May 23 - Nº 143 2 Chronicles 19:1 – 20:34
Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled for 25 years. He improved the kingdom’s security and brought the people of Judah closer to God by teaching everyone the Laws that had been given to Moses. He also reformed the legal system. Things seemed to be going very well—until the surrounding nations of Moab, Ammon, and Edom formed an alliance against Judah and decided to invade Judah. Jehoshaphat was alarmed. He immediately asked God for help. He sent word to his people to fast and pray. People from all over Judah came together in Jerusalem to seek God’s help. Jehoshaphat stood in front of them at the Temple and prayed: “Lord, You are the God of heaven and of our ancestors. You rule over all the nations. You are the only One with power and might. You gave this land to Abraham, and You told us to call on You when we are in trouble. And that’s what we are doing now, because the people from Moab and Ammon and Edom have formed a huge army to fight against us. We could have destroyed these nations when we were entering the Promised Land, but You would not let us. Now they are trying to destroy us, and we don’t have the power to fight them. We don’t know what to do, so we are relying on you!” Suddenly the Spirit of God came on a prophet. He spoke to Jehoshaphat, “This is what God says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid of this huge army. You don’t have to fight them because I will. Tomorrow march down the hill toward them. Take your position and stand firm. I will take care of you.’” Jehoshaphat bowed down and put his face on the ground. All the people did the same, and they worshiped God. Then some of the Levites stood up and praised God with loud voices. Early the next morning, the men got up and prepared to face the enemy. Jehoshaphat encouraged them to trust God. He appointed musicians to march in front of the army singing praises to God as they went. As the people from Judah shouted and sang praises, God went to work for them. He totally confused the enemy. The men from Ammon and Moab turned against the Edomites and annihilated them, thinking they were traitors. Then they turned against each other. They kept fighting until everyone was dead. When the army from Judah arrived at the scene, they saw only corpses. Not a single person had escaped. Jehoshaphat and his men began collecting everything that was valuable from the dead bodies. There was so much plunder they spent three days gathering it! Finally, they couldn’t carry any more. On the fourth day, the troops came together to praise God. Then they returned to Jerusalem. When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat led all the people to the Temple to praise God once again. When the surrounding nations heard about the great victory God had given Jehoshaphat and his people, they became terrified of Judah and their God. No other nation attacked Judah as long as Jehoshaphat was alive.
Have you ever stopped in the middle of a huge difficulty and praised God for Who He is? That’s exactly what Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel did.
Singing truths about God’s power and love is a great way to overcome our fears and drive away our discouragement. We can have peace when we acknowledge His ability to conquer the enemy we are facing.
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