| What I Can Learn From . . . , Part 11: King Jehoshophat |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, November 21 2005 00:00 |
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There is a simple lesson to be learned from King Jehoshaphat of Judah: The strength of weakness. When the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites joined together to come against Jerusalem, the situation was actually hopeless. Jerusalem lacked the strength to resist this mighty force arrayed against it. 2 Chron. 20:3 tells us that “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.” His prayer reveals his awareness of God’s sovereignty and his own lack of strength: 5 “Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said: ‘O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7 O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.' 10 "But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.’" Jehoshaphat acknowledged that they had no power, but that power and might were in the hand of God. He confessed that he did not know what to do, and he turned to God for help, intervention, and deliverance. Judah was delivered, and its enemies were defeated in a great victory. There is strength in weakness! |
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