This text surrounds the answered prayers of a king and a nation, King Jehoshaphat and Judah. Jehoshaphat was the son of King Asa. As, you may know, Asa was the king who was zealous in maintaining the true worship of God, and in rooting all idolatry, with its accompanying immoralities, out of the land of Judah.
Jehoshaphat’s reign is noted for its adherence to God’s instructions. He was the 4th king of Judah. He reigned over Judah for 25 years; He eradicated much of the pagan worship and provided traveling teachers of Mosaic Law. He reorganized the legal system by appointing judges in key cities, with an appeal court in Jerusalem. He has been noted as one of the best, most pious and prosperous kings of Judah.
His reputation among the surrounding nations was for the most part impeccable, as a matter of fact, there were some surrounding nations which honored Jehoshaphat and often sent him tribute.
However, we find Jehoshaphat here in chapter 20 surrounded by a coalition of armies: Moabites, Ammonites, and the Edomites.
This was quite peculiar to me seeing how the bible appears not to implicate any animosity between Jehoshaphat and the 3 Kings of this coalition.
It does although, exemplify that often times people can’t stand to see you doing well for too long. And what we see is perhaps, Jehoshaphat gained some of these lesson as well. People don’t always have to have a reason to want you to fall. They don’t necessarily have to have any particular reason to want to see you fail, to see your demise, too see you in tormented, or too see you struggle.
In fact, often when you are doing your best to do God’s will, that’s when you can always count on satan to launch an attack.
Interestingly enough, Jehoshaphat teaches us a great lesson, about going into and facing adversity. We are taught by the immediate response of Jehoshaphat as he receives the report that Judah was surrounded by outside forces.
And I love what Jehoshaphat says in this chapter. Instead of getting discombobulated. Instead of him falling off of the wagon and running and hiding from his problem and situations he says "LET’S PRAY!" You see, he meets his adversity with fasting and prayer. Can I tell you this? Often the best weapon a child of God can use when confronted with trouble, turmoil, and tumult is prayer. In reality the prayer prayed by this king and this country expresses the powerfulness of Judah and their trust in God. You do understand that prayer informs God of our willingness to and allows HIM to take care of matters. Prayer opens up the communication line between you and God. Prayer allows you to tell God all about your problems, situation and issues.
And because he understood the power of God, He prayed and God answered his prayer.
God spoke through a Levite preacher, and told Jehoshaphat, don’t worry, don’t fret, and don’t be scared, I will take care of you! I just believe even today that God is still saying the same thing to us to day. Don’t be scared! Let me say it like he would say it. Fret not thyself because of evildoer because they shall soon be cut down in other words what he is saying is that I will take care of you!
But often we ask God to take care of us and protect us and fail to realize that there are certain criteria that must be met by us which unveils our undying loyalty, and undeterred trust that God will prevail.
God also informed him of some measures that must be taken in order for Judah’s victory to be a reality. He gives some very distinctive instructions that I believe would be quite helpful to us even today. So in first 17 he says
I. SET YOURSELF
The phrase set yourself in its Hebrew translation means: too place, station oneself, present oneself. It really means to place yourself in position. Place yourself in the proper order for battle.
There are times, many of us believe that when we have not been delivered from some of our dilemmas, that somehow God has forgotten us or that he has chosen not to deliver us, when in fact that is not so. God however; gives us the same directives he gave Judah. He tells us all to position ourselves for His blessing, stand ready for what He is preparing to do. God often tells us to continue on as though our enemies don’t exist.
Sometimes, He wants us to move beyond what our eyes will allow us to see.
Believe this, that in every deliverance there is a responsibility that lies not only with the deliverer but also with the delivered.
That’s biblical, He told Noah to build an Ark, He sent Moses to Pharaoh, Abraham had to climb a mountain, Naman the leper had to wash in the Jordan River, and the widow had to make a biscuit for Elijah... Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch, He told the lame man to get up, and He told blind Bartimaeus to come then go. He made another blind man wash his eyes in a pool!
Yes, God still says today to each of us to set yourself. Of course God could just make it happen, but he doesn’t make it because many of us would show no appreciation and no faith in God. Deliverance calls for some work, it calls for some movement on the part of the delivered.
