VICTORIOUS WORSHIP
2 CHRONICLES 20:1-30
INTRODUCTION… Key verse 2 Chronicles 20:20 (use several)
KJV: “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”
MSG: “Listen Judah and Jerusalem! Listen to what I have to say! Believe firmly in GOD, your God, and your lives will be firm! Believe in your prophets and you’ll come out on top!"
NLT: "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."
CEV: "Listen my friends, if we trust the LORD God and believe what these prophets have told us, the LORD will help us, and we will be successful."
I have reflected on this verse much in the past weeks and ended up at the obvious question that perhaps I should have started with: How do I apply this verse to my life? How do I create the atmosphere in my life to be firm in the Lord and to be successful? How? This morning I would like to take a look at the whole passage that surrounds this verse and understand its place and then we may get some answers to our questions.
READ 2 CHRONICLES 20:1-30
I. THE SITUATION
The Books of 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles give us a broad view of the history of Israel. After the death of King Solomon (David’s son), the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. We could characterize the Northern Kingdom of Israel as having evil kings and were mostly drawn away from the worship of God. We could characterize the southern Kingdom of Judah as having good and evil kings and they swayed back and forth between worshipping the One True God and idols. In Judah, it all depended on the king.
The passage we have read this morning, 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, falls in a time in Judah’s history when they have had a series of good godly kings. King Asa (the father of King Jehoshaphat) was a godly king who fortified the nation as well as their faith in God. We find his story recorded in 2 Chronicles 14-16. Judah was at peace and controlled key ports and was prosperous during his reign (Bright, John. A History of Israel. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1959. pg 239-240).
We are focused on Asa’s son, King Jehoshaphat. The report about him at his death (2 Chronicles 20:31-21:3) is mixed. He followed God and followed the faith his father had instilled in him, but did make some mistakes by making allies with enemies of God and did not purge idol worship when he found it among his people. As I said, his reign was mixed. To summarize this man, I would describe Jehoshaphat as godly, persevering, and flawed (just like anyone else).
II. THE COMPLICATION
King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah find themselves in deep trouble and peril. Judah does not seem to have done anything to provoke this attack nor should they expect it. This trouble came upon them suddenly. Perhaps you have been in that situation… trouble or hardship has come upon you and your family all of a sudden.
This king and this people were faced with a crisis. Verse 3 tells us that the king and his people were alarmed at the news of impending attack. An overwhelming army made up of three Kingdoms was marching toward them and were going destroy them and lay waste the people of God. Jehoshaphat was limited on his options. Negotiating with these people seemed like an option that had already passed them by because their armies are already on the march. Giving gifts or bribes to appease them was unrealistic because you did not have to give to just one antagonistic force, but three. Military action was not an option because verse 12 tells us that Jehoshaphat had no way of stopping this force of doom that was marching towards them. The king and the people were entering a time of fear and bewilderment. Perhaps the true crisis is that the king, the man in charge, had no idea what to do.
III. THE RESOLUTION
ILLUSTRATION… Never Act in Panic Our Daily Bread, H.G.B, Tuesday, January 12
The great preacher F. B. Meyer gave some sound advice on what to do in a crisis. He wrote, “Never act in panic, nor allow man to dictate to you; calm yourself and be still; force yourself into the quiet of your closet until the pulse beats normally and the ‘scare’ has ceased to disturb. When you are most eager to act is the time when you will make the most pitiable mistakes. Do not say in your heart what you will or will not do, but wait upon God until He makes known His way. So long as that way is hidden, it is clear that there is no need of action, and that He accounts Himself responsible for all results of keeping you where you are.”
The resolution to the problem can be found in verses 4-22. I believe that Judah did two very important things in the face of this crisis that aided them in getting through it and in becoming the victors. The summary of their resolution is that they relied upon the Lord rather than their own strengths to make it through the day.
1) The first thing that Judah and the king did was they devoted themselves to fasting and to prayer. The whole assembly of Judah stood before the Lord and emptied their hearts out to Him. The king took the lead role and poured out his fears, frustrations, and prayers to God. They were afraid and they prayed. I like the end of Jehoshaphat’s prayer when he says, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” Wow. In the presence of a crisis, they focused their energies, fear, and trust on God.
2) The second thing that Judah did was that they worshipped the Lord. Verses 18-19 record that Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah worshipped the Lord and sang loud praises to God.
ILLUSTRATION… A. W. Tozer, Christian Publications, 1964, p. 90
Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father Which Are in Heaven.
The main reaction of the people of Judah was to express wonder and awe about God and about the miracles that He would perform for them.
ILLUSTRATION… Your Father Loves You by James Packer, 1986
Glorifying God Is a Six-fold Activity
To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity “glorifying God” or “giving glory to God,” and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Psalm 29:2; 96:6; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
Scripture views the glorifying of God as a six-fold activity:
praising God for all that he is and all his achievements;
thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us;
asking him to meet our own and others’ needs;
offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves;
learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice;
telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us.
Thus we might say that the basic formulas of worship are these: “Lord, you are wonderful”; “Thank you, Lord”; “Please Lord”; “Take this, Lord”; “Yes, Lord”; “Listen everybody!”
This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. However, the primary acts of worship are those, which focus on God directly—and we must not imagine that work for God in the world is a substitute for direct fellowship with him in praise and prayer and devotion.
The armies that were marching against Judah fought amongst themselves and utterly destroyed each other. All the plunder was left and it took three days (v. 25) to collect all the valuable material and take it back to Jerusalem. Also, verse 29 tells us that news about what happened spread through the land and Judah experienced “peace on every side” (v. 30).
APPLICATION / CONCLUSION… Key verse 2 Chronicles 20:20 (use several)
KJV: “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”
MSG: “Listen Judah and Jerusalem! Listen to what I have to say! Believe firmly in GOD, your God, and your lives will be firm! Believe in your prophets and you’ll come out on top!"
NLT: "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."
CEV: "Listen my friends, if we trust the LORD God and believe what these prophets have told us, the LORD will help us, and we will be successful."
How do I apply this verse to my life? How do I create the atmosphere in my life to be firm in the Lord and to be successful? How?
PRAYER & WORSHIP
CONCLUSION
