Jehoshaphat’s Prayer

Jehoshaphat stands before the assembly and begins by recalling who the LORD is: ruler over the nations, giver of the land, and the one whose name dwells in the temple.

T⁵hen Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the LORD in front of the new courtyard ⁶and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You. ⁷Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? ⁸They have lived in the land and have built in it a sanctuary for Your Name, saying, ⁹‘If disaster comes upon us— whether sword or judgment, plague or famine— we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’

Jehoshaphat names the invading peoples, the injustice of their attack, and Judah’s inability to answer it. With families standing before the LORD, the prayer ends in confessed helplessness and watchful trust.

¹⁰And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. So Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession that You gave us as an inheritance. ¹²Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” ¹³Meanwhile all the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, were standing before the LORD.