Jehoshaphat was one of the good guys among kings of
Judah. He removed objects of idol
worship from the land, sent priests throughout the land to teach the people God’s
commandments and how to properly worship him, and consistently sought the
advice of godly prophets. Much of his
reign was peaceful.
However, at one point, an army consisting of members of
three different surrounding nations advanced to make war with him. Jehoshaphat’s army was smaller and no match
for his enemies. In II Chronicles 20,
his prayer on this occasion is recorded.
“All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones,
stood there before the Lord” in the temple in Jerusalem and listened to
Jehoshaphat’s prayer, as he pleaded for God’s help.
His prayer ends with this sentence:
We do not know what to
do, but our eyes are upon you.
This seems so appropriate to me today. I am dealing with some situations personally
in which I really don’t know what to do.
It also seems that we as a nation currently don’t know what to do about
numerous issues, not the least of which being the upcoming election.
Jehoshaphat believed a prophet who declared there would be
deliverance without the Judean army having to fight. As Jehoshaphat led the people in worship, some
of the priests stood up and began to sing praises to God. Men were appointed to go out at the head of
the army declaring, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”
As they went into battle the next day, they discovered the
opposing armies were dead. They had
turned on each other and wiped each other out.
The army of Judah did not have to fight, because the battle was God’s.
So how about this for a motto and a way to begin every day?
We do not know what to do, but our
eyes are upon you.
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