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2 Chronicles 20:1-30

INTRODUCTION

The immediate temptation we have when faced with suffering is to ask for it to be taken away. This is perhaps the most human of responses. Even Christ, when entering His darkest hours, asked if God the Father might take His cup of suffering away (Matthew 26:39).

As we learnt in the first part of the sermon series, suffering can be refining, and there is purpose in our pain. What God looks at is our response to our suffering. The example set by the saints is to praise God even amid our suffering (Acts 16:25).

How praise works
– Gets our focus off ourselves and back on God
– Brings us to a place of humility 
– Leaves no room for complaining and negativity 
– Makes room for God’s blessings in our lives
– Refreshes and renews our spirits in His presence
– Paves the way for God’s power to be displayed

This week, we explore what it means to fight the battle on our knees.

DISCUSSION

1. Read 2 Chronicles 20:1-30. The nation of Judah was facing an existential threat. This was an imminent threat from the armies of multiple surrounding nations. As the crow flies, En Gedi – where the armies had gathered – is less than 50km from Jerusalem.

    

   a. How did the people feel? Read 2 Chronicles 20:12.

   b. What did King Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah do with their fear? Read 2 Chronicles 20:3-4.

   c. Has there been a time when you felt this helpless? How did you respond?

   d. Christians can acknowledge our helplessness without being resigned because we know God has the final word. What would it look like if we could say “I do not know what to do, but my eyes are on you” in our helplessness?

2. The battle belongs to the Lord. Read 2 Chronicles 20:15.

   a. When the people were fasting and praying to God to deliver them from this situation, what kind of solution do you think they had in mind? How might that have compared to what God told them to do in 2 Chronicles 20:15-16?

   b. Read 2 Chronicles 20:15 & 20:17. How do you think the people felt then? How did God comfort them? Notice that God promised deliverance but did not say how he would deliver them. If you were in their shoes, how would you have felt?

   c. Read 2 Chronicles 20:17. Many wars are raging in this world, but we are not called to fight in all of them. For example, God gave Gideon the victory despite limiting him to fighting with a small army (Judges 7). For the nation of Judah, God asked them not to fight. Are there any battles you are fighting that God has not called you to fight? What are some reasons we might fight battles that God has not called us to fight?

3. Read 2 Chronicles 20:18-21. Notice that nothing about the peoples’ situation had changed at this point. They still faced the threat of vast armies, yet God had asked them to do this strange thing, to hold their ground but not fight. Even then, Jehoshaphat and the people began to praise God. Why do you think so?

   a. Read 2 Chronicles 20:22. What happened when the people began to praise God? Likely, the people did not know what was happening even as the Lord was fighting the battle for them.

   b. Has there been a time when God similarly intervened in your suffering to give you a solution beyond your imagination? If not, do you believe He can?

   c. Read 2 Chronicles 20:26-28. On the other side of suffering, do we still remember to praise God?

   Read Luke 17:11-19. Only one out of the ten lepers who healed physically returned to thank Jesus. Jesus had not asked them to, but it is clear that he hoped that they would (“Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”). The leper who returned did so as a response to what Jesus had done for him, and in so doing, was restored (“made well”) beyond the physical healing he had already received.

WHAT WILL YOU DO/MEMORY VERSE

2 Chronicles 20:12b “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

First, to pray this prayer requires humility. We must acknowledge that we cannot do anything worth doing outside of Christ (John 15:5).

Second, when we fix our eyes on Jesus instead of our problems, we cannot help but respond with praise as we remember His goodness. 

Third, as we respond to God with praise, praising God reinforces our humility and exaltation of Him.

Consider the lyrics of Battle Belongs by Phil Wickham during your time of praise and worship.

When all I see is the battle
You see my victory
When all I see is the mountain
You see a mountain moved
And as I walk through the shadow
Your love surrounds me
There’s nothing to fear now
For I am safe with You

So when I fight I’ll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
Oh God the battle belongs to You
And every fear I lay at Your feet
I’ll sing through the night
Oh God the battle belongs to You

AN E1R1 REFLECTION

From Daniel 2:1-23.

Daniel and his friends, who were Jewish exiles living in Babylon, were under threat of death if the king’s dreams could not be first told to him and then interpreted for him. Rather than panicking, Daniel boldly asked the king for more time so he could interpret the dream and then asked his friends to pray for mercy from God so that they would not be executed. In the night, God revealed the dream to Daniel in a vision, and he praised God, who is sovereign, knows everything, and gives His wisdom to the wise. As we encounter people who are hostile to the gospel or those with questions beyond our understanding, let us take Daniel’s example to seek the Lord for wisdom in how to respond. God will be glorified as He guides our conversations with those who do not yet know Him.