Please open your Bible with me in 2 Chronicles 20, verses 1-13. 2 Chronicles 20, and we will read verses 1-13. This is the Word of God. Now it came to pass, about after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war with, against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat saying, a great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Syria. And behold, they are in Azazon Tamar, that is, En-Gedi. And Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast to vow to all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new God. And he said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, art thou not God in the heavens? And art thou not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in thy hand, so that no one can stand against thee. Didst thou not, O our God, drive forward the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give to it the descendants of Abraham thy friend for ever? and they lived in it, and have built thee a sanctuary there for thy name, saying, should evil come upon us, the sword of judgment or pestilence or famine will stand before this house and before thee, for thy name is in this house, and cry to thee in our distress, and thou wilt heal and deliver us. And now, behold, the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and Mount Sair, whom thou didst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, that turn aside from them, and did not destroy them. Behold, how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from thy possession, which thou hast given us as an inheritance. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on thee." And all Judah was standing before the Lord with their infants, their wives, and their children. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. We pray that you bless the preaching of your word. May our soul be blessed and all glory be to you and to you alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. During the last two centuries, the orthodoxy of the church was threatened by several movements. The most proponent of those movements were the social gospel, followed by liberal theology. These movements affected the orthodoxy of the preaching of the word in the church, not only in the evangelical church at large, but also in the reformed church. Their teaching was a naive optimism. They were teaching that life is improving slowly, so that men are not expecting trouble in their life, but life is getting better and better. But what we saw during the beginning of the last century is that this optimism of these movements were crushed in the two world wars. But before this disaster came to the world, solid Reformed Christians know that life is not a permanent rejoicing. Life is not characterized by rejoicing all the time, but we know that life has trouble. We know that trial is an inherent part of life, and we know that we can expect trial in our life. Trials come to us every now and then. Not only they affect our physical life, but also our spiritual life. They affect not only ourselves, our relatives, our friends, but also they affect our community, our church. Not only now that believers are facing trials, but since the Old Testament times, believers were facing trials. The pages of the Bible are full of godly men who were working with the Lord and they were facing trials in their life. And one of those men who worked faithfully with the Lord, who faced trials in his life, is Jehoshaphat that we have right here in our text. In the text that we have just read, we can see that Jehoshaphat was a good king. He was the fourth king of Judah. He came after David, after Solomon, and his father Esau. He was the fourth king. And as a king of Judah, he worked faithfully with the Lord. He was a zealous follower of the commandments of God. In the several good actions that he made when he was a king, we can see that he sent people throughout the land of Judah to teach the people in the book of the law. He was concerned that the children of Israel know well the law of God. But he also appointed judges in the land to judge the people. And he said to those judges, you know, you know, you know, Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for men, but for the Lord who is with you when you render judgment. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be very careful. What you do for the Lord our God will have no part in unrighteousness. This is the man of God who is encouraging the people to work with the Lord. And Jehoshaphat himself worked with the Lord. It is said in previous scripture that he worked in the ways of his father David. He said that he sought the Lord with all his heart and he was seeking the Lord in every detail of his life. He was not He was a faithful man. He was not a perfect man, but he was seeking to work with the Lord. And this godly man, he was not above of trial. He was facing trial in his life. Where does his trial come from? His trial comes from some people who came to attack the children of Israel. We read in verse 1, now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon and together with some of the Mionites came to make war against Jehoshaphat. We see here that there are three people who met together to attack the children of Israel. The Moabites, they are kindred people of Israel. They are descended from Lot. And remember, when the children of Israel left Egypt and they were going to the Promised Land, they did not attack the Moabites because the Lord said, no, do not attack those people. But after that, we see that those people, they turn against the children of Israel and they attack them. Not only here, but also they associate themselves with Balaam and ask him to go and curse the children of Israel. So also with the Ammonites, they also are descended from Lot. And the other people we see here is the Meunites. They were living in