I
heard a fairly good sermon the other day that was about waiting for God to work
and how sometimes we get impatient. I
have personally experienced this recently in my life so the sermon was very
timely. The test that was used was the
20th chapter of 2 Chronicles verses 1-24. "1 It came to pass after this also, that
the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the
Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 2 Then there came some that told
Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond
the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon–tamar, which is
En–gedi. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves
together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they
came to seek the Lord. 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation
of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 And
said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not
thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power
and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? 7 Art not thou our God, who
didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and
gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? 8 And they dwelt therein,
and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If, when evil
cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand
before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and
cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 10 And now,
behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not
let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned
from them, and destroyed them not; 11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to
come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12 O
our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great
company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our
eyes are upon thee. 13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with
their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 Then upon Jahaziel the
son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a
Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the
congregation; 15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is
not yours, but God's. 16 Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold,
they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the
brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17
Ye
shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see
the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be
dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.
18 And
Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
19 And
the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the
Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And
they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa:
and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, 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. 21 And
when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and
that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army,
and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever. 22 And
when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the
children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and
they were smitten. 23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up
against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and
when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to
destroy another. 24 And when Judah came toward
the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold,
they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped."
There are several points that I took away from this story;
the first is found in the third and fourth verses, the children of Israel were
afraid so they all came together with fasting and prayer to seek God’s
favor. The points are that they all came
together and that they fasted and prayed together. The second point was that they had their eyes
focused on God and then He told them through Jahaziel
not to be afraid because the battle did not belong to them but to God. Along with the command not to be afraid, God
also told them something to do. Did you
catch what it was that they were supposed to do? They had to GO! The person that was speaking this sermon made
the point then that the children of Israel could not just stay in their tents
after they had prayed, even though they would not have to actually fight in
battle they still had to GO to the battlegrounds. The children of Israel did not however, just
go out to the battle after praying and fasting, they did one more thing that is
found in verses 20-22. They believed God
and they went out singing praises to Him.
I
am here reminded that like the children of Israel when they were going through
the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land they were too often found
grumbling and complaining. I feel that
more often than not we as a whole do more whining and less praising than we
ought. The other thing that I feel most
do not do enough of is fasting and praying.
Many times in the Bible we find that fasting and praying is a mark of godliness. Some examples would include Anna, a prophetess,
in Luke 2:37
(KJV) “And she was a
widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” Daniel in Daniel 9:3 (KJV) “And
I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” David in Psalms
35:13 (KJV) “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was
sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.” And Jesus when
He told his disciples in Matthew 17:21 (KJV) “Howbeit this kind goeth not out
but by prayer
and fasting.”
I do not say this of anybody in particular but to remind myself that God’s
promises are sure and I need to keep my eyes focused on Him and His words, quit
complaining and come to God in an attitude of grateful prayer with fasting and
then remember that the call is for everyone: Matthew 28:19
(KJV) “Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing
them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
While we are waiting on the Lord to come, it is not a stagnant kind of
waiting but of going and fasting and praying and praising and keeping our focus
on God. Psalms 27:14
(KJV) “Wait on the
Lord:
be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait,
I
say,
on
the
Lord.”
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