2 Chronicles 20:21-22
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 for ever. 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.
I’ve been meditating on the chapter these verses are found in. This is a favorite chapter of the Bible for me. In fact, verse 15 of this chapter has gone with me in many a battle since I was a teenager. With shame though, I have to confess that sometimes I’ve forgotten the verse when it seemed like there was a battle at every turn.
If you’re not familiar with this chapter (and maybe even if you are), I’d like to encourage you to read the WHOLE chapter. The “he” in this chapter is King Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Perhaps one of my favorite Bible kings. He had made some errors in judgment…. Made alliances that God was not pleased with, yet when he was rebuked by God’s prophet, he repented and set his heart to seek the Lord once again. This is where we find Jehoshaphat… on his way back to a right relationship with his LORD. He gives me hope when I mess up.
In the middle of this, he finds himself surrounded by the enemies of God, Moab and Ammon. They were many more than Judah… “a great multitude”. Jehoshaphat was afraid. This really looked bad for him and his kingdom, yet, the Word says, “he set himself to seek the Lord”…. How did He do that?
First Jehoshaphat recognized God’s proper position not only in his life, but in the lives of those who would be his friends or his enemies. He recognized that God was the God of his fathers. He was God in heaven and he rules over all kingdoms… both those who recognize His Authority and those who do not.
Next, he recognized God as all powerful. No one could stand against the Lord or anyone who stood with the Lord if He deemed it so. Jehoshaphat recognized God’s past work of power in the life of Israel as a nation and the individual lives of his forefathers. He recognized his forefathers’ submission and worship of the God of the universe.
Then he recited back to the Lord His promises to His children to protect them and work on their behalf when they would call on him. Then he called on God to work on his behalf.
Now much of this you may have heard before. Verse 15 being one of my favorite verses in the Bible…”Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of the great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” That has been such a comfort to me over the years when I’ve remembered I’m not in the fight alone. In fact, if God says stand back and let it alone, I don’t need to fight at all.
However, there is something more in this chapter that has caught my attention this time (don’t you just love God’s Word? How you can read something over and over again and STILL He’ll speak to you through it?) Jehoshaphat bowed and worshipped the Lord after God told him, He’d go with him into the battle. Then the Kohathites (Levite descendants) the singers for the Temple… began to praise the Lord with a LOUD voice ……
Then the most amazing thing, Jehoshaphat commanded the people to “believe in the LORD your God”… so they would be firm in their stand for God and then he appointed the singers to ‘praise the beauty of holiness’… Praise the Lord. They hadn’t even gone out to battle yet… They just knew that it looked to be insurmountable odds against them. Yet, something amazing happens when they started to praise God…. The Lord set ambushes for the Ammonites, the Moabites and everyone else who had come with them against Judah, so that they killed each other rather than harmed Judah.
Wow! As I thought on this, I thought how often do I find myself in hard circumstances where the odds of coming out intact in my spiritual, emotional and physical walk are against me? What do I do? Well, I must confess, I find myself whimpering and feeling sorry for myself. Instead I should be praising the Lord.
Let me get a little more specific here. What happens when I don’t agree with my husband in how he chooses to lead our household? Do I fight against him? Do I try to belittle him to others? What if he wants to do something I feel God would not be pleased with? How do I handle that? Do I separate myself from him, either physically or emotionally by pouting about it?
As a wife, I am commanded to follow my husband unless what he wants to do is immoral or against what God has commanded me. Now, I have to admit sometimes it’s very tempting to use God’s Word as a sword against my husband…. That’s misuse. Peter told women, whose husbands weren’t following the word (and I believe this applies to men who have a personal relationship with Jesus as well as those who don’t), to live the Word in front of them (I’m paraphrasing you understand but you can go to I Peter 3 and see if I don’t have the principle right), so that as we live the Word and follow our husband’s leadership (whether we want to or not), God can work on his heart. This principle applies to our pastor, our teachers, to anyone whom God has put us under authority. How do we do this?
I think the answer here is to “praise the beauty of holiness”. I believe the beauty of holiness is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we praise Him for His mercy… because let’s face it most of us could have it a LOT worse… then He is freed to work in and on the behalf of those who’ve set themselves to be our enemy, either physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Our pastor often encourages us to say and often greets us with “Well, God is good, isn’t He?” What are you supposed to say to that? I have to admit, there’s something deep inside me sometimes that wants to say “yes, but if you only knew ...…” There is no but… God is good and His mercy endureth forever!
What about you? Do you feel surrounded by circumstances that you just don’t seem to be able to do anything about? Do you have a relationship that has you all tied up in knots because you just can’t make the other person see your view of things? Has God placed you somewhere you’d rather not be? Do you feel grumpy and out of sorts and just want to complain all the time? Start praising the Lord. Can’t do it on your own? Get out some good "praising God" music on a CD or tape and get it going… listen to it, let your heart be captured by it and then start singing along…. See what God will do when you start praising Him for WHO He is, not just for WHAT He can do for you!
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: How often I find myself struggling with something that has occurred and I have no control over the outcome, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be something I don’t like. According to this, I’m to praise the Lord for His person, His holiness, His mercy (that it isn’t worse). Then He can work in the situation to turn it around. I definitely need to hold on to this thought. I have felt completely overrun recently by these types of issues. I do want God to work. Can I trust Him to do best in the situation? I surely need to trust.
