FEAR NOT for July 6, 2016: 2 CHRONICLES 20:15

"And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, 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."

BACKGROUND/COMMENTARY from David Guzik (blueletterbible.org): 

In verses 1-2, we read that a great hostile army has gathered against  King Jehoshaphat and Judah. "There was certainly a sense in which Jehoshaphat feared the great multitude coming against him. Yet the sense here is that he feared the LORD, and was more awed at the power and majesty of God than at the destructive force of his enemies."

So, King Jehoshaphat did what he knew he had to do:  he bowed before Almighty God and asked for God's help. "This is a recurring theme in 2 Chronicles: the leaders who seek the LORD. We can expect God to do great things when His people, and especially the leaders of His people, seek the Him." "His attitude is summed up by the word 'seek', which occurs twice in Hebrew though it is variously translated.... This is a key word in Jehoshaphat's reign, where it has the basic sense of 'worship', but also means to discover God's will. It shows that Jehoshaphat has a higher trust in God than in his military resources."

(Selman) 

"Jehoshaphat called the nation to express their humility and total dependence upon God through a public fast - that is, abstaining from all food for a period of time (typically a day or more) and drinking only water." "In Mark 9:28-29, Jesus explained that prayer and fasting together were a source of significant spiritual power. It isn't as if prayer and fasting make us more worthy to be blessed or do God's work; it is that prayer and fasting draw us closer to the heart of God, and they put us more in line with His power. Fasting is a powerful expression of our total dependence on Him."

King Jehoshaphat gathered his people to pray:  "Jehoshaphat began his great prayer by recognizing the power of Yahweh over heaven and all kingdoms of the nations." "Jehoshaphat also prayed recognizing God's great works in the past on behalf of His people. The logic is clear: If God had done great things for His people in the past, He can be prevailed upon to do great things for His people at their moment of great need." "The final phrase (of Jehoshaphat's prayer), 'We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you,' is one of the most touching expressions of trust in God to be found anywhere in the Bible." (Selman)  "They said, 'Our eyes are upon thee.' What did they mean by that? They meant, 'Lord, if help does come, it must come from thee. We are looking to thee for it. It cannot come from anywhere else, so we look to thee. But we believe it will come, men will not look for that which they know will not come. We feel sure it will come, but we do not know how, so we are looking; we do not know when, but we are looking. We do not know what thou wouldest have us to do, but as the servant looks to her mistress, so are we looking to thee, Lord. Lord, we are looking.'" (Spurgeon)
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah … in the midst of the assembly:"  "Out of this huge group gathered together, the Spirit of the LORD came upon one man to speak to the entire assembly. God answers Jehoshaphat's prayer with a promise given through a prophet. This was a spontaneous word of prophecy that came as God's people waited before Him and sought Him." God said, "You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD:" Judah did not need to fight in this battle, yet it did not mean there was nothing for them to do. It was a significant step of faith to position yourselves, to stand still, and to believe that you would see the salvation of the LORD in the face of a large attacking army. The threat was real - there really was a great multitude dedicated to destroying Judah. Yet the command was to not be afraid nor dismayed, because the battle was God's battle. He would fight on behalf of Judah against this great multitude.

PERSONAL APPLICATION:  Here's my take-away from this:  We will NEVER lose if we bow before the Lord and ask for His help with whatever challenges we're facing. God wants us to ask for His help because He LOVES to help us in our time of need. We should never forget to seek Him for ALL aspects of our lives. God will ALWAYS come through for us when we seek His face and ask for His guidance in our undertakings.