Our Eyes Are On You

Our Eyes Are On You

A Sermon Delivered by Pastor Jim Scott Orrick

September 23, 2001

I'd like you to open your bibles to 2 Chronicles 20. We're going to be reading about a man who was a king in Judah, and his name was Jehoshaphat. When I'm reading a book to the younger children in my family, if there is any confusion as to who is a good guy and who is a bad guy in the story, then the little children will just ask, “Is he good?” And so for the sake of the little children who know that there were a lot of bad kings in Judah as well as good kings, I want to tell you that Jehoshaphat was one of the good ones. He did several acts that were commended by the Lord. The Bible says that he sought the Lord, and he got rid of some of the wooden idols that the people had accumulated in the land. He also destroyed some of the high places that the people of Judah were using to worship the Lord. Back in those days, people thought that if you got higher on a mountain, then you would be closer to God, and so they would use those high places to worship false gods, but also to worship the true God. God said, “I don't want you worshiping me on those high places. I don't want you mixing me up with those other gods.” So occasionally we will read of a king who was so good that he would destroy the high places.

Jehoshaphat was one of the good kings who was so good that he destroyed the high places, and Jehoshaphat wanted the people in his land to know about the Word of the Lord. So he appointed several men who knew the Bible to go out through the land and teach the people. It was a bit like a moving college in which the people could take classes. As these men who were teachers of the law of God would come to a community the people in that community could learn about the law of the Lord. Not only that, but Jehoshaphat, the good king, also sent out a number of men who would deal justly among the people when it came to judicial matters. So he did several admirable acts for which the Lord commended him.

But there was one thing that Jehoshaphat did more than once that God was very displeased with. He made alliance with the house of the wicked king of Israel whose name was Ahab. He went to battle with Ahab. There was an interesting event that took place while he was at battle with Ahab whereby he was delivered in the providence of God. In fact, this is not part of my message, but it's so instructive I want us to look at it together. It's in chapter 18.

2 Chronicles 18:28. To give you a bit of background, as they went into the battle, King Ahab, the bad king, disguised himself like a common soldier while Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, was wearing his royal robes. Verse 28 says: The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him. For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

Let me interrupt the reading there for a moment to say that this is an example of how God often works in His providence. Jehoshaphat cried out, “Oh Lord, save me.” And then the Bible says that God answered Jehoshaphat's prayer. But in the process of answering Jehoshaphat's prayer, he used means. He didn't simply reach down his hand and swat away the Syrian soldiers who were trying to kill him. Instead, the Syrian soldiers recognized, “Oh, this is not the guy we're after!” They were getting ready to kill him, but suddenly they saw, “Oh, this is not the guy we're after!” And so they turned around and went away from him. God heard his prayer. God answered his prayer, but he used what you might call natural means to answer his prayer. The men recognized that Jehoshaphat was not the king of Israel, and so they left him. He was blessed with a signal deliverance in the providence of God.

Notice on the other hand that the king of Israel is disguised. They have no way of recognizing the king of Israel, and yet God, who has determined to judge the wicked king of Israel, executes His purpose and His intention. Notice how He does it, verse 33: Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded. The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died. That gets to my poetic soul, that last sentence. Before I tell you why, notice first of all that a man simply drew a bow at random. He wasn't aiming at anything in particular. As he was fleeing, he just took an arrow, he probably had one left, and he said, “I'll just shoot it at the enemy.” So he pulled it back, and he shot his arrow, and it went sailing through that air. He didn't know what he was aiming at, but God directed that arrow, and it hit the king of Israel right at a place where he never had armor. The arrow plunged into Ahab, and he began to bleed to death. He was still able to stand up. As he stood in the chariot he bled. His blood flowed out into the chariot. We know this from other accounts. Later on, they washed that chariot out, and the dogs came and licked up the blood of the king of Israel. This was in direct fulfillment of a prophecy made by Elijah the prophet that where Ahab had spilled the blood of Naboth, the Jezreelite, the dogs would lick Ahab's blood. That happened exactly as Elijah had prophesied. What gets to my poetic soul is that it says at sunset he died. One day Ahab woke up; he was a king; he was going into battle. But when the sun set, he died.

