Until It Passes

Three armies came against Judah at one time, and the Bible says Jehoshaphat feared. He was a king with a military and he was still afraid, so do not let anybody make you feel weak for being scared in this season. But look at what he did with the fear: verse three says he set himself to seek the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. He did exactly what you have been doing for three days. And then he stood up in front of everybody and prayed the most honest prayer in scripture: "We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee." Read that again. A king admitted publicly that he had no plan and no power. That is not defeat — that is the posture God responds to. Some of you have been trying to look like you have it handled. Today you can put that down.

Then the word came. Through the prophet Jahaziel, God said, "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." And then He gave the instruction that changed everything: "Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you." Notice God did not tell them the battle was cancelled. The armies were still coming. He told them the battle had changed hands. There is a difference between quitting and standing still — quitting says nothing is going to happen, standing still says God is going to handle this and I am not going to interfere. And then Jehoshaphat did something that made no military sense at all. He appointed singers to go out ahead of the army. He put the worship team in front of the soldiers.

Verse twenty-two is the whole reason we are studying this today: "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." When they began. The enemy armies turned on each other and destroyed themselves, and by the time Judah arrived at the battlefield there was nothing left but dead bodies and spoil. They never swung a sword. And there was so much left behind that it took them three days to carry it all — they came for a fight and went home with more than they had before it started. Then they gathered in a valley and named it Berachah, which means blessing, because that is where they blessed the Lord. So hear me on this last day: what has been coming against your home is not too much for God, and you were never the one who was going to win it. Open your mouth and praise Him, and let Him set the ambush.