There ought to be some action on the part of the faithful. If you if you really want to be blessed show God how much you trust Him by preparing yourself, by setting yourself, by moving forward, regardless of the situation, regardless of how rough it may appear get ready for the battle.
The key is, even if you don’t have to fight, even though you know God is going to bring you out, be prepared for whatever God wants you to do in the fight.
So first you’ve got to set yourself and then we must learn to
II. STAND STILL
He tells Jehoshaphat, He tells Judah, look don’t worry yourself with the enemy; don’t worry with the outcome I’ve got that under control. You just get prepared, and when you have done all you can to prepare... STAND STILL.
You know all God is saying here is, wait. I know that seems quite ridiculous, and absurd to most of our Intellectual believers, because the question formulated in their minds is, why would I go down to a battlefield and just stand still? Why would I allow my enemy to see me? Why would I give my enemy an opportunity to attack me? I’ve got to do something; I can’t look like a fool. I got to fight.
But you see, that’s the problem with most of us, we seem to forget that often God wants us to do the improbable and the unthinkable, because it gives credibility to our faith and too our testimony. It causes fear and trembling in our enemies.
You know what, David said in Psalms 110:1. He says, "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
Now there is something you’ve got to understand. In the Hebrew the word sit, means the same thing as stand still. It means to remain, dwell, to abide, to stay, to wait.
Let me see if I can paint a different picture. See often we misquote this scripture by only by dealing only with the part God will do. We fail to utter the first part of the scripture which tells us to wait on God, until HE Makes our enemies our footstools.
And that’s all God was saying to Judah, He was saying, "Wait!" That’s what God is saying right now to many of us Wait!!!. The problem many of us have is that we refuse to stand still; we don’t want to wait on God! We want to Hurry God. But God says too, "Wait on me and I’ll fight your battles." The reason some of us are still losing battles is because, instead of waiting we’re fighting. Sometimes God wants you to wait. That’s when He says, ”Stand Still!” Wait on me and I’ll see you through! Wait on me and I’ll bring you out!!
Job14:14 and the b clause all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Psalms 27:14(KJV)
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Romans 8:25 (KJV)
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (KJV)
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
It is imperative; you have to wait on God. You can’t hurry Him, you can’t rush Him, and you can’t drive Him, but you can certainly wait on Him. The old folk would say He may not come when you want Him but always on time.
When you wait on Him God can handle it. Because He has been God longer than you have been you. God knows what is best. He knows what we need better than we know what we need. That’s why He says...
So again the first thing that he says is set yourself, and then the second thing he says is stand still and finally he says-
III. SEE HIS SALVATION
What God is really saying here is watch. Watch me save you! Watch me deliver you! Watch me bring you out! Watch me make a way for you. Watch me deliver you from the hands of the enemy. Watch me take you to higher heights.
I believe the three Hebrew boys, could witness and attest to seeing God’s salvation. Daniel would tell you that he will take care of you. I know Job would tell you that, not only will He deliver you, not only will He take care of you, but there are even times that He’ll give you double for your trouble.
But you’ve got to let God work in your life. You’ve got to get out of God’s way and let God deliver you! He will deliver you if you let Him!
It may seem like you can’t see your way through, but watch God come through!
You may not know how things are gonna work out, but watch God!
You may feel like you’re all by yourself, but watch God!
You may be down now, but watch God bring you up!
He will deliver! He will make a way! He will bring you out!
I’m reminded of a story I heard once about an Indian, He was sitting on the corner and kept saying thank you Jesus. Somebody came to the Indian and asked Him why do keep thanking Jesus? You lost everything you had. They killed your family, they took your land. Why do you keep thanking Jesus?
The Indian took a night crawler out of his pocket and dug a little trench with his finger. He put the night crawler in the trench and then he took a match and lit fire on each end, and as soon as the fire got close to the worm he snatched the night crawler from the hole and said, "That’s what Jesus did for me, He snatched me from the burning fire."
And that’s all I wanted to say today that what Jesus did for me, He delivered me from the abyss of Hell.
He delivers; He delivers...and God will take care of you. He didn’t just start taking care of you and me. But Wayyyyyyy back on Calvary, He died that I might live.
