WOW! I loved these two chapters of chronicles. I love that we don’t have to fight our own battles no matter how big and scary they may be. God has already won them! When we give God our battles we don’t have to do anything but wear his armer and be still, praise and worship him. Because he has already won our battles.
17You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” 12‘O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
21And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,
“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”
17You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
12O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
17You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
17You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ”
God is always with us, even in our most seemingly hopeless battles. He is our champion, if only we trust in him.
12O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
How often I live in the illusion of control and of self-sufficiency. Even right now, I know that I am guilty of it. Though Jehoshaphat was praying this prayer in desperation, the truth of “we [I] don’t know what to do,” is true in all times. We are not in control, we are not self-sufficient. Our very breath is sustained by God alone. Jesus, let my eyes be upon you ALWAYS, with the acknowledgment of Your Lordship over my life. Forgive me for living in self-sufficiency and dependence upon so many other things. ❤️
This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. […] As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said: “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” [… T]hey went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithful love endures forever.
These parts really stood out to me today. How often don’t I want to fight my own fights? I want to be independent and in control. And yet God asks us to surrender to him. To relax into His arms and let Him fight for me. What a loving gesture that is! Lord, thank You for your faithful love that endures forever! Work your Holy Spirit in me so that I, more and more, will be able to surrender to your plan for my life.
It is written so many times in the Old Testament not to be afraid, to take courage, and be brave!! Life would look so different and amazing if we lived like that all the time
I’ve been meditating on verses relating to fear lately: Proverbs 3:5-6 and Philippians 4:6-7. This section of scripture was a great example of how God is faithful to His word!
I have two friends and my mother battling cancer right now. I love the message God sent this morning through this account. I plan on sharing Gods words to Judah with them this morning! Let the battle be Gods! I often imagine Him (Jesus) on a white horse charging forward with a great army behind Him. The army on the other side cannot even stand up when He charges. If God is for us, who can be against us?!
This just touched me! That entire families came before the Lord together! I love that it includes “the little ones” how precious they are to God! I’ve been playing worship music in the house a lot lately and seeing my daughter sing along and worship, even though she doesn’t fully understand, is such a blessing! Thank you God that you are replacing my worry with worship! My fear with your praise! I feel like there are storms raging around me and I don’t feel them like I did just weeks ago! My heart and soul are filled with your songs as I trust in you for deliverance!
Just got back from a Mission Trip In Guatemala and El Salvador and it was really eye opening. Coming back to America makes me realize how ungrateful a lot of people are and how much we have. It was hard with the language barrier but everyone that came on the trip made really great and unforgettable relationships through Christ.
King Jehoshaphat prayed, “we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” I have really been trying to keep my eyes fixed on Him, especially when I’m at a loss of what to do. Sometimes I don’t get an answer, sometimes I get overwhelming peace, sometimes I get direction. Often times I don’t seek Him when I don’t know what to do. I want that to change. I want every decision to be steeped in Him because I come to a Him with everything.
Lord, help me to keep my eyes on You and talk to You about all my troubles and joys and everything. Help me to depend on You for it all.
This battle reminds me of the battle of Jericho. The people were not prepared, they were completely dependent on the Lord. The battle was the Lord’s, not Joshua’s. When the commander of the army of the Lord appeared and Joshua asked, are you for us or for our enemies, He replied, neither, I am the commander of the army of the Lord. These battles and ours are bigger than us, they belong to the Lord and it is He who fights for us! There is a higher purpose in them and that is to glorify God! I love all the parallels in the OT and seeing how God is always faithful and never changes.
I’m always struck by how a handful of the Kings were “pretty good” but never removed the high places. Makes me wonder what the high places are in my heart, the things that have been there for a long time that are going to be really hard to get out. Or the things that will just be so hard to get out because it’s changing a whole way of life a whole mindset.
I agree! I am in a season of working on getting a very high place out of my heart and you are right, it is totally changing my way of life and mindset. Thankfully I know I can’t do this on my own, but it’s still tough! God will reveal those high places to us with patience and kindness and he will walk with us to help us remove them. He is a good father.
this is probably my all time favorite passage in the Bible. King Jehoshaphat’s honesty and vulnerability before his kingdom is so beautiful. I love that he brought EVERYONE before the Lord to pray – men, women, and children. I hope to be this open with my own husband and children when faced with battles – battles that belong to the LORD! my heart is always stirred up when reading this story! if Jehoshaphat wasn’t such a weird name I’d probably name a baby after him ;)
also! did anyone catch who the guy was who told the nation that the battle belonged to the Lord?!? it was Benaiah’s grandson! Benaiah was one of King David’s right hand men who fought tons of battles with him! talk about a lineage that was blessed by the Lord!
