GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 20:13-19
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13 All the men of Judah stood there before the LORD, with their wives and children and little ones. 14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, who was in the middle of the assembly. 15 He said: “Listen, all of Judah, all who live in Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged on account of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Go down against them tomorrow. They will be climbing up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge from the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight in this battle. Hold your positions; stand, and see the salvation of the LORD for you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’” 18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, to worship the LORD. 19 Then the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very, very loud voice.
The huge congregation was standing there around the king, listening to his prayer. Verse 13 tells us that it was not only the men of Judah, but their wives along with their children, including the little ones. Young boys and girls can sometimes make noises in church. I’m told that some pastors even discourage families from bringing their little children into church. I wish this were not so. It is good to teach our children the good habit of going to church, the manners of worshiping in church, and the priceless opportunity to learn to sing, learn the liturgy, and learn to listen to the sermon. Their attention spans can only be helped by exposure to a sermon that is fifteen or twenty minutes long. It is always a thrill to hear a happy family come and tell me, “Our little boy said that he listened to the whole sermon today!” Children can’t learn those things by being kept away.
Something unusual happened after Jehoshaphat finished his prayer. Right away, a Levite spoke up to answer him with a prophetic message from God. He was a fifth-generation descendant from the family of Asaph, David’s chief musician.
God does not always answer our prayers this quickly. There are times when we wait for years for an answer– such as when Hannah prayed “year after year” and “in bitterness of soul” for a baby (1 Samuel 1:2-7). There are times when the Lord’s answer might be “no” to our prayers– such as when he said no to Paul’s request to remove the thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), and when he said no even to Jesus our Lord when he prayed three times that the Father would not make him drink the cup of suffering that lay ahead (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44). Nevertheless we pray, and we pray “Your will be done,” so that whatever the answer, it will be for our own eternal good, and for the good of God’s eternal kingdom.
The Levite told the king that the enemy would be climbing up through a gorge. There are many such places in Israel; they are the channels that become temporary streams in the rainy winter seasons. Several of these flow down from the mountains of Judah into the northwestern Dead Sea. The one that empties out at En Gedi would bring the invaders too far to the south to threaten Jerusalem. Another, the channel known as the Kidron Valley, would have brought them directly to the walls of Jerusalem. The tomb of David’s son Absalom is along this valley (compare Genesis 14:17 and 2 Samuel 18:18).
A little south of the Kidron’s mouth is another such mouth for a gorge that flows from the northeast. Lynch called the gorge “the Brook of the Morass.” It is not far from Tekoa, which is south of Bethlehem. Many maps of Canaan label this place “the Ascent of Ziz,” although we cannot be certain about the accuracy of this. Whichever location was correct, Jehoshaphat understood the prophet’s words. They were not going to fight. Just as Israel had done in the days of Moses, Judah would now see: the LORD was going to fight for his people. They would only have to watch, and to see God’s glory and power.
There is a fine lesson at the end of our text. As soon as this gospel message of deliverance had come, the choir stood up to sing and praise God “with a loud voice.” In Hebrew, this is literally “a sound– a big one– a very big one!” In our Italian notation for modern music, this would be not just be forte (loud), or fortissimo (very loud), but fortississimo (very, very loud). For reference, this is the volume we usually sing the final bars of “The Star Spangled Banner” when sung outdoors at the ball bark. (For comparison, the loud “King of kings, and Lord of Lords” section of Handel’s chorus “Hallelujah” is only fortissimo). Shout and make a glad sound to the Lord our God. And if the babies and children add to the noise, then praise God that they have learned to sing to his glory as well. May they never stop.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2024
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 20:13-19 Fortississimo