoa, a strange and fascinating scene was unfolding before the eyes of the soldiers as they stared at the oncoming army. Usually by this time, someone would have sounded the command to attack, but they all stood transfixed in their ranks, listening to the unmistakeable sound of- a choir? What would a choir be doing out on the battlefield? Before their question could be answered, suddenly there came warriors out of nowhere. Fierce. Big. Determined. With a single slash of a blade, 10 men would fall. Panic. Run for your life. Kill or be killed. And the once formidable army became a terror-filled, “every-man-for-himself” retreat.
In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 20, a fascinating story is recorded that every Christian should acquaint themselves with. On different boards and committees, we often worry about what type of precedent a given vote might set. This story contains a number of key decisions that I think would serve as precedents for the modern Christian. So let me share with you 2 Chronicles 20 beginning with verse 1. I’ve chosen to use the New Living Translation for it’s easy readability.
1After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunitesa declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edoma is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.bThey are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)
This was no run-of-the-mill army. These were long time enemies that wanted to settle old scores. These were the children of Esau wanting to do in the children of Jacob, now named Israel. In fact, they wanted nothing less than to wipe the Israelites right off the map. And now they had joined forces with other countries around them and were descending, even now to leave a path of death and destruction in their wake. And word reaches Jehosphaphat, and the message is very clear…”YOU are a DEAD MAN Big J!”
Oh, great! What a day-brightener. Ever have one of those kind of days? You’re doing fine until someone comes and says, “There are three known cases of the Coronavirus that have been identified to have been in the same building you were in.” Or “You’re Corvid-19 test came back positive.” Or it could be more along the lines of general life, “You owe $4,000 more in taxes.” Or “There’s been a terrible accident…”
No matter how it comes, bad news seems to always catch us off guard. It causes our knees to go weak, our stomach to develop a pit of anxiety, and our mind to start racing. We immediately start trying to… what? Figure out what we are going to do. We start checking our savings accounts, calling to see if we can get our credit limit extended, or looking for the name of the best doctor available. Anything we can do to help us out of the bind. And most of us won’t stop until we have arrived at some form of a solution. But notice what Jehoshaphat did.
Precedent # 1. v.3Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the LORD for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. Jehoshaphat was human. He developed the pit in the bottom of his stomach. But his reaction was far different than many of ours would be. He begged the LORD for guidance, and then proclaimed a fast, so they could have clear minds to hear whatever God was saying. In short, he took his problem to the Lord in prayer. He didn’t just complain about what a difficult situation he was in and then whiningly hope that others would pray for him or that it would somehow work out. He went directly to the Throne, himself. Immediately.
v.4 4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the LORD’s help.
2Chr. 20:5 Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the LORD. 6 He prayed, “O LORD, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you!
Notice his approach. (He first acknowledges God’s greatness. He says, “I know that you can do anything.)
v. 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war,a plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
(He refers back to a prior agreement that God had already made with His people. He claims a promise, as it were.)
2Chr. 20:10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. (He acknowledges that he has neither the resources nor the strength to fight the battle.) We do not know what to do, (and here’s the kicker) but we are looking to you for help.”
The New International Version says: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” Not focused tightly on the problem, but on God.
Precedent #2. They choose to wait. They have made their request known to God, and now they wait and trust that God will do what He has promised. Jehoshaphat knew that no matter what befell he and his people, if they would simply turn and seek the Lord, God would take care of things. It takes humbling oneself, acknowledging that you have neither the answer or the direction, but enough faith to know that if you will but wait, God will deliver on his Word. Not only the leader, but his entire people stood there before the Lord.
Nothing is needed more in the Church right now, than for Christians to stand humbly before the Lord. No pretense. No politics. No power plays. Just prayer and faith-filled hearts that He will provide. When we wait, He answers. Let’s go back to the story.
v. 13 As all the men of Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, wives, and children, 14 the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.
V15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”
How do you respond to a message like that? Wouldn’t it be great in the face of this virus and life’s uncertainty for the Lord to say, “Stand still and watch the Lord’s victory.” I believe He is.
But wait, Pastor Don…what was the point of going out if they didn’t need to fight? What is the point of taking up their positions and then standing still?
In the midst of the waiting, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do anything. We need to continue to be obedient to what God has asked of us. He has asked us to bring courage to those around us, and in the going out, or in this case, the staying home yet with peace and sharing that, that may lead others to find peace as well. We practice common sense and precautions, yes, but it also means that we acknowledge we don’t have the resources, the knowledge, the wisdom, nor anything else to make a difference in the outcome. We are trusting and waiting on God. And in the waiting, notice how Jehoshaphat and his people respond.
