2 Chronicles 20:15 And he said, Listen you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus said the LORD to you… This battle was — I. A COMMITTED THING TO GOD. The course of events was committed by a specific act to God; and Jehoshaphat and Judah stood in expectation of what He would do. Solemn acts of committal are of great importance in our spiritual life. If we have a bad habit to fight with, or a temper or special temptation to overcome; or if we have to deal with some wayward spirit; or if we want to attain to some grace, or even to do something that is too hard for our own strength, but which lies before us in the path of duty, let each of these be "committed things." II. AN ACCEPTED THING BY HIM. God espoused Jehoshaphat's cause: "The battle is not yours." When we commit matters to God and He accepts them, we may see them in new lights altogether. We often do so, and wonder that we were so blind before. But we need not wonder. The light came in with God. When matters seem very dark to us, let us be fully assured that they are capable of being lit up. 1. "Not yours!" Why not? Because another interest had come in. In one respect the battle is always ours, inasmuch as we are the persons to reap all the substantial benefits, but in another it is God's; He has interests as well as we. In our trial time, we must view Him as an interested God. 2. How was it not to be theirs? Just by God acting in the matter in His own way. We seem at times more as though we wished God to follow our leadings than that we should follow His. God will lead us by ways which we know not. We have to learn the double lesson of the insufficiency of known ways and the all-sufficiency of unknown. God has continually to teach us the last through the first. By taking the battle out of their hands, God severed Jehoshaphat and Judah from the depressing thoughts of the results being affected by their weakness. Conclusion: Consider Christ, who "committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously," and Paul, who said, "I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." (P. B. Power, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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