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 for ever. 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.
I’ve been meditating on the chapter these verses are found in. This is a favorite chapter of the Bible for me. In fact, verse 15 of this chapter has gone with me in many a battle since I was a teenager. With shame though, I have to confess that sometimes I’ve forgotten the verse when it seemed like there was a battle at every turn.
If you’re not familiar with this chapter (and maybe even if you are), I’d like to encourage you to read the WHOLE chapter. The “he” in this chapter is King Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Perhaps one of my favorite Bible kings. He had made some errors in judgment…. Made alliances that God was not pleased with, yet when he was rebuked by God’s prophet, he repented and set his heart to seek the Lord once again. This is where we find Jehoshaphat… on his way back to a right relationship with his LORD. He gives me hope when I mess up.
In the middle of this, he finds himself surrounded by the enemies of God, Moab and Ammon. They were many more than Judah… “a great multitude”. Jehoshaphat was afraid. This really looked bad for him and his kingdom, yet, the Word says, “he set himself to seek the Lord”…. How did He do that?
First Jehoshaphat recognized God’s proper position not only in his life, but in the lives of those who would be his friends or his enemies. He recognized that God was the God of his fathers. He was God in heaven and he rules over all kingdoms… both those who recognize His Authority and those who do not.
Next, he recognized God as all powerful. No one could stand against the Lord or anyone who stood with the Lord if He deemed it so. Jehoshaphat recognized God’s past work of power in the life of Israel as a nation and the individual lives of his forefathers. He recognized his forefathers’ submission and worship of the God of the universe.
Then he recited back to the Lord His promises to His children to protect them and work on their behalf when they would call on him. Then he called on God to work on his behalf.
Now much of this you may have heard before. Verse 15 being one of my favorite verses in the Bible…”Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of the great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” That has been such a comfort to me over the years when I’ve remembered I’m not in the fight alone. In fact, if God says stand back and let it alone, I don’t need to fight at all.
However, there is something more in this chapter that has caught my attention this time (don’t you just love God’s Word? How you can read something over and over again and STILL He’ll speak to you through it?) Jehoshaphat bowed and worshipped the Lord after God told him, He’d go with him into the battle. Then the Kohathites (Levite descendants) the singers for the Temple… began to praise the Lord with a LOUD voice ……
Then the most amazing thing, Jehoshaphat commanded the people to “believe in the LORD your God”… so they would be firm in their stand for God and then he appointed the singers to ‘praise the beauty of holiness’… Praise the Lord. They hadn’t even gone out to battle yet… They just knew that it looked to be insurmountable odds against them. Yet, something amazing happens when they started to praise God…. The Lord set ambushes for the Ammonites, the Moabites and everyone else who had come with them against Judah, so that they killed each other rather than harmed Judah.
Wow! As I thought on this, I thought how often do I find myself in hard circumstances where the odds of coming out intact in my spiritual, emotional and physical walk are against me? What do I do? Well, I must confess, I find myself whimpering and feeling sorry for myself. Instead I should be praising the Lord.
Let me get a little more specific here. What happens when I don’t agree with my husband in how he chooses to lead our household? Do I fight against him? Do I try to belittle him to others? What if he wants to do something I feel God would not be pleased with? How do I handle that? Do I separate myself from him, either physically or emotionally by pouting about it?
As a wife, I am commanded to follow my husband unless what he wants to do is immoral or against what God has commanded me. Now, I have to admit sometimes it’s very tempting to use God’s Word as a sword against my husband…. That’s misuse. Peter told women, whose husbands weren’t following the word (and I believe this applies to men who have a personal relationship with Jesus as well as those who don’t), to live the Word in front of them (I’m paraphrasing you understand but you can go to I Peter 3 and see if I don’t have the principle right), so that as we live the Word and follow our husband’s leadership (whether we want to or not), God can work on his heart. This principle applies to our pastor, our teachers, to anyone whom God has put us under authority. How do we do this?
I think the answer here is to “praise the beauty of holiness”. I believe the beauty of holiness is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we praise Him for His mercy… because let’s face it most of us could have it a LOT worse… then He is freed to work in and on the behalf of those who’ve set themselves to be our enemy, either physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Our pastor often encourages us to say and often greets us with “Well, God is good, isn’t He?” What are you supposed to say to that? I have to admit, there’s something deep inside me sometimes that wants to say “yes, but if you only knew ...…” There is no but… God is good and His mercy endureth forever!
What about you? Do you feel surrounded by circumstances that you just don’t seem to be able to do anything about? Do you have a relationship that has you all tied up in knots because you just can’t make the other person see your view of things? Has God placed you somewhere you’d rather not be? Do you feel grumpy and out of sorts and just want to complain all the time? Start praising the Lord. Can’t do it on your own? Get out some good "praising God" music on a CD or tape and get it going… listen to it, let your heart be captured by it and then start singing along…. See what God will do when you start praising Him for WHO He is, not just for WHAT He can do for you!
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: How often I find myself struggling with something that has occurred and I have no control over the outcome, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be something I don’t like. According to this, I’m to praise the Lord for His person, His holiness, His mercy (that it isn’t worse). Then He can work in the situation to turn it around. I definitely need to hold on to this thought. I have felt completely overrun recently by these types of issues. I do want God to work. Can I trust Him to do best in the situation? I surely need to trust.
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