One day you and I will see our final sunset. Autumn causes such a sense of wistfulness to come over me as I think about the summer that is past. Then I inevitably go to thinking about the years that have passed. God has blessed me to live 40 years, but this may be the last autumn that I'll see. This may be the last Sunday that I see you. This Thursday I'm scheduled to get on an airplane and go to Brazil. Something may happen to the airplane. Something may happen to me while I'm in Brazil. This may be the last time that I see you. You and I do well to remember that one sunset will be our last sunset. As Ahab died at sunset, so also you will one day die. Well, let's go on.

Chapter 19:1 tells us Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God. Now let's skip over the remainder of chapter 19, and as we begin to read chapter 20, let me tell you that my first point is this: Trouble came upon a good king. Chapter 20:1 says this: It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar (which is En Gedi).

So here's the first point. Trouble has come upon a good king. When I say that Jehoshaphat was a good king, you know that I'm using relative language. One time there was a man who came running to Jesus and said, “Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” You should know that this man regarded Jesus to be nothing more than a very good teacher. We know that from Jesus' response to him. Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. God is the only one who is perfectly good, and so technically you shouldn't call me, a man whom you regard to be only a man and nothing more, good.” So we should bear this truth in mind as we examine the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Or why do bad things happen to good nations? Many people are asking that at this time. We should keep in mind that there is no one who is absolutely and positively good except God alone. Everything else is tainted with sin, and for me to leave it with only saying that everything else is tainted with sin is to put it too mildly. Everyone else is guilty of sin, and as a result of our having committed sin, we all are deserving of judgment from God. And judgment from God does not mean a little smack on the wrist. So as we examine the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or similarly, “Why has a very tragic event happened to a nation that many people consider to be a good nation?” We should bear in mind that none of us are absolutely good, and none of us are exempt from the judgment of God. No nation can legitimately claim exemption from the judgment of God.

You might ask, “Just how severe is the judgment that is incumbent upon each one of us because of sin?” The Bible gives a very stark answer to that. The answer that the Bible gives is this: eternal separation from God. The Bible uses the most graphic language to describe what eternal separation from God is like. I should clarify that eternal separation from God does not mean eternal separation from the presence of God but from the good, beneficent presence of God. One of the most terrible things about eternal damnation is that God is present in hell and that God is there inflicting judgment and inflicting punishment upon sin.

That's a very terrible thing to think about. But as I was saying, the Bible uses the most graphic language to describe this condition of separation from the benevolent, beneficent presence of God. It talks about hell as being a place where the fire never goes out. It talks about hell as being a place where the worm never dies. In recent days we have been confronted with some of these realities in a way that is exceeding some of our exposure to these thoughts in days previous. We saw pictures of some people jumping out of these buildings knowing that they were going to be splattered on the concrete below when they did so. Why would they do it? Probably many of them were facing an incredibly high heat from the fire that was burning, and they were saying, “If I stay here I know certainly that I will burn to death.” Rather than facing burning to death, they jumped off the building. The Bible uses the graphic picture of eternal fire to describe what happens to people who are always separated from God and exposed only to His judgment.

As the workmen go about the process of excavation In New York and in Washington D.C they're wearing masks to protect themselves from germs and bacteria that are rampant in a place where there is death. As gross as it is for us to think about, flies are present, and there are worms where there are flies. The Bible describes hell as a place where the worm never dies. It may indicate that there is an ever-gnawing torment of conscience in hell. The Bible describes hell as being outer darkness. The Bible describes hell as being outside, and so many other words are used to describe what hell is like, to describe what it's like to be under the judgment of God. When you face the fact that that is what every sin deserves, then anything less than that doesn't look too bad.

