Jahaziel said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, king Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God’” 2 Chronicles 20:15.
Incoming missiles are for real. Cuba in 1962 and Oyingyang in 2018. A missile attack was imminent. I was just a young lad back in October 1962 when the Cuban missile crisis broke. Remember the story? Russia had placed missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the Florida coast, in response to American missiles in Italy and Turkey, and Cuba’s request for assistance after an earlier American-backed invasion, “The Bay of Pigs,” had failed. I had wondered if we were all going to die—my parents were glued to the radio. I knew it was something big. The world held its breath and waited, then sighed in relief. Russia backed down. God’s intervention?
Thousands of years before, King Jehoshaphat faced the same situation: “Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘a vast army is coming against you’” (2 Chronicles 20:2). Jehoshaphat went immediately into prayer, gathering the children of Judah in one place. Suddenly, at the back of the crowd, Jahaziel’s voice rang out. “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel” (verse 15) with the famous proclamation, and a battle plan was hatched.
“After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever’” (verse 21). The king had created his own praise team.
Sometimes an army of problems and the missiles of finance, uncertainty, people, pain, heartbreak, sickness, and work piled high will point your way, aimed at you. That’s when you just stop, fall on your knees, and start singing, for “no weapon forged against you will prevail” (Isaiah 54:17), so “do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exodus 14:13). “Do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God…will be with you” (Deuteronomy 20:1). “Don’t be afraid…those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
Trust me, the missiles are always there, and that’s why you need the constant praise team, day in and day out. At our school, we’re not content with just chapel and worships. Kids pile out in the hallways in the middle of the day to hold hands and to pray, for the incoming missiles are not to be taken lightly. Missiles a-coming. Lord, just open up my eyes today; open my eyes of faith and prayer and song, for the battle is the Lord’s. Share it up, Yolanda. https://youtu.be/lN26jw53c0M
Author
Sylvan A. Lashley
E.D., J.D., Associate Pastor, South Atlantic Conference, USA. Served in pastoral districts, high school principalship & superintedent and four college presidents in three countries. www.sacsda.org