“They shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” Such is the veritable record of the living God—a record made good in the experience of all those who have been enabled, through grace, to exercise a living faith. But then we must remember how much is involved in those three words, “wait for me.” The waiting must be a real thing. It will not do to say we are waiting on God, when, in reality, our eye is askance upon some human prop or creature confidence. We must be absolutely “shut up” to God. We must be brought to the end of self, and to the bottom of circumstances, in order fully to prove what the life of faith is, and what God’s resources are. God and the creature can never occupy the same platform. It must be God alone. “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation.” Psalm 67:5, 65Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. 6Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. (Psalm 67:5‑6).
Thus it was with Jehoshaphat, in that scene recorded in 2 Chron. 20 He was wholly cast upon God. It was either God or nothing. “We have no might.” But what then? “Our eyes are upon thee.” This was enough. It was well for Jehoshaphat not to have so much as a single atom of might—a single ray of knowledge. He was in the very best possible attitude and condition to prove what God was. It would have been an incalculable loss to him to have been possessed of the very smallest particle of creature strength or creature wisdom, inasmuch as it could only have proved a hindrance to him in leaning exclusively upon the arm and the counsel of the Almighty God. If the eye of faith rests upon the living God—if He fills the entire range of the soul’s vision, then what do we want with might or knowledge of our own? Who would think of resting in that which is human when he can have that which is divine? Who would lean on an arm of flesh, when he can lean on the arm of the living God?
Reader, art thou, at this moment, in any pressure, in any trial, need, or difficulty? If so, let us entreat thee to look simply and solely to the living God. Turn away thine eyes completely from the creature, “Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils.” Let thy faith take hold now on the strength of God Himself. Put thy whole case into His omnipotent hand. Cast thy burden, whatever it is, upon Him. Let there be no reserve. He is as willing as He is able, and as able as He is willing, to bear all. Only trust Him fully. He loves to be trusted—loves to be used. It is His joy, blessed be His name, to yield a ready and a full response to the appeal of faith. It is worth having a burden, to know the blessedness of rolling it over upon Him. So the king of Judah found it in the day of his trial, and so shall the reader find it now. God never fails a trusting heart. “They shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” Precious words! Let us mark how they are illustrated in the narrative before us.
No sooner had Jehoshaphat cast himself completely upon the Lord, than the divine response fell, with clearness and power, upon his ear. “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......ye shall not need to fight in this battle.
Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, Ο Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them; for the Lord will be with you.”
What an answer! “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” Only think of God’s having a battle with people! Assuredly, there could be little question as to the issue of such a battle. Jehoshaphat had put the whole matter into God’s hands, and God took it up and made it entirely His own.
It is always thus. Faith puts the difficulty, the trial, and the burden into God’s hands, and leaves Him to act. This is enough. God never refuses to respond to the appeal of faith; nay, it is His delight to answer it. Jehoshaphat had made it a question between God and the enemy. He had said, “They have come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.” Nothing could be simpler. God had given Israel the land, and He could keep them in it, spite of ten thousand foes. Thus faith would reason. The selfsame hand that had placed them in the land could keep them there. It was simply a question of divine power. “Ο our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee.”
It is a wonderful point in the history of any soul, to be brought to say, “I have no might.” It is the sure precursor of divine deliverance. The moment a man is brought to the discovery of his utter powerlessness, the divine word is, “Stand still, and see the salvation of God.” One does not want “might” to “stand still.” It needs no effort to “see the salvation of God.” This holds good in reference to the sinner in coming to Christ, at the first; and it holds equally good in reference to the Christian in his whole career from first to last. The great difficulty is to get to the end of our own strength. Once there, the whole thing is settled. There may be a vast amount of struggle and exercise ere we are brought to say —“without strength!” But, the moment we take that ground, the word is, “Stand still, and see the salvation of God.” Human effort, in every shape and form, can but raise a barrier between our souls and God’s salvation. If God has undertaken for us, we may well be still. And has He not? Yes, blessed be His holy Name, He has charged Himself with all that concerns us, for time and eternity; and hence we have only to let Him act for us, in all things. It is our happy privilege to let Him go before us, while we follow on “in wonder, love, and praise.”
Thus it was in that interesting and instructive scene on which we have been dwelling. “Jehoshaphat bowed his head, with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worship ping the Lord. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.”
Here we have the true attitude and the proper occupation of the believer. Jehoshaphat withdrew his eyes from “that great company that had come against him,” and fixed them upon the living God. Jehovah had come right in and placed Himself between His people and the enemy, just as He had done in the day of the exodus, at the Red Sea, so that instead of looking at the difficulties, they might look at Him.