A few weeks ago, our family was getting ready to take a field trip, and Carol and I said to the older girls, “On this field trip tomorrow, we want you to take some of the responsibility for watching the younger children.” Carol was very sick at the time, and I wasn't going on the field trip. The girls, who are usually very good to take care of the younger children, began strenuously objecting. So I said, “All right, girls, since you are so opposed to helping your sick mother with the little children, unless I change my mind, none of you will be permitted to go on the field trip.” Suddenly the tone changed. They began saying that they were willing to watch the younger girls if only they could go. I said, "We're not going to talk anymore about it right now. I just let it sink in for a while. But then after a little while, I called a meeting of the family and said, “Wouldn't it be better, girls, for you to be assigned the task of watching the baby girls the entire morning, rather than not be able to go on the field trip at all?” They said, “Oh yes, that would be better than not being able to go at all.” I said, “Suppose that we assigned just one of you the task of having to watch the babies the entire morning. Would you be willing to do that if I allowed you to go on the field trip?” And they all said, “Yes. We would be willing to do that because not going on the field trip is worse than having to spend the whole morning watching the baby girls.” I said, “If that's your attitude, then I'm going to allow you to go on the field trip. But I must not hear any reports of any objections. If your mommy asks you to watch the baby girls the whole time, you're willing to do that?” “Yes,” they said, “We're willing to do that.” The prospect of helping to care for the little girls didn’t appear so undesirable in comparison to the even less desirable prospect of having to stay home from the field trip.

When we face the reality that America actually, because of sin, deserves a far more severe punishment than has been administered, (if indeed it is a punishment from God), then we have to say, “Lord you have been merciful to us. You have not treated us as severely as you have every right to have treated us.” Now I did give that little parenthetical caveat. I don't know for certain that what has happened to America is a punishment from God, but I do say this. We should take advantage of this opportunity to repent ourselves and urge repentance upon our nation. I don't have some kind of direct line from God that He said, “Yes, I've sent this directly in punishment for sin.” But there's no mistake about it that if God has sent the calamity that has befallen our nation, if He has sent that calamity in response to sin and in judgment upon sin, then we have to say, “Lord, it's not nearly as bad as what we deserve.” And so is the case with Jehoshaphat. When this trouble came upon this relatively good king, this king who had admittedly done many good things, he would still have to say, “Lord, because of my alliance with Ahab, wrath is upon me. You told me that wrath is upon me. And even though wrath is upon me, Lord, I'm going to seek your face for deliverance.” This trouble came upon a good king.

I want you to notice something else that's not specifically mentioned in this text, but we learn it from the rest of Scripture. Evil nations and evil persons---when I say persons, I'm including demonic beings---evil persons have no more power than God allows them to have. Let me cite you a couple of biblical examples. You first of all remember that there was a time when Satan appeared before God. God said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? Satan said, "Well, it's no wonder that he serves you. You've been so good to him; you've given him everything that a man could desire. And God says, All right, Satan, I will permit you to attack his possessions, and attack his family. So Satan did. He had said to the Lord, You have built a hedge around him. I can't get through the hedge. God says, All right, I'm going to let the hedge down but only this much. You're not allowed to touch his life. You can take his possessions and his family. Satan did that. But Job maintained his integrity. Later on, Satan appeared again before the Lord, and God said, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Satan said, “Yeah, yeah, but all that a man has that will he give for his life. If you let me touch his life, he'll curse you.” And God said, “All right, I'll let down that part of the hedge too. You may attack his life. You can't kill him, but you may take away his health.” Satan was permitted to touch Job's wealth and family; and he was permitted to take away Job's health, but only insofar as God permitted.

