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. -- 2 Chronicles 20:12
The story of Jehoshaphat being told here is a well-known and
celebrated one, preached over and over like the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego or David and Goliath. Judah was
threatened by an invading army of overwhelming numbers. The king proclaims a fast and prays. God answers by telling the people of Judah to
send singers and musicians out in front of their forces to praise and glorify
the Lord. The enemy is thrown into
confusion, and the allies begin to fight among themselves until they are wiped
out. When Jehoshaphat and his people arrive
on the scene, all they have to do is pick up the spoils.
The message is usually
that looking toward God, praising Him, and relying upon Him will enable us to
overcome otherwise insurmountable obstacles and be greatly blessed. It’s a good message, and it’s true, but the
key to the whole thing, it seems to me, lies in the couple of sentences above
which are part of Jehoshaphat’s prayer.
We do not know what to
do … When we are faced with a terrifying, mind-numbing situation, stricken by loss,
suffering, in pain, confused and frightened, that is the first thing we need to
realize. None of the options I can come
up with are particularly appealing or offer any hope of success. This set of circumstances, the demands and
threats I face are beyond my experience, knowledge and understanding. What I am supposed to do?
… but our eyes are on
you – I don’t have a solution. I don’t
have a pat answer. The only thing I know
to do is to look to You, Lord, to keep my eyes on You, to be ready to take
whatever direction You offer.
In this case, God gave them a specific and somewhat odd instruction. The “praise team” at church likes to think
that the solution is always just to sing “In the Presence of Jehovah” or
whatever “powerful” chorus is currently popular. I would remind them that in another dire
situation, also involving Jehoshaphat and a musician, God told them to keep
quiet and dig ditches (2 Kings 3). The
point is not to assume that you know what the Lord wants done but to seek Him
for what He wants and how He wants to do it this time.
Sometimes Jesus healed people by speaking a word, sometimes
by a touch, one time He spit on a mute’s tongue, another time He spit on some
clay and put the mud on a blind man’s eyes.
David was told to use different strategies on different occasions in
battling the Philistines. Samson didn’t
carry that jawbone with him everywhere he went.
That’s not to say that a person can ever go wrong praising
the Lord and giving Him glory. Rather as
we serve the Lord and follow Him and are led by the Spirit, we sometimes need
to say, "I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You," and be ready to trust and obey.
