Most of our difficulties in life stem from the fact that we are not letting God be God but instead we try to take His place. We have a hard time letting someone else take charge of our lives and that brings a lot of pain, heartaches and headaches; all of which could have been avoided if we only let God take control. One of the recurrent themes in the bible is that we, as God’s people have to be submissive to Him; we have to be living sacrifices – constantly dying to ourselves so that Christ might be magnified but this is easier said than done and I will be the first to admit it. Reading over the book of 2 Chronicles, I was reminded of an important truth from the lives of the kings of Israel, all those who called upon the Name of the Lord, waited on the Lord, put their hope in the Lord, counted on the Lord, without fail had victory over their enemies. They never, not once were being ridiculed for crying out to the Lord. Psalm 34 was their life and a testament to the truth of the words of King David. Today, I would like to highlight some of those kings who trusted in the Lord and how the Lord came through for them mightily.
The first king that I would like to highlight is Abijah, king of Judah who cried to the Lord while he was in battle with Jeroboam king of Israel. This Jeroboam is the king who brought evil and disorder to the ways of the Lord in Israel. Because of him, the Northern kingdom of Israel started following false gods, perversion came in because they did not follow the instructions of the Lord. Although Jeroboam’s army was bigger in comparison to Abijah’s, the latter was given victory because he cried to the Lord (2 Chronicles 12:14). Indeed, Abijah knew there was a big difference between his nation – Judah and the nation of Israel; Judah was still observing the ways of the Lord; Judah had not forsaken their God; Judah was still performing the sacrifices and ordinances in the temple of the Lord as commanded by Him. Judah knew they were in the right and because of that standing, they believed they could call out to the Lord and be rescued from their enemies. That is exactly what happened as we read “At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands” (2 Chronicles 13:15-16).
Another king who got to experience the power of God’s rescue is Asa, who is Abijah’s son. Asa is among the few kings of Judah who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He made a reform in the country and reestablished real worship in Judah. Asa’s heart was so devoted to the Lord that he ensured high places were destroyed and that Asherah poles were removed. Because of such behaviour, and his total devotion to the Lord, Asa’s portion was rest and peace, as well as victory over his enemies. Even when Asa was faced with enemies that were stronger than him like the Cushites, the Lord saved him from them all because he called upon the Name of the Lord (2 Chronicles 14:12). Again, we see the words of King David come alive once again “I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). It is interesting however to see that Asa, at the end of his life, being ill refused to consult the Lord to get His help but insisted on getting help only from a physician. Unfortunately, in God’s economy, if you do not ask, you will not receive. Asa’s pride led him to die with a disease that would have been healed if he had asked for God’s help.
Lastly, we have the example of king Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son who was also a king of Judah who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord in his early years. Jehoshaphat, like the other good kings did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father. He followed the commands of God, removed the high places, Asherah poles and instances of idolatry in the land. Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was established by God, and he had great wealth and honour (2 Chronicles 17:5). Psalm 23 is very clear that, because the Lord is your shepherd does not mean you will not go through the valley of the shadow of death. Jehoshaphat certainly was not spared from such hardships despite his devotion to the Lord and his prosperity. Indeed, we learn that the Moabites and Ammonites marched out against Jehoshaphat in battle and upon hearing this, he was afraid yet resolved to inquire of the Lord (2 Chronicles 20:3). In his inquiry, Jehoshaphat was able to retell God the history that exists between Israel and these nations, and particularly the good Israel had done to them in the past. Jehoshaphat also reminded God of His great power and might, of the fact that He rescued Israel from captivity and brought them into the land they are in now; he also reminded God of the covenant Solomon made with Him when he was dedicating the temple of God. The covenant essentially said if the Israelites cried out to the Lord in their distress in the temple, God would hear and save them. By crying out to God at His temple, Jehoshaphat placed himself in that covenant and God rescued Judah mightily. While Judah’s army was singing songs of praise, God destroyed their enemies (2 Chronicles 20:22). Fighting battles God’s way is so different from the world’s! What is more, God does not just stop at giving victory to his people, he also provides them with the spoil!
God is able, we need only to cry out to Him, we need to remind Him of His words because He is bound by His words. We need to consult Him for everything we are doing, because He lives in us does not mean we should not inquire of Him when we are faced with difficulties. He delights to help us, He wants to help us, but He is too much of a “gentleman” to force His way on us. He wants us to desire Him! I pray the Lord grants us the grace to desire Him, to submit ourselves to Him to the point that we involve Him in everything we do. May we forfeit our natural tendency of trying things on our own before we call upon God and may we instead call upon God right away.
A Word Aptly Spoken 