051. Prayer Of Jehoshaphat.

Prayer Of Jehoshaphat. The Prayer as recorded.—2 Chronicles 20:5-12. The Lord’s Answer.—2 Chronicles 20:14-18.

Jehoshaphat was a king of Judah and the successor of Asa. He was a man of distinguished piety, and enjoyed a long reign of twenty-five years. It is said of him, that the more his riches and honors increased, the more “his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.” During his reign the kingdom of Judah was invaded by the Moabites and others; and so great were their forces, that the king and people were thrown into consternation. It was a time to call upon the Lord, a time of danger and peril, and Jehoshaphat assembled the people at Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast, and made the following remarkable prayer, which was almost immediately answered by the promise of certain victory. “This was an instance of a fast observed in obedience to the proclamation of a chief magistrate, who acted with the power his station gave, and not by the spirit of prophecy.” The Lord’s answer came by a Levite descended from Asaph, and not by a high priest. The language of this prayer is full of humble and genuine faith. Jehoshaphat feels his own inability to combat against the powerful forces of the enemy, relies on God for help, appealing to him as to the justice of his cause. One expression of the prayer strikes us as remarkably expressive; it is— “Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee.” How it tells of man’s weakness and

God’s strength, and in one short sentence expresses the feelings of every child of God. We would recommend especial attention to the reading of the chapter in which this prayer is recorded; it is full of interest, and is one of the most striking instances of prayer heard and answered that the Scripture contains.