Edom, and the Edomites were descended from Esau. So all three people were kindred people with the children of Israel, and they were coming to attack the children of Israel. It was a great trial coming to the king Jehoshaphat. It was a great trial because we see that those three people formed a multitude to come and attack the king. Not only it was a multitude, but also the enemies were in the land. It is said in verse two, at the end of verse 2, that they were coming from beyond the sea, from Syria, but they were in En-Gedi. En-Gedi is a place in Judah. This is where David went when the King Saul pursued him. Saul was after him and this is where he went to flee from the wrath of Saul. So the people, this multitude, were already in the land and they headed toward Jerusalem. What to do? It is a great trial for the King Jehoshaphat. Not only it was a great multitude, but also it caused fear for the king. We say in verse 3 that Jehoshaphat was afraid. It was a great multitude coming to attack him, and he was afraid. And now let's see what response Jehoshaphat gave to this trial. He does not rely upon his own strength. We know that Jehoshaphat had a big army. He had over one million men ready for war. And he also had an alliance with the Northern Kingdom, with the King of Israel. He could rely on his army, gather together his own army, and if his army was not enough, he could ask help from the Northern Kingdom, from Israel, but he did not do that. But what he did, he sought the help of the Lord. Jehoshaphat knew well that deliverance comes from the Lord. The psalmist said, the king is not saved by a mighty army. A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory. He knows well that deliverance comes from the Lord. This is why he does not seek his deliverance from his army, but he sought the deliverance from the Lord. on being informed of this invasion, Jehoshaphat, he came straight to the Lord in prayer. He country involved, the whole people. He gathered the people, the whole nation, and asked them to come before the Lord. And they went to the house of the Lord. They went to the temple, symbol of the presence of the Lord. And he began to pray to the Lord. Because you know that when we seek the presence of the Lord, the Lord can answer our prayer. So he went to the Lord in prayer with all the people and they bring this trial that came to them to the Lord. My friend, what is your response to trial? When trial comes to you, do you rely upon your own strength? Do you try to solve your problem yourself, or do you go to the Lord in prayer? Let's do as Jehoshaphat did. He went to the Lord in prayer as a response to his trial, and this is what we must do when we are facing trials in our life. Jehoshaphat began to pray to the Lord in his trial. We see in verse 6 that he pray to the Lord. He said, O Lord, the God of our father, art thou not God in heavens? And art thou not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in thy hand, so that no one can stand against thee. In his prayer to the Lord, we see that Jehoshaphat began to say who God is. He said that God is the God of our fathers. He is the covenant God. He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He is the God who answer prayer. This is to the God that he came. He used the covenant name of God, Jehovah, and he was praying. Not only that, he used the name of God, the covenant name of God, but he also assigned sovereign dominion to the Lord. He said that you are the God of heaven. God is sovereign. He is sovereign over all the kingdoms of the nations. God is not sovereign over His people only, not only over the children of Israel, but God is sovereign over all the kingdoms of the earth. He is sovereign over all the nations. God uses them. Even the hidden, God uses them to accomplish His own power. He is sovereign over all. He uses them for His people. We know that nothing happens in our life at random. There's no chance in the life of the children of God. When trials come, they come because the Lord knows everything. We know that the Lord has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. He's sovereign in heaven and in earth. He's sovereign over the nations. So Jehoshaphat, he assign sovereign dominion to the Lord in his prayer. He also assigns absolute omnipotence to the Lord. He begins to remind the benefits that the children of Israel had from the Lord. He is a great God because He used to do great things for the children of Israel. And one thing that Jehoshaphat remembered that the Lord had done for the children of Israel, we see that in verse 7. He brought them from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage, and he brought them by his power to the promised land. He promised to give them a land to Abraham, and he accomplished this promise. Jehoshaphat remembered that the Lord is a covenant keeper. He promised to deliver his people, and he did. The Lord also dwells among them. He said that among the benefits that the children of Israel have from the Lord, among the great things that the Lord has done for them in the past, the Lord, in His condescension, accepts to dwell in them in the sanctuary. This is the symbol of the presence of the Lord. And he began to be insistent in his prayer. He said to the Lord, even evil come to us, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand here in your presence. We will stand here waiting for your deliverance. This is insistence in prayer. And this note of insistence in prayer is very crucial for us as Christians. We need to be insistent in our prayer. