Summary of the outline that follows:
1. A Sudden Situation of Sorrow and Sadness
2. The Source of Help In A Hopeless Situation
3. The Security of the Saved In Such A Situation
4. The Situation of the Opposition
5. The Celebration of the Solution
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ASK HELP OF THE LORD
II CHRON. 20:
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord,
and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together,
to ask help of the Lord:
Our scriptural context for this sermon is lengthy.
We will read selected excerpts from II Chron. 20:1-30
II CHRON. 20
1 IT came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab,
and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites,
came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying,
There cometh a great multitude against thee
from beyond the sea on this side Syria; ...
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord,
and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together,
to ask help of the Lord:
even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem,
in the house of the Lord, ...
6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers,
art not thou God in heaven?
and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?
and in thine hand is there not power and might,
so that none is able to withstand thee?
7 Art not thou our God, ...
8 ...
9 If, ..., we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy
name is in this house,)
and cry unto thee ..., then thou wilt hear and help.
10 ...
11 ...
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them?
for we have no might against this great company that cometh
against us;
neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord,
with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then upon Jahaziel ...., came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst
of the congregation;
15 And he said, ..., Thus saith the Lord unto you,
Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude;
for the battle is not yours, but Gods.
16 ...
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle:
set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord
with you,
...; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground:
and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord,
worshipping the Lord.
19 And the Levites, ..., stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel
with a loud voice on high.
20 ... as they went forth, Jehoshaphat ... said, ...;
Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established;
believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
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.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants
of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had
made an end
of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 ... none escaped.
25 ....
26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves
... they blessed the Lord: ...
27 ...the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps
and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.
29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries,
when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of
Israel.
30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet:
for his God gave him rest round about.
What powerful thoughts are in these verses,
NOTE THE FOLLOWING GREAT TRUTHS:
I. A SUDDEN SITUATION OF SORROW & SADNESS.
VERSE 2 "Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying,
There cometh a great multitude against thee "In such a situation,
They had neither strength nor strategy12 ... for we have no might ...
neither know we what to do:Have you ever felt that a great multitude of matters were coming against you?
Have you ever felt powerless, and without a plan?If you can do it yourself, then go and do it.
Consider the matter of salvation.
Millions are attempting a do-it-yourself salvation,
but it is hopeless.A troop of transgressions march against you,
You are and will be overwhelmed by the attack.
II. THE SOURCE OF HELP IN A HOPELESS SITUATION
12 ... we have no might ...; neither know we what to do:They looked to God as their source.
but our eyes are upon thee
They looked as a nation:They did wisely and well when they looked to God;1. The King Sought the Lord.Only the invisible and invincible arm of the Lord
can act and prevail against an army of adversaries.3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord,2. The Citizenry, The Common People Sought the Lord.The leader set the example for the followers.
Parents, Pastors, Politicians, etc. should set the example for the people.4 And Judah gathered themselves together,3. Even the Children Sought the Lord.
to ask help of the Lord:Mk.12:37
... And the common people heard him gladly.13 And all Judah stood before the Lord,
with their little ones, their wives, and their children.We must teach our little ones to seek the Lord.
III. THE SECURITY OF THE SAVED IN SUCH A SITUATION
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle:
set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you,
... for the Lord will be with you.15 ...Thus saith the Lord ...,
Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of ...;
for the battle is not yours, but Gods.20 ... Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established;
believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.Because they believed God, they could say,7 Art not thou our God, ...
8 ...
9 If, ..., we stand ...and cry unto thee ...,
then thou wilt hear and help.
IV. THE SITUATION OF THE OPPOSITION
6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers,V. THE CELEBRATION OF THE SOLUTION
art not thou God in heaven?
and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?
and in thine hand is there not power and might,
so that none is able to withstand thee?12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them?
22 ... the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab ...
23 ...every one helped to destroy another.
(The wicked will destroy themselves, given time & circumstance)
24 ... none escaped.
29 ... the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
The enemies of God and of Israel
were stripped of all they possessed.24 ... none escaped.
AND WE DIDN'T READ VERSE 25 IN OUR OPENING READING:
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them,
they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies,
and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could
carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.THE LOST LOSE ALL!
God will take away everything
from those who come against us;
and He will give it to us.
THE CELEBRATION BEGAN EVEN BEFORE
THE SITUATION WAS SETTLED.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 ...Perhaps the sweetest music in the ears of God23
is the song of one who has not yet received the blessing,
but is singing the song of celebration in anticipation.
24 ...
25 ....
26 ... they blessed the Lord: ...
27 ...the Lord had made them to rejoice ...
28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps
and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.
29 ...
30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet:
for his God gave him rest round about.
CONCLUSION:
May we as students in the school of faith learn from this Old Testament story.
Ro.15:41. THEY NEEDED HELP & THEY KNEW IT.
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
All pride and self-sufficiency has to go.
2. THEY ASKED FOR HELP.
James 4:2 "... ye have not, because ye ask not."3. THEY PRAISED THE LORD FOR HIS HELP.Ac.26:22 " Having therefore obtained help of God,
I continue unto this day, ..."
1 Sam. 7:12 "Then Samuel took a stone,
...and called the name of it Eben-ezer,
saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us
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The preceeding is a sermon written
by Ben Shepherd.
Copyright 2000 Ben Shepherd
Emailed to 500+ subscribers to the Preacher's Notebook 3-2000.
Permission is freely granted to those who minister to
use in public proclamation without stating attribution.
All other rights reserved.
Written and edited after reading & rereading from the sermon(s) cited below by C.H. Spurgeon.
Some of the thoughts and ideas were inspired by Spurgeon's sermons,
which are in the public domain.
THE SINGING ARMY.
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT, VOL. 51, NO. 2923
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH, 1905,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, NOV. 23RD, 1876.
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