Think of another biblical example. When Jesus was on trial before Pilate and accusations were being brought against Jesus from the Jews, Pilate said to Jesus, “Why aren't you answering these accusations that are made against you? Don't you know that I have power to either kill you or to let you go?” And Jesus said, “You would have no power over me unless it were given you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” So this man Pilate who was getting ready to perpetrate a very dastardly deed and hand Jesus over to the soldiers to be crucified had power, but he had power only because it had been given to him by God.

By the way, the example of the crucifixion of Jesus is an example of God accomplishing a very good purpose through using very wicked men. I admit to you that I don't understand how this happens that God can use moral evil to accomplish His purpose, and yet He Himself is not responsible for moral evil. But even if I cannot reconcile those two things in my mind, yet the Bible proclaims that it's true. God is not responsible for the sinfulness of the men who crucified Jesus and for the cowardice of Pilate who would not do what was right. When Jesus was crucified, He was crucified at the hands of wicked men, and yet the Bible also says that it was at the determinate counsel of God, and it was fulfilling the purpose of God. So much so that in one sense, the Bible says that God was doing it. So that's a great mystery, and yet it's something that the Bible teaches clearly. Wicked persons, wicked nations, wicked armies are used in the hands of God, and they are allowed to go only as far as God will permit them to go. In the perpetration of their wicked acts, even though they're acting in fulfillment of the purpose of God, they eventually will be punished for the sin that they have done.

King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon is another example. You read the book of Jeremiah, and you will see how that he was being used to bring punishment upon the people of Israel. But then God says to King Nebuchadnezzar, “You are accomplishing my purpose, but your intention was not to serve me. Your intention was to serve yourself, and because of your sinfulness, I'm going to put a hook in your nose, and I'm going to bring judgment upon you.” So even though God uses wicked persons to accomplish His purposes, and they can only go so far as He allows them to go, yet they are still responsible for the wickedness that they have done. They will be punished for their sinfulness.

So we learn from Jehoshaphat, a relatively good king in big trouble, that relatively good people are not exempt from trouble. Even when the worst of earthly troubles come upon us, it is still not as bad as we deserve for our sin. But also we keep this in mind, that when God uses wicked people to accomplish His purposes, they can only go as far as He allows them, and then they themselves will be punished for their sinfulness.

Let's move on to a second point in this sermon. The first point was a good king in trouble. Secondly, we'll see a good response to trouble. And I say without any hesitation that many of the facets of the response that we will see from King Jehoshaphat when he faced trouble are the responses that we as the people of God should have during this day of calamity in our own nation, and we should also urge these responses upon as many people as we possibly can, as Jehoshaphat did. Let's begin reading then with verse 3. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Those are the first three items that fall under this second main heading: A good response to trouble.

The first good response to trouble is fear. Some people think that fear is somehow unmanly, that it is inappropriate, but the fact of the matter is, there are some things that it is utter foolishness not to be afraid of. It's unnatural for us to expect people not to be afraid during the time of calamity. There's reason for fear, but the proper object of fear is not always the evil person or the evil thing, not always. It's natural that people in New York would be afraid when the towers were falling. It's natural that we who were watching the disaster unfold on television should be afraid. It's natural, that as I consider getting on an airplane this Thursday, there should be an element of fear in me. True courage is not the absence of fear. True courage is doing what is right in spite of fear, and great, brave men who have been on the battlefield will tell you that they have been afraid, but they have gone ahead, and they have done what is right in spite of fear. So as Jehoshaphat considered this great army that was coming against him and he considered what they could do to him and to his kingdom, he was afraid of them, yes. But I believe that Jehoshaphat's fear never stopped there.