This, beloved reader, is the secret of victory, at all times, and under all circumstances. This it is which fills the heart with praise and thanksgiving, and bows the head in wondering worship. There is something perfectly beautiful in the entire bearing of Jehoshaphat and the congregation, on the occasion before us. They were evidently impressed with the thought that they had nothing to do but to praise God. And they were right. Had He not said to them, “Ye shall not need to fight?” What then had they to do? What remained for them? Nothing but praise. Jehovah was going out before them to fight; and they had but to follow after Him in adoring worship.
“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, Ο 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 Chron. 20:2020And 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. (2 Chronicles 20:20).
It is of the very last importance that God’s word should ever have its own supreme place in the heart of the Christian. God has spoken. He has given us His word; and it is for us to lean unshaken thereon. We want nothing more. The divine word is amply sufficient to give confidence, peace, and stability to the soul. We do not need evidences from man to prove the truth of God’s word. That word carries its own powerful evidences with it. To suppose that we require human testimony to prove that God’s word is true, is to imply that man’s word is more valid, more trust-worthy, more authoritative, than the word of God. If we need a human voice to interpret, to ratify, to make God’s revelation available, then are we virtually deprived of that revelation altogether.
We call the special attention of the reader to this point. It concerns the integrity of holy scripture. The grand question is this, Is God’s word sufficient or not? Do we really want man’s authority to make us sure that God has spoken? Far be the thought! This would be placing man’s word above God’s word, and thus depriving us of the only solid ground on which our souls can lean. This is precisely what the devil has been aiming at from the very beginning, and it is what he is aiming at now. He wants to remove from beneath our feet the solid rock of divine revelation, and to give us instead the sandy foundation of human authority. Hence it is that we do so earnestly press upon our readers the urgent need of keeping close to God’s word, in simple unquestioning faith. It is really the true secret of stability and peace. If God’s word be not enough for us, without man’s interference, we are positively left without any sure basis for our soul’s confidence; yea, we are cast adrift on the wild watery waste of skepticism, we are plunged in doubt and dark uncertainty: we are most miserable.
But, thanks and praise be to God, it is not so. “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established: believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” Here is the resting place of faith in all ages. God’s eternal word, which is settled forever in heaven, which He has magnified above all His name; and which stands forth in its own divine dignity, fullness, and sufficiency before the eye of faith. We must utterly reject the idea that aught in the way of human authority, human evidences, or human feelings, is needful to make the testimony of God full weight in the balances of the soul. Grant us but this, that God has spoken, and we argue with bold decision that nothing more is needed as a foundation for genuine faith. In a word, if we want to be established and to prosper, we have simply to “Believe in the Lord our God.” It was this that enabled Jehoshaphat to bow his head in holy worship. It was this that enabled him to praise God for victory ere a single blow was struck. It was this that conducted him into “the valley of Berachah” and surrounded him with spoil more than he could carry away.
We shall close with the soul-stirring record.
“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord: for his mercy endureth forever.” What a strange advance guard for an army! A company of singers! Such is faith’s way of ordering the battle.
“And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten.” Only think of the Lord setting ambushments! Think of His engaging in the business of military tactics! How wonderful! God will do anything that His people need, if only His people will confide in Him, and leave themselves and their affairs absolutely in His hand.
“And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.” Such was the end of “that great company”—that formidable host—that terrible foe. All vanished away before the presence of the God of Israel. Yes, and had they been a million times more numerous, and more formidable, the issue would have been the same, for circumstances are nothing to the living God, and nothing to a living faith. When God fills the vision of the soul, difficulties fade away, and songs of praise break forth from joyful lips.
“And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them”—for that was all they had to do—“they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped, off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah [or “blessing”]; for there they blessed the Lord.”
Such, beloved reader, must ever be the result of a living faith in the living God. More than two thousand live hundred years have rolled away since the occurrence of the event on which we have been dwelling; but the record is as fresh as ever. No change has come over the living God, or over that living faith which ever takes hold of His strength, and counts on His faithfulness. It is as true to-day as it was in the day of Jehoshaphat that those who believe in the Lord our God shall be established, and shall prosper. They shall be endowed with strength, crowned with victory, clothed with spoils, and filled with songs of praise. May we then, through the gracious energy of the Holy Spirit, ever be enabled to exercise “a living faith IN THE LIVING GOD!”