The Lord's Battle

[Betty]

Title: The Lord's Battle
Author: Woodrow Kroll
Devotion: Woodrow Kroll
Scripture References:2 Chronicles 20:1-27
____________________________________________________________ Title: The Lord's Battle

And they rose early in the morning,
and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa,
and as they
went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me,
O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe
in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established;
believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.
The battle of the forces of good against the
forces of evil has raged on for millennia. Ever
since Satan's heart was lifted up with pride and
he said,
"I will be like the most high" (Isaiah14:13-14),
the forces of God have been pitted
against Satan and his forces in eternal conflict.
This battle continues today. The apostle Paul
reminds us that "we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in highnplaces" (Ephesians 6:12).
One of the greatest difficulties in being as
oldier in the army of the Lord is to recognize
that we are but soldiers on the field of battle
and not generals in the war room. We are calle
dupon to fight Satan and his henchmen. We are
engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the forces of
immorality, ungodliness and sin. Still, the
battle is the Lord's, not ours. Nowhere is this
truth more graphically illustrated than in the
story of good King Jehoshaphat.
The quarter-century reign of Jehoshaphat, son of
Asa, is one of the rare bright spots in Judah's
checkered history. He was 35 years old when he ascended to
the throne in 872 B.C. and he continued the work
of religious reformation and revival begun by his
father. But as is usually the case when a man
attempts to serve God, the forces of Satan began
to disrupt Judah during the days of Jehoshaphat.
As 2 Chronicles 20:1 indicates, the peace of
Judah was suddenly interrupted by a confederacy
of the Moabites and Ammonites east of the Jordan
River. The combined forces of this deadly duo
were but a manifestation of the armies of Satan
during that generation. What would the king of
God's people do? Would he fight or would he
knuckle under to Satan's stooges? Jehoshaphat did
the only thing a godly person can do. He "set
himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast
throughout all Judah." When Jehoshaphat finished his prayer, Jahaziel,the son of Zechariah, who was in the line of
Levites from Asaph, began to prophesy by the
spirit of the Lord. He called to Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem and gave this message to
the king and the people: "Thus saith the LORD
unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of
this great multitude; for the battle is not
yours, but God's." Reassured by this word from the Lord,
the kingand people bowed their faces to the ground and
worshiped Jehovah the Lord. Then they stood to
praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice
.And, oh yes, they did one other thing: they put
feet to their prayers. "And they rose early in
the morning and went forth into the wilderness at
Tekoa and as they went forth Jehoshaphat stood
and said, hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem; believe in the LORD your God, so shall
ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall
ye prosper" (2 Chronicles 20:20). Having prayed
to God and armed with the knowledge that the
battle was not theirs but His, the Jews arose
early the next morning, eager to be soldiers in
God's army. When they arrived at the scene of
battle, they found no mighty armies, just dead
bodies. Apparently the confused enemy fell on one
another. Ammonites killing Moabites and Moabites
killing Ammonites. Indeed, the battle was the
Lord's. This is a hard lesson to learn when the battle
does not appear to be going God's way. Perhaps
that's why so many soldiers today are discouraged
and ready to desert the army of the Lord. But you
and I must remember that we are taking our place
in the Lord's army, just as Jehoshaphat and the
Jews took their places so many centuries ago. The
battle still rages; the battle is still the Lord's.
Let us pray to the Lord God for victory,
praise His name for assurance, and then rush off
early each morning to do battle with Satan and
his armies throughout the day. We have the same
confidence as did Jehoshaphat and the Jews, for
we have the same God.
MORNING HYMN
Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army,
None can overthrow;
Round His standard ranging,
Vict'ry is secure,
For His truth unchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting,
By Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord's side
,Saviour, we are Thine!