I believe that Jehoshaphat went back in his mind to that message that had been given to him that we read back in chapter 19:2. Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. As Jehoshaphat considered the fact that God was sending an army against him, he was afraid of God, and so what did Jehoshaphat do? Jehoshaphat responded the way that you children ought to respond if you don't want your parents to give you a hard spanking. You should set your face to seeking their favor. It's difficult to spank a child who is hugging you. It's difficult to go on spanking a child who is saying, “Daddy, I'm sorry! Please, I'm sorry.” That's what Jehoshaphat did. He feared, number one. Then number two, he set himself to seek the Lord. Literally it says that he set his face to seek the Lord. I like that. I like the way it's phrased. I hope I'm not making too much out of it and reading something into the text that isn't there. It does not merely say he sought the Lord, but it says he set himself to seek the Lord. It means that he so arranged his life that he had time to seek the Lord. He removed distractions from himself so that he could seek the Lord. You and I are surrounded with distractions. We're surrounded with a multitude of things that would become incredibly insignificant if we got a phone call that it was our loved one who was in the Twin Towers. Suddenly all of these worries and troubles that one moment seem so important become utterly insignificant in the moment that we are faced with the four last things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. How good it would be if now we would set ourselves and set our face to seek the Lord.

I am reminded a pathetic story about a woman I knew who died of cancer several years ago. She was the mother of a good friend of mine. She knew that she was dying. She had only a few days to live, and my friend told me that during the last week of her life, his mother watched her afternoon soap operas. She spent the last week of her life watching afternoon soap operas. Doesn't that just wrench your heart? The fact of the matter is that we think that's very stupid because she knew she only had a week to live, but what about us? We have no guarantee of another week. Are our lives filled with unnecessary distractions that keep us from seeking the Lord? Then let this day of trouble that has come upon us urge us to follow the example of Jehoshaphat. Let's set our face to seek the Lord because that is an appropriate response in the day of trouble. So Jehoshaphat feared. And he set his face to seek the Lord.

Then number three. The Bible says that he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. The third point under this proper response to evil is that we should humble ourselves. That is one of the primary purposes of fasting. It causes us to think seriously about something other than food and other than pleasure. On a day of fasting, we deny ourselves physical pleasure so that we might more wholeheartedly seek the face of the Lord. As we seek the face of the Lord, we're conscious of our own sinfulness, and we're humbled because of this. Often in the Bible when we read of someone fasting, we will also read that they humbled themselves in sackcloth and in ashes. It was a way of focusing their attention upon their sin, upon the reason that they had to be humble. So Jehoshaphat humbled himself, and he used the influence that he had to urge other people around him to also examine themselves and humble themselves. Since he was king, he could proclaim a fast throughout all the land of Judah, and that's what he did.

So then as part of this national fasting, he called the people together that they might seek the face of the Lord. That's the fourth item under this second heading. What should we do in the day of trouble? Not only should we fear. Not only should we set our face to seek the Lord and remove distractions from seeking the Lord, not only should we humble ourselves because of sin, but we should pray. Look at verse 4: Then Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. This day of trouble brought them together, and that is one thing that makes my patriotic heart flutter as I see this day of calamity in our own country. I see people waving flags and see people coming together, in many cases coming together to seek the face of the Lord, and I think that's a good thing. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord, and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And so they began to pray.

What are the elements of this prayer? I believe there are some very important elements in this prayer that we should imitate as we pray to the Lord in this day of trouble and indeed in any day of trouble. Let's look at this prayer then that they prayed beginning in verse 5: Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said: O Lord God of our fathers. Notice in the first place that they were not just generally praying to “the great spirit in the sky.” They were not praying to “a powerful spiritual force whoever that might be.” They were not praying to Baal or to Ashteroth. They were praying specifically to the one true and living God who has said, “You shall have no other gods before Me,” – the one true and living God who regards all other pretenses of deity to be an abomination before Him. If you try to come before the true and living God being politically correct and trying to smooth over everybody's feelings, you're in trouble. They prayed specifically O Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?

