Simply Ask

Kevin DeYoung post:  Kings of Judah: Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat

2 Chronicles 17:1-21:3
And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord… (20:4a)

You don’t have to be a genius to follow the Lord. Simply ask the Lord what he thinks and do what he says. That’s the story of Jehoshaphat’s life.

“The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because in the early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed” (17:3). He did not consult the Baals. He established the kingdom. He sent out teachers. He sought God and God blessed him. He didn’t discover the polio vaccine or invent the internet. His obedience was pretty plain. Yet, it was still obedience, and that pleased the Lord.

His secret to success was simple. He asked the Lord what to do and then did it. Before going to war with Ramoth Gilead he admonished Ahab, “First seek the counsel of the Lord” (18:4). Before fighting Moab and Ammon, Jehoshaphat prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (20:12).

This is the glorious and mundane life of a Christian. You pray, do the right thing, ask for help, say no to bad things, trust the Lord in hard things, and depend on him for everything. Jehoshaphat didn’t get everything right. But he was still a great, ordinary man. And we can be too if we ask the Lord what he thinks and do what he says.