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when the disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, he gave them a model of prayer. And after that, he showed them how to be insistent in prayer. He gave them the example of a man who had some friend who came to him and he needed bread to feed this friend. And he came at midnight to the door of another friend to ask for those bread. But because of his insistence, our Lord said, this friend opened the door and served him. So our Lord teach us how we need to be insistent in our prayer. And Jehoshaphat, he insisted that that his prayer be answered. He insisted to have deliverance from the Lord. When we are praying, we are insistent in our prayer, we pray that the will of the Lord be done in our life. And he began to show how they were grateful to those people who come to attack them, and how those people now, they became ungrateful to them. He remembered that the land that they have is a possession of the Lord. This is the land that the Lord gave to them, and it is from the Lord. So, as a king, he is saying that, I am not sovereign over these people. I am not sovereign over this land, but you, Lord, are sovereign over the children of Israel. You are the king, and I am under you, because you are the landlord and we are only the keeper of this land. And since the landlord is the owner of the land, Jehoshaphat is praying that the landlord keeps his possession over this land. And he showed that how they are willing to surrender all before the Lord. They show that they can do anything, but the Lord is powerful. He can do all things. In verse 12, he said, that this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. So Jehoshaphat is telling to the Lord that this battle is not mine, but this is your battle. This is not my trial, but I bring everything to you and I have confidence in you that you can do all things. So this is the trial that the man of God was facing, and this is the response that he gave to this trial. And we see that Jehoshaphat had a deliverance. He was delivered from this trial. We read in verse 16, that the word of the Lord came to Jehoshaphat and said, tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness. You need not fight in this battle. Station yourselves Stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. O Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out and face them, for the Lord is with you." He was insistent in his prayer. He put faith in the Lord and in the Lord alone, and deliverance came to him. He was faithful with the Lord, and the Lord answered his prayer. And as a result of the answer to his prayer, we see that Jehoshaphat began to worship the Lord with all the people. We see that in verse 19, that he bring praise to the Lord. All the people were praising the Lord. Worship is our response to the deliverance that we have from the Lord. We need to praise Him. We need to thank Him for what He has done in our life. This is our end. This is our chief end. This is to bring glory to the Lord and to enjoy Him. He has delivered us. We bring glory to Him. He is our God. Let's put our trust in Him as Jehoshaphat did. He worshiped the Lord, he put his trust in the Lord, and he gave thanks to the Lord with all the people for this deliverance. My friend, what do you do when you are facing trials in your life? Do you trust God and Him alone to deliver you from those trials? Do you give thanks to God? Do you put your trust in Him? The Apostle Paul says that we need to give thanks in everything for this is God's will for us in Jesus Christ. And he said, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let our request be made to God in prayer. Willing to trust the Lord in our trials, We know that the character of a Christian is revealed through trial. When we are facing problems in this life, we know how to handle them. We don't need to complain. We don't need to doubt or to panic. But we need to go to the Lord in prayer, and he will answer our prayer. As the children of Israel was facing this trial, they were in a battle. They were waiting for those enemies to come and attack them. It was a big battle. So you and I today, we are in a battle. This battle we are, the Apostle says, that it is not a struggle against flesh and blood, but it is against the rulers, against the powers, against the dominion, the evil forces of this world of darkness. It is against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. And the author of the epistle to the Hebrews says, we are in a battle against sin. He said that you have not resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. So we are in a battle, and we know that in this battle, our Lord Jesus Christ is with us. He is a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. He came to this earth, and he also experienced trials in his life. But he came, and he has delivered us. He has done great things for us. He came in the world, He left His glory, and He lived among us, among sinful men, yet without sin. He has delivered us from our great enemy, from the bondage of sin. He has redeemed us through the shedding of His blood. and he has taken our heart of stone and he has given us a heart of flesh. He went to the cross and died for us. And he gave us great promise that he will come back again to take us with Him. So the Lord had done great things for us as He delivered the children of Israel from this trial, from this great battle, He has delivered us also from our sins. He has delivered us from eternal death and He gave us life eternal. And Jesus, He promised to be with us in our trial. He said that we need to come to Him with our heavy burden and He will give us rest. He said that He is with us all days, even to the ends of this life. And He promised to come back and to take us with Him. Because God has done great things in the past, He has been always a faithful God. We need to put our trust in Him for what He will do for us now and forever. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We pray that You Bless it in our heart and that your word be able to make his way to our heart. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.