The first crucial element of this prayer that they prayed in the day of trouble was this: they recognized and acknowledged that God is God. “You're God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.” God is God. That changes things. If you're God, you can do a lot. And if God is on your side, you can do a lot. I'm afraid I phrased that in an inappropriate way. Did you notice that I said, “If God is on your side, you can do a lot”? I'm afraid that's the way many of us are thinking. Is God on our side? That's the wrong way to think about it. The right way to think about it is, Are we on God's side? Remember when God sent the children of Israel to conquer the land of Canaan, and they were facing all of these great armies, God appointed Joshua to be their captain. One day before they were entering into a great military campaign, Joshua was out at night. As he was walking and meditating, he saw a strange person standing there in armor with his sword drawn. Joshua, the brave captain of Israel, said to him, “You there! Are you for us, or are you for our enemies?” And the mysterious person answered, “Neither, but rather as captain of the Lord's hosts have I now come.” Then Joshua did the only sensible thing to do when the captain of the Lord's hosts is standing in front of you with his sword drawn, he fell down on his face. It's as though God was saying, “I haven't come to take sides, Joshua. I've come to take over.” And Joshua said, “Yes Lord, I will submit to you. I am your servant.”

God is God. And God is already at work in the worldwide situation. You notice that's what they say there in verse 6: You are God in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Even these nations that have come against us, Lord, you're ruling over them. God is already at work. He doesn't need to make a special trip to come and help us. He is already here. He is already at work. He is God. He is already here and at work, and He has irresistible power.

Not only is God already at work, but he also has irresistible power. It says at the end of verse 6: In your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand you? “We recognize, God, that when we ask for Your help, we're asking for someone who is irresistibly strong, someone who is almighty, someone who is omnipotent. No one is able to withstand You.” So as they prayed this prayer in the day of trouble, the first thing that they said was, “You are God. You are already at work. You've got all power and no one is able to resist You.”

But there was another element of their prayer. Notice it in verse 7: Are You not our God? Now that makes a big difference. God has entered into a special relationship with His people. In these last days God’s people are those who have made a covenant with Him through Jesus Christ. I said last week, and I'll repeat it now, that the United States of America is not God's chosen nation. The United States of America is not God's chosen people. God has a chosen people. They are the people who have made covenant with Him through Jesus Christ. Everybody who is not believing in Jesus Christ is not part of God's chosen nation. But we are part of God's chosen nation. You are a holy nation, a holy priesthood. What's a priesthood supposed to do? One of the functions of a priest is to intercede for others. We pray for others. And so let us, the people of God, say, “Oh God we come to You in the day of trouble, and You are our God. Oh Lord, if you send a great war to this country, there will be many of Your people who will be killed. We pray that you'll have mercy. You are our God. We've had a relationship with You. You've done mighty things for us in the past.”

But I've already gotten into the third element now of the prayer in the day of trouble. Not only do we recognize that God is God, not only do we remind God of our special relationship to Him as the people of God, but we also remind the Lord and ourselves of the good that He has done for us in the past. Continuing now in verse 7: Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever? And they dwell in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, 'If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in your presence (for your name is in this temple), and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.' And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them—here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of your possession which you have given us to inherit.

At this time, I think that our prayer as the people of God should be something like this: “Oh Lord, You have done great and mighty works for us. We praise You for the great things that You have done, and we confess to You that we have not been as appreciative towards You as we ought to have been. We humble ourselves before You for having taken these blessings for granted. But Lord, like Jehoshaphat, though we may not be good, yet have we not done some good things by Your grace? Has there not gone forth into all the world a mighty force of missionaries from this country, such as the world has never seen before? Do You not have many people living throughout this land? Oh Lord, we acknowledge that we deserve Your wrath, but in wrath remember mercy. Remember the good things that You have done for us and have mercy upon us Lord. We remember the good things that You have done, and we give thanks to You for them.”

I want to show you a fourth element of an appropriate prayer in the day of trouble. It's in verse 12: “O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” Jehoshaphat frankly acknowledged, “We have no power.” Someone might have said, “But, Jehoshaphat, you have an army; you have chariots.” But Jehoshaphat would say, “Oh it's true that we have some armaments, but the fact of the matter is, we have no power if this is a judgment from God. We have no power against these people.”

