Chapter 358 of 1163

2 Chronicles 19

Jehoshaphat returned home safely only because God was gracious to him and protected him in the battle. When we are out of the will of God and get into places of danger, we tempt God, and it is a sin to tempt God and force Him to work miracles on our behalf. That is the way Satan tempted the Lord Jesus (Matt. 4:5–7).

He submitted to God’s Word and went back to ministering to his people. While he was away fighting somebody else’s battle, his own people were being neglected (Song of Sol. 1:6). Like a good shepherd, he sought the lost and brought them back to the Lord (Ezek. 34:1–10), and he saw to it that the people were protected by honest judges and served by godly priests.

Note the emphasis on the fear of the Lord (vv. 7, 9). Jehoshaphat had sinned, but God forgave him. The result of forgiveness should be the fear of the Lord (Ps. 130:4). John Calvin wrote, “True piety consists . . . in a pure and true zeal which loves God altogether, and reveres Him truly as Lord, embraces his justice and dreads to offend Him more than to die.”

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