A great army was advancing against the people of Judah. The people were as ants against an overwhelming adversary. Jehoshaphat’s reflex was to pray. His prayer of 2 Chronicles 20:12 acknowledges that they were powerless against the foe. They did not know what to do. But their eyes were on their God who was all powerful and all wise, mighty to save.
Christ is ultimately the answer to Jehoshaphat’s prayer.
“O our God, will You not judge?” (2 Chronicles 20:12, NKJV)
The twenty-third psalm is one of those portions of Scripture that is universally loved because it connects so well with our raggedness as sojourners in this fallen world. It addresses both present need and future hope. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). All because the Lord is my shepherd.
Another one of those perfectly suited passages is found in 2 Chronicles 20. There Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, descendent of David, prays for the people. He begins by lifting their eyes to the true and living God: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” He helps the people to make eye contact with the God who is able to do all things, the one who is their God and the God of their children.
A great army was advancing against the people of Judah. The people were as ants against an overwhelming adversary. Jehoshaphat’s reflex was to pray. His prayer of 2 Chronicles 20:12 acknowledges that they were powerless against the foe. They did not know what to do. But their eyes were on their God who was all powerful and all wise, mighty to save.
How wonderfully that prayer fits the adversities of our lives! In the face of cancer or financial distress or addiction, we cry out to God acknowledging our helplessness. We are at our wits end. We have neither the strength nor the wherewithal. In our anguish, we lift our voices to the God who is with us and for us.
But what exactly is our prayer? What we’ve seen so far is not the prayer; it is what prompts the prayer – our weakness, our desperation, our relationship with the living God. Here is the whole: “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chron. 20:12).
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