Psalm 33:16 reads, No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. You see, Jehoshaphat was right. We have no might to withstand against this army. America needs to learn this lesson. I'm not saying that we should not take up the sword that has been put into the hands of the government. I believe that it's legitimate even for Christians to serve in the armed forces as citizens of their own country. But I think that we as the people of God need to let the rest of the world know that no king is saved by the size of his army. We have no might against this enemy.

Not only did Jehoshaphat acknowledge their lack of power, but he also acknowledged their lack of intelligence. They said, “We don't know what to do.” Doesn't that pretty well describe our situation? I mean our situation in America is not like it was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Then the response was fairly clear. We retaliate against the aggressor nation. But now what are we going to do? “We don't know what to do. But our eyes are upon You.” I think that it would be a great step forward if the leaders of our land would pray this, “Lord we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Under the second main point, when I talked about the appropriate response in the day of trouble, I first of all said it was appropriate that we should fear, most notably that we should fear God. I also said that we should set ourselves to seek the Lord and that we should humble ourselves. Fourthly, we should pray. In our prayer we should acknowledge that God is God. We should remind Him that we have a special relationship to Him, that He has done great things for us in the past. Then also we should acknowledge in all humility that we have no might to withstand the enemy. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon Him.

Here is a fifth crucial element of what we should do in the day of trouble. Verse 13: Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord. I like that. It's not just the men. It's not just the representatives. It's not just the government officials, but all Judah with their little ones, their wives, and their children stood before the Lord, and they're waiting. Their eyes are upon God. Have you ever been in a meeting where a controversial subject was under discussion, and in that crowd there was one person in particular for whom you had a special regard, and as the discussion went on, you found yourself looking to that person, thinking, “I wonder how he's going to respond. What's he got to say about this?” The children of Israel say, “Our eyes are upon You. We're looking at you, Lord. What's your response in this situation? Oh, there's tumult that is going on around us in our day of calamity, but Lord, our eyes are upon You. What are You going to do?”

And then here is the third point of my message. We see a happy ending to this story. Verse 14: Then the Spirit of the Lord came 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, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. That's a happy answer, my friends. Are you on the Lord's side? Can you say in your troubles, the battle is not mine; it's the Lord's?

I'm preaching this sermon in view of the great calamity that has befallen our nation, but it applies also to day-to-day troubles that you face. Only this past week, I had to turn a situation over to God, a situation in which I was tempted to try to get revenge. A business in this city did my family wrong, did us terribly wrong. When I sought to go through the appropriate channels to get them to do what was right, they still refused to do what was right. And so this past week I said, Lord I turn this over to You. I'm not going to seek revenge. You have said that vengeance belongs to You, and so if there's any vengeance that needs to take place in this situation, I turn it over to You. The battle is the Lord's. Don't fight a battle that's not God's battle. The battle is not yours, but God's.

Well, even though it was God's battle, they still had to face the enemy. It reminds me of when I was a little boy. There was a bully in the neighborhood. I was afraid of him. One day we were playing football in my yard, and this bully didn't like the way things were going, and so he started to fight me. I was scared of him. I ran into the house. I cried to Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad said, “Go out there and stand up to him.” Now I know there are all kinds of problems that are raised by that, but in this particular case, it worked. They said, “Go out there, and you stand up to him.” So I went out there, and I stood in front of this bully, and I looked up at him. My parents were peering out the window. They told me later on that my knees were literally knocking together. But I remember what I said to him as I stood there quailing with fear, my knees knocking together, I lied and said, “I'm not afraid of you.” He didn’t want to fight me. Do you know that was the end of trouble with the bully? I stood up to him the one time.