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
Read some commentaries on this passage because it caught my attention. Salvation isn’t as easy as we are often led to believe. Jesus tells us right here and elsewhere it’s a struggle to enter. We must die to ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow him.
I felt like this was referring to staying firm to the end. Because He said they knew him in the streets and enjoyed good things with him, but did not enter through the door to the glorious end. And it reminded me of Jehoshaphat and Asa and how they set their hearts of God for a good part of their reigns but towards the end got derailed. May we stay steadfast and rest on Him through the afflictions to enter into His Kingdom.
The story of Jehoshaphat has a special place in my heart because Jesus appeared in my dream once, and uttered the name Jehoshaphat during a very low season of my husband and I’s lives. “You don’t even need to fight, stand still and see the Lord’s victory..” and indeed, we saw how the Lord fought for us and gave us victory…
This morning, before I read chapter 20 again, I asked God to reveal something new to me through Jehoshaphat’s life.. and this is what struck me: The two instances when Jehoshaphat made alliances w/ the Israel’s wicked Kings were seasons when everything was going well with him… God reminded me that now that my husband and i are in a season when things are tarting to go well, we shoul be careful not to compromise in order to gain more influence or more wealth… we must remain grateful and content with God’s blessings and not grab things that aren’t for us yet…
15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. ” Amen! The battle is God’s battle! What a comfort!
I loved these chapters of Israel (Judah)’s faithfulness and how earnestly they sought the Lord! Thanks, God, for this little gem in the sometimes hard-to-connect-to book of chronicles! =)
❤️
WOW! I loved these two chapters of chronicles. I love that we don’t have to fight our own battles no matter how big and scary they may be. God has already won them! When we give God our battles we don’t have to do anything but wear his armer and be still, praise and worship him. Because he has already won our battles.
Thank you God!
❤️
❤️
17You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” 12‘O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
❤️
21And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,
“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”
17You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
12O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
❤️
17You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
✝️
✅
17You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ”
God is always with us, even in our most seemingly hopeless battles. He is our champion, if only we trust in him.
12O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
How often I live in the illusion of control and of self-sufficiency. Even right now, I know that I am guilty of it. Though Jehoshaphat was praying this prayer in desperation, the truth of “we [I] don’t know what to do,” is true in all times. We are not in control, we are not self-sufficient. Our very breath is sustained by God alone. Jesus, let my eyes be upon you ALWAYS, with the acknowledgment of Your Lordship over my life. Forgive me for living in self-sufficiency and dependence upon so many other things. ❤️
This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. […] As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said: “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” [… T]hey went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithful love endures forever.
These parts really stood out to me today. How often don’t I want to fight my own fights? I want to be independent and in control. And yet God asks us to surrender to him. To relax into His arms and let Him fight for me. What a loving gesture that is! Lord, thank You for your faithful love that endures forever! Work your Holy Spirit in me so that I, more and more, will be able to surrender to your plan for my life.
It is written so many times in the Old Testament not to be afraid, to take courage, and be brave!! Life would look so different and amazing if we lived like that all the time
We are powerless nor do we know what to do…but our eyes are on you!
“Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” -ellie
I’ve been meditating on verses relating to fear lately: Proverbs 3:5-6 and Philippians 4:6-7. This section of scripture was a great example of how God is faithful to His word!
AMEN!
I have two friends and my mother battling cancer right now. I love the message God sent this morning through this account. I plan on sharing Gods words to Judah with them this morning! Let the battle be Gods! I often imagine Him (Jesus) on a white horse charging forward with a great army behind Him. The army on the other side cannot even stand up when He charges. If God is for us, who can be against us?!
AMEN!
This just touched me! That entire families came before the Lord together! I love that it includes “the little ones” how precious they are to God! I’ve been playing worship music in the house a lot lately and seeing my daughter sing along and worship, even though she doesn’t fully understand, is such a blessing! Thank you God that you are replacing my worry with worship! My fear with your praise! I feel like there are storms raging around me and I don’t feel them like I did just weeks ago! My heart and soul are filled with your songs as I trust in you for deliverance!
Love this
Just got back from a Mission Trip In Guatemala and El Salvador and it was really eye opening. Coming back to America makes me realize how ungrateful a lot of people are and how much we have. It was hard with the language barrier but everyone that came on the trip made really great and unforgettable relationships through Christ.
