BELIEVE IN THE LORD, AND HIS PROPHETS
“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.” II Chronicles 20:20
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, received word that a great multitude from several nations was coming against him to battle. With wisdom, he assembled the people to seek the Lord for His help. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, one of the prophets, who declared this promise, “the battle is not yours, but God’s” (II Chronicles 20:15).
Our text records the words of Jehoshaphat, encouraging Judah to “Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” What great advice this is for each of us. We are to trust in the Lord and believe His Word, and trust those who faithfully proclaim His Word to us. Trusting in the Lord is something that we all know we should do, but sometimes we forget and rely on our own inventions or ourselves.
Like Jehoshaphat and his people, we have found ourselves in situations that are stressful and fearful. We do not know what to do or how we can manage. Rather than immediately looking to the Lord as our sufficiency, we resort to worrying and fretting. Discouragement and distress can break in upon our soul. Peace gives way to turmoil and confusion. Then we realize that we have failed to remember this simple, yet profound bit of counsel. We are supposed to be trusting in the Lord. It is no wonder that our spiritual lives are prone to such changes and our confidence and victory come and go. We are not “established” because we do not believe God as we should.
Jehoshaphat also guided his people to believe God’s prophets that they might “prosper.” Thankfully, there was a man of God available to proclaim God’s revealed truth to Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah. Having heard the message of the prophet, the king charged the people to “believe his prophets.” We all realize there are false teachers and preachers in our generation, as has always been the case. Nevertheless, there are true servants of God who proclaim His Word to us. As God’s people, we will prosper spiritually as we believe His preachers and His Word.