That's what God said to Jehoshaphat. “You go out and you stand up; I'm telling you this battle is mine.” This took some courage. It took some living by faith, but they did it. Look at verse 16: Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go you against them, for the Lord is with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. Now let me pause right there.

Worshiping does not mean merely that you are filled with emotions of gratitude and praise. Worship also includes in it the attitude of bowing down in submission to what God has said. So they said, “We will submit to what You have said, Lord. It doesn't make any sense to us, but we accept Your Word, and we trust You, and we're going to act according to what You have said.” So they went out. They bowed down, and they praised the Lord. Verse 19: Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. They lifted up their voices, and then the next day came the test. Are they going to obey? Verse 20: So they arose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.” Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

God can work like that. God can take a little screwdriver and just turn a little screw inside the enemy's head just a little bit, and instead of fighting the enemy, they start fighting one another. I'm sure that there were some people among the people of Israel who must have said, “Yeah right. We're going to go out there, and we're going to sing, and we're going to defeat these people with our singing?” But that's what happened. I'm sure there were some people among the children of Israel who were incredulous when Moses told them, “Go to your neighbors the Egyptians and ask them for silver and gold. Ask them for all their treasure.” There were probably some people who said, “Oh sure. The Egyptians are just going to fork it over their family heirlooms and valuables. But because God said to go, we'll go.” So they went out into the ritzy Egyptian neighborhoods, knocked on the doors and said, “Excuse me, neighbor Egyptian, may I have all the gold and silver and jewels in your house?” “Well, of course,” said the Egyptians, “We'll be glad to give them to you.” (Sounds to me like God had been sovereignly influencing somebody’s free will). God had obviously been at work, and God is able to do that. He can change people’s minds. The Egyptians had their minds changed, and God gave the Israelites the wealth of Egypt.

Now notice verse 24: So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore, the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. Berachah means blessing. So when the battle was over, when God had done all that He had promised, they were not negligent to praise the Lord and to give Him thanks for what He had done. Verse 27: Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. So they came to Jerusalem with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around. And God can do that. God can cause His fear to fall upon our enemies and make them not even want to attack God's people.

Well, one of the main questions that you should be asking yourself is this: “Am I one of God's people? When the day of trouble comes – and mark this down, there's not a house in all the land that does not sooner or later have its hush – but when the day of trouble comes to your house, will you be able to appear before God and say, “Oh Lord, I am your child, and you remember that I have sought You with my whole heart. Now, God, in this day of trouble, be pleased to deliver me, and if it is not Your pleasure to deliver me out of this day of present trouble on this earth, then I commit myself into Your keeping for eternity. If it is Your will that I die in this day of trouble, then I thank You, Lord, and I need not be afraid of death. I am ready to go.”

Are you ready to go? What if it had been your building that was struck by the planes? Perhaps there were some people who were saying, “I will repent later, but today I have other things on my mind.” But later never came. How is it with you? If today is your day, if today at sunset you die, will you have a pleasant existence beyond the sunset? Will you be able to say with the words of that song that some of us sang when we were little children:

Beyond the sunset, O blissful morning;

When with our Savior heav’n is begun.

Earth’s toiling ended, O glorious dawning;

Beyond the sunset, when day is done.

You can be ready, and you can be ready even this day if you will humble yourself and repent of your sin and worship the Lord. Let us bow down to Him. Receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. Receive Him. You might say, “What has receiving Jesus got to do with my being ready for eternity?” That's a good question, and the answer to that is that Jesus Christ died as a Savior for sinners. You may not be able to understand all of that. No doubt there were some people of Israel who didn't understand the command that God have given them: “Go out and face them and sing.” They may not have understood, but when they obeyed, they found that a victory was won. And so it will be with you. You may not understand how it is that your sins can be forgiven by trusting in Jesus Christ, but try it. Behave as though it were true, and you will become convinced that it is true. Take God at His word. Believe God, and you will be saved.

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Scripture from The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by
Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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