Precedent #3. They worship. v.18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
This wasn’t just half-hearted worship while wondering how the roast in the oven was doing. This was full-blown, “we-have-an-answer-from-God-so-get-up-and-shout” type worship. It was a celebration-type of worship-(of course I’m sure they didn’t use drums-ha). But notice something here. This celebration of worship happened before God had even delivered them.
They got peace in their hearts on the issue and went ahead and rejoiced because they knew He would do what He promised. They were joyous because they knew that no matter how scary the problem had seemed a few minutes ago, that whole picture just changed when God came on the scene. Those Moabites and Ammonites and Meunites were a mighty big force, but when God walks in, their party’s over!
No matter how dark your picture looks, no matter how scary, or hopeless, or bleak, when God gives you an answer, it’s time to celebrate, because we know that He’s going to do exactly what He says. Don’t sit there whimpering, “Oh, I hope it works out. Oh, I hope He does what He promised.” If you have prayed, if you have waited, if you have gotten an answer, from the wealth of promises in scripture, or from the Holy Spirit impressing you, then go ahead and throw a worship party. He’ll do what He promises when you can hold on by faith.
When you can learn that type of spiritual walk, the Holy Spirit will empower you to be a mighty, dynamic and effective witness for His cause. People will take note of the life you live. Jesus wants to empower us to do His work. He wants to make us powerful witnesses. When you and I can learn to wait for His empowerment, trusting that He will make good on His promises, great things will always happen. Back to 2 Chron.
20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the LORD;
his faithful love endures forever!”
Now this just blows my mind. The king consults the people and they all agree that the best thing they can do is put the choir out in front of the army. They want to show that they are not worried about the Lord keeping His promise. And some of the choir boys probably said, “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say”, but the very fact that they went out first speaks of their confidence in the saving power of the Lord. They saw wisdom in worshipping. They realized that their worship brought their salvation.
Can you imagine the enemy army. They look up through the clear desert air and see. . .a choir?
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.
Precedent #4: They watched the Lord’s deliverance.
When God grants victory, He truly grants victory. Did you know that in light of your own salvation, that’s all you can do? Pray, wait, worship and watch. Pray for forgiveness and seek deliverance from sin. Wait as the Lord works in you to will and to do His good pleasure, worship Him for His goodness, His mercy and love, and watch Him take you to heights that have been unattainable to you.
Whenever you face trials of every kind, know you can find peace through His chosen route. Pray for deliverance, wait, trusting in Him, worship Him, watch His mighty deliverance.
In our current crisis, we have received the bad news. There is a new plague among us! We can panic and freak out, or we can practice the precautions we do know and turn our eyes towards God. Are we praying? And in the current crisis, there is nothing we can do but wait…it has been mandated. But are you just waiting it out or waiting on God?
What you do next will determine the amount of peace you experience. Why not Worship? I’m convinced if we would follow Jehoshaphat’s example, God would be able to bring about victory after victory in our life. Fears would melt away. Doubts would flee. Long-term rivalries would end, and forgiveness would begin to flow where once only grudges resided. And yes, your trust in God would grow exponentially. Worship takes us out of the present and transports us to the throne of Grace. No matter what the circumstances, there is wisdom in worshipping God.
There is no wiser course we can set but to worship. Not ho-hum worship, but worship that lifts the soul heavenward. Worship that we participate in that allows us to experience God’s forgiveness, acceptance, love and yes, His peace. Worship that has at its very core, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Worship that allows our hearts to dance with the joy of His victory. And when you participate in that kind of worship, it will be said of you, as it was of the Apostles in Acts 3:13, that “these men had been with Jesus.”
If we are worshipping, we are already demonstrating that we believe His deliverance is coming. Watch for His deliverance. It may not be in the form that we imagine…because God seldom does the expected. It may not even be in the form of protecting us from the Coronavirus or from dying. Even in the face of death, I can have peace knowing that God will bring about our ultimate deliverance!
Let’s finish our story. 25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,a and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,a which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.
27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the LORD had given them victory over their enemies. 28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the LORD.
29 When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the LORD himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. 30 So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
When you pray, wait, worship and watch, the Lord brings to you blessings. And the most important blessing is the ability to have peace when everyone else is freaking out. Had Jehoshaphat stopped with the collection of the plunder, he would have missed the greatest blessing of all. But because he saw Wisdom in Worship, God granted he and his country the greatest blessing, peace on every side.
And friend, if you’ll put into practice God’s way, seeing the wisdom of worship no matter how dark or scary your circumstances may seem, that’s exactly what He will give you. I’m praying that peace for you this day!
Thank you Pastor Don!
ReplyDeleteAmen. One of my favorite Bible stories AVS a perfect time to apply it.
ReplyDelete