Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek Yahweh. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 sermons cite this verse
is called All Eyes on You. All Eyes on You. I know Tupac said all eyes on me. We as a church are saying all eyes on you. 90s kids are like... all eyes here's what we're doing for a year as a church we are going to get our eyes off of ourselves we're going to get our eyes off our circumstance and we're going to get our eyes on God our eyes are going to gaze at the beauty and the radiance the magnificence and the glory of the living God. All eyes on you. See, because I really believe that you're going to find whatever you're looking for. And it's not about what happens to you. It's about how you respond to what happens to you. In fact, I will say that it's not what happens to you that defines you. It's how you respond that determines the outcome. It's not about the cards you've been dealt. You ever play poker with some, oh, sorry, cards with somebody? …
It is the tribe that has the responsibility of leading the people of God, the whole nation, all 12 tribes. They are responsible for leading them in worship. And Judah is that, that's the tribe that they are. And they are led by Jehoshaphat. Okay, go ahead. So Judah gathered together. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, O Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? And do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in your hand is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand you? are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever and they dwell in it and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name saying if disaster comes upon us sword judgment pestilence and famine, we will stand before this temple and in your presence for your name is in this temple and cry out to you and our affliction and you will hear and say, and now here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them. …
This was the salvation of God, which they stood still to see, by marching forward with all their might! The other passage, wherein this expression occurs stands thus: “There came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee, from beyond the sea. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord: Even out of all the cities they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation, in the house of the Lord. — Then upon Jahaziel came the Spirit of the Lord. And he said, Be not dismayed by reason of this great multitude. To-morrow go ye down against them: Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves: Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Moab, Ammon, and mount Seir: — and everyone helped to destroy another.” (2 Chron. 20:2) Such was the salvation which the children of Judah saw. But how does all this prove, that we ought not to wait for the grace of God in the means which he hath ordained? …
In the ancient Christian Church, there were likewise stated fasts, and those both annual and weekly. Of the former sort was that before Easter; observed by some for eight-and-forty hours; by others, for an entire week; by many, for two weeks; taking no sustenance till the evening of each day: Of the latter, those of the fourth and sixth days of the week, observed (as Epiphanius writes, remarking it as an undeniable fact) en holei tei oikoumenei, in the whole habitable earth; at least in every place where any Christians made their abode. The annual fasts in our Church are, the forty days of Lent, the ember days at the four seasons, the Rogation days, and the Vigils or eves of several solemn festivals; the weekly, all Fridays in the year, except Christmas-day. But beside those which were fixed, in every nation fearing God there have always been occasional fasts, appointed from time to time, as the particular circumstances and occasions of each required. So when the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, came against Jehoshaphat to battle, Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. (2 Chron. 20:1, 3) And so, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, in the ninth month, when they were afraid of the King of Babylon, the Princes of “Judah proclaimed a fast before the Lord, to all the people of Jerusalem.” (Jer. 36:9) And, in like manner, particular persons, who take heed unto their ways, and desire to walk humbly and closely with God, will find frequent occasion for private seasons of thus afflicting their souls before their Father which is in secret. And it is to this kind of fasting that the directions here given do chiefly and primarily refer. …