Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

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Tag: Jehoshaphat

armed with a song — February 11, 2026

armed with a song

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One of my Biblical heroes is a king named Jehoshaphat.  In fact, I kinda wish I had named one of my sons Jehoshaphat.  Can I do that retroactively?

The king had a serious problem, and yet isn’t every problem serious?  Some of them really are while others just feel like it.  We would like to trust the Lord to work out our problems.  But is there any evidence that we really and truly trust Him to do that? 

Well let’s consider Jehoshaphat’s problem as written in 2 Chronicles 20. A terrible trio of hostile nations were perched and ready to invade his Kingdom of Judah and things were looking grim. 

But the king had recently discovered that he mattered to God, and that God could be trusted to provide the security that he and his people needed.

So instead of seeking an ally, he called his people together to seek the Lord for help.  God’s spokesman answered saying, “You will not fight in this battle. Take your positions, stand, and watch the Lord deliver you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! Tomorrow march out toward them; the Lord is with you!” (20:17).

They were told to meet the enemy, then passively watch as the Lord fought their battle.  They went to meet their foes and did what God told them to do.  They waited and waited but nothing happened.  It was as if God was waiting to see evidence of their faith.

So, Jehoshaphat, “appointed musicians to play before the Lord and praise his majestic splendor.  He instructed them to march ahead of the warriors and sing a song, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures” (21).

Unbelievable!  The king gathered the temple worship team and said, “I want you guys to stand at the front of the column and when you meet the enemy, start singing that song I really like – the one that goes, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures.”

This song was used in the worship services of Israel.  This line was repeated at least 12 different times in the Old Testament in various Psalms   They knew it so well that they didn’t need a video projector for the words.

The singers were speechless, but they thought, “Are you nuts?  What about the archers and swordsmen?  Shouldn’t they go out first?  We left our camo at home.  King these hands were made for plucking a harp not a bow.”  But the King insisted.

So, the trembling tenors took their places at the front of the army, and the sergeant cried, “a one and a two and a…” and by faith they sang.

And then, “When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated” (22). 

When they began to sing, the three hostile armies were confounded and then destroyed each other.  They were befuddled and disturbed by Judah’s confidence.

I love this story. Standing and watching was God’s idea. Using the Levitical singers – that was all Jehoshaphat.  And it appears that God was extremely pleased with his decision.

When a problem comes to visit us, I am pretty sure the last thing we want to do is to sing about how good God is.  Our lips are locked; our hearts are numb and there is nothing within us that wants to sing to the Lord

But Jehoshaphat teaches us to meet trouble with a tune.  This is something I have learned to do when trouble comes. 

My heart looks to heaven, and I sing to Him a simple hymn or chorus.  What I find is that my attitude is quickly turned around; and once that has happened, my circumstances are not always but often turned around as well.

When a problem sticks to us, we need to sing to Him!  Solid evidence that we truly trust Him with the problems we face.

A PRAYER: Lord, please give us that kind of courage

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®

weighing in — September 7, 2022

weighing in

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The couple were both receiving home health care.  The visiting nurse insisted they be weighed.   They lined up and he stepped on – one foot and then the other.  The nurse dutifully recorded his weight. 

His wife stepped on – one foot and then the other and another number went into the chart.  Then Bambi, their Chihuahua followed – one foot and then the other.    

______

Jehoshaphat like Bambi was looking for an example to follow.

He became King of Judah about 873 BC.  At 35 years of age, he needed a few pointers on being a king.  So, he looked for an example from the past.

He grew up watching his father Asa rule the nation.  Asa chased immorality and idolatry out of the land.  But in his older years he was afflicted with a diseased body that also diseased his faith.  He sought the help of doctors while ignoring the Lord.   

Jehoshaphat’s granddaddy was Abijah. He was mighty in battle but mediocre in his faith.   His epitaph is written in 1 Kings 15:3, “He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been.”  Abijah followed the poor example of his daddy Rehoboam and paid dearly for it.   

As for Rehoboam, he was famous for carelessly splitting his Kingdom.  He fought off an Egyptian invasion but ignored the insurgence of paganism.  His epitaph was written in 2 Chronicles 12:14, “He did evil because he was not determined to follow the Lord.” 

His daddy was Solomon who was revered for his wisdom and yet was foolish enough to marry a stadium full of wives and serve their gods.  “Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord, as his father David had.”  – 1 Kings 11:6

This brings us to the head of the dynasty – King David.  David followed the Lord with the deepest devotion and ruled the Kingdom by the truth of the Scripture. 

His reign was summed up in this way, “David had done what he (God) approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite.” – 1 King 15:5.

So, Jehoshaphat climbed up 5 generations of his family tree to find an example worthy of emulation   Of him it was said, “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps at the beginning of his reign. He did not seek the Baals, but instead sought the God of his ancestors and obeyed his commands, unlike the Israelites.  The Lord made his kingdom secure; all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he became very wealthy and greatly respected. He was committed to following the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 17:3-6)

Like David, Jehoshaphat tore down the idols and elevated the Lord.   As a result, “The Lord was with him.”  “The Lord made his kingdom secure” and “He became very wealthy and greatly respected.” 

Ironically, Jehoshaphat’s predecessors were indicted for ignoring David’s example?  Neither did they prosper as Jehoshaphat did. 

Jehoshaphat imitated David but he was smart enough to also learn from and avoid his mistakes.  There was no Bathsheba scandal to mar his reign.

Now to bring this home:  The apostle Paul was referring to the OT stories of Jehoshaphat and others when he wrote, “These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction…” – 1 Corinthians 10:11.

So…. basically, Jehoshaphat is an example of a man who followed the example of a man to teach us to find a man to be our example. (could be a woman though)

Think of life as Youtube and look for the how-to video that God posted.  Find an older person who did life God’s way.  What did they think and do, and what kind of results did they experience?   You might even ask him/her to mentor you. 

Watch and learn.  Make Bambi proud!

A PRAYER: Lord I am grateful for the folks that have taught me how to live.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

All Scripture references are from the NET Bible ®