Who is Your Help?

2 Chronicles 20:5–12

[5] And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, [6] and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. [7] Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? [8] And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, [9] ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ [10] And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—[11] behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. [12] O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (ESV)

A vast army was approaching and advancing upon ancient Israel. Jehoshaphat led the people of Israel to seek the face of God. He begins by recognizing Gods power over all the kingdoms of the nations. He knew that God was indeed the God of all nations, of all kingdoms, and of heaven itself. There is a thankfulness in his prayer about how his God had moved or worked on their behalf in the past and the implication, that He would do it again for His people.

We have a beautiful picture here of a true dependance upon our God. Jehoshaphat, as the king, stands before the people openly confessing that he does not have the answer but what he did know was to confess the goodness of his God and ask for His power to protect them. We read it plainly in the final word of his prayer, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

I am certain that there have been times when you have felt just like Jehoshaphat. I know I have. Those days, or situations, when you feel as if everything is against you and all you can do is to call upon the name of the Lord knowing that He is the only one capable of meeting you in that space. He is the one who brings clarity to the chaos. He is the one who brings restoration to the brokenness. He is the only one who can calm the storm. 

Spurgeon had this to say about the desperation of Jehoshaphat’s prayer, “They said, ‘Our eyes are upon thee.’ What did they mean by that? They meant, ‘Lord, if help does come, it must come from thee. We are looking to thee for it. It cannot come from anywhere else, so we look to thee. But we believe it will come, men will not look for that which they know will not come. We feel sure it will come, but we do not know how, so we are looking; we do not know when, but we are looking. We do not know what thou wouldest have us to do, but as the servant looks to her mistress, so are we looking to thee, Lord. Lord, we are looking.”

I think we can all resonate with the idea here that we understand that if helps comes, it has to come from Him. It is the very reason we look to Him. As we call upon His name, may we find encouragement knowing that He inclines His ears to hear our cries (Psalm 116:2). I think it is okay for us to confess that we don’t have the answer. I think it’s even more suitable for us to openly confess our dependance on the one who does!