❤❤
King Jehoshaphat prayed, “we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” I have really been trying to keep my eyes fixed on Him, especially when I’m at a loss of what to do. Sometimes I don’t get an answer, sometimes I get overwhelming peace, sometimes I get direction. Often times I don’t seek Him when I don’t know what to do. I want that to change. I want every decision to be steeped in Him because I come to a Him with everything.
Lord, help me to keep my eyes on You and talk to You about all my troubles and joys and everything. Help me to depend on You for it all.
Amen.
This battle reminds me of the battle of Jericho. The people were not prepared, they were completely dependent on the Lord. The battle was the Lord’s, not Joshua’s. When the commander of the army of the Lord appeared and Joshua asked, are you for us or for our enemies, He replied, neither, I am the commander of the army of the Lord. These battles and ours are bigger than us, they belong to the Lord and it is He who fights for us! There is a higher purpose in them and that is to glorify God! I love all the parallels in the OT and seeing how God is always faithful and never changes.
I’m always struck by how a handful of the Kings were “pretty good” but never removed the high places. Makes me wonder what the high places are in my heart, the things that have been there for a long time that are going to be really hard to get out. Or the things that will just be so hard to get out because it’s changing a whole way of life a whole mindset.
I agree! I am in a season of working on getting a very high place out of my heart and you are right, it is totally changing my way of life and mindset. Thankfully I know I can’t do this on my own, but it’s still tough! God will reveal those high places to us with patience and kindness and he will walk with us to help us remove them. He is a good father.
this is probably my all time favorite passage in the Bible. King Jehoshaphat’s honesty and vulnerability before his kingdom is so beautiful. I love that he brought EVERYONE before the Lord to pray – men, women, and children. I hope to be this open with my own husband and children when faced with battles – battles that belong to the LORD! my heart is always stirred up when reading this story! if Jehoshaphat wasn’t such a weird name I’d probably name a baby after him ;)
also! did anyone catch who the guy was who told the nation that the battle belonged to the Lord?!? it was Benaiah’s grandson! Benaiah was one of King David’s right hand men who fought tons of battles with him! talk about a lineage that was blessed by the Lord!
Cool find!
Wow! Thanks for sharing!
I feel like this passage is so underrated in the bible… it is so neat how it displayed God’s power
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
Read some commentaries on this passage because it caught my attention. Salvation isn’t as easy as we are often led to believe. Jesus tells us right here and elsewhere it’s a struggle to enter. We must die to ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow him.
Amen!
I felt like this was referring to staying firm to the end. Because He said they knew him in the streets and enjoyed good things with him, but did not enter through the door to the glorious end. And it reminded me of Jehoshaphat and Asa and how they set their hearts of God for a good part of their reigns but towards the end got derailed. May we stay steadfast and rest on Him through the afflictions to enter into His Kingdom.
Great explanation!
The story of Jehoshaphat has a special place in my heart because Jesus appeared in my dream once, and uttered the name Jehoshaphat during a very low season of my husband and I’s lives. “You don’t even need to fight, stand still and see the Lord’s victory..” and indeed, we saw how the Lord fought for us and gave us victory…
This morning, before I read chapter 20 again, I asked God to reveal something new to me through Jehoshaphat’s life.. and this is what struck me: The two instances when Jehoshaphat made alliances w/ the Israel’s wicked Kings were seasons when everything was going well with him… God reminded me that now that my husband and i are in a season when things are tarting to go well, we shoul be careful not to compromise in order to gain more influence or more wealth… we must remain grateful and content with God’s blessings and not grab things that aren’t for us yet…
thank you so much for sharing! I love when the lord reveals himself through His word and dreams.
15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. ” Amen! The battle is God’s battle! What a comfort!
Great verses today. Focusing on the battle is His. Not mine. Not ours. His. Trusting in His plan and faithfulness.
I loved these chapters of Israel (Judah)’s faithfulness and how earnestly they sought the Lord! Thanks, God, for this little gem in the sometimes hard-to-connect-to book of chronicles! =)
Rejoicing at the amount of faith Jehoshaphat displayed. Oh that we would respond in a like manner! Our eyes are on You.
12 “…We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
I love this simple little verse. Looking to God for direction.
Thanks for calling out this verse..I love the way we share here. Sometimes we miss little treasures that others point out!
this is one of my favorite verses! I was so excited to read this passage today!
Yes it’s beautiful!
that’s one of my favorites, too!
Yesyesyes!! I bookmarked that :)