The Battle Is Not Yours, but God's

King Jehoshaphat received most urgent and distressing news one day. There had amassed about 30 miles from Jerusalem the combined military forces of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and of other nations (“a great multitude” 2 Chronicles 20:2). What were Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah to do? How were they to defend themselves? In one of the most miraculous displays of God’s almighty power to defend His people and to judge His enemies, they trusted not in princes, swords, chariots, or armies (for all their defenses seemed hopeless before such a great multitude), but rather they put their faith and hope in Almighty God.

God certainly has blessed many times in Scripture (and even throughout history) the means of armed defense against enemies that sought to destroy His people (weapons are a lawful means of self-defense). But the Lord demonstrates from our text today that it is ultimately not in weapons that we are to put our trust; but is in our great God who is able to destroy the enemy (if He so chooses) even by prayer, fasting, and the singing of psalms in faith and to the glory of God. As we prepare for our Day of Prayer and Fasting on behalf of our Christian brethren in South Africa, let “the LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle” (Psalm 24:8) be Him who is our first and chief resort.

The main points from our text this Lord’s Day are: (1) Great Trials Drive Us to Look to a Great God (2 Chronicles 20:1-4); (2) A Great God Delights in Urgent Prayer (2 Chronicles 20:5-13); (3) A Great God Delivers His People in Ways We May Not Expect (2 Chronicles 20:14-25).