But our eyes are upon thee!

For my devotions this morning I looked at the story of King Jehoshaphat in 2Chronicles 20. I will just give a brief summary of the story before I focus on what spoke to me today.

In verse one we find the "children of Moab, the children of Ammon, and besides them the other Ammonites" coming out to battle against Jehoshaphat. By verse 3 the King is fearful, but He does this thing right: He "set himself to seek the Lord." That is what I am going to focus in on today: He "set himself to seek the Lord."

How many other kings of Israel set themselves to seek the Lord? How many times do you find the record "He did evil in the sight of the Lord?" Many more times the latter than the former. This act of seeking the Lord is one that the Lord delights in.

But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deu 4:29

Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore! 1Ch 16:11

"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. 1Ch 28:9

And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD. 2Ch 12:14

To seek the heart of the Lord is active, not passive. You are taking the initiative to find the will of the Lord. The Lord "is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Heb 11:6 The will of the Lord is not an opinion as a friend or family member might give you. It is a definitive, a directive, a counsel second to known and knowing no others. The Lord is never wrong, He never has to take back anything He says, He perfect will never changes: "For I am the LORD, I change not; . . ."

Just on that note, what does it mean when God repents? When God repents it means a change of circumstances and relations. When Saul offered the burnt offering without waiting for Samuel the Lord repented that he had made Saul king 1Sam 15:35. This was not a change of God but a change of Saul, a change of the relation of Saul to God. Saul was showing his true character and it brought the Lord to repent that he had made Saul king.

Take the example of the antediluvian man: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. Gen 6:6 Had God changed or had man? No, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen 6:5 It was the changing of man and his relation to God, not the changing of God.

Saul's disobedience changed his relation to God; but the conditions of acceptance with God were unaltered--God's requirements were still the same, for with Him there "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17. Man may change his relation to God by complying with the conditions upon which he may be brought into the divine favor, or he may, by his own action, place himself outside the favoring condition; but the Lord is the same "yesterday, and today, and forever." Heb 13:8 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. 1Sam 15:29

So what does Jehoshaphat do? He prays one of the great prayers of the Bible:

And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 2Chr 20:6-12

That last phrase is so powerful! "Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee." I don't know what to do. I have many options before me. The Lord has blessed with many abilities and now I have a great response-ability to use them wisely. Responsibility is the response to the gifts that the Lord has given. Knowing that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" I must use those gifts in the way that best serves the Lord.

The Lord is my maker, my redeemer, and my savior. His love for me kept Him on the cross. I was on His mind, as the song says. The Lord knows what the future holds, He knows the plans He has for me. But I don't know the plans He has for me, which is why I am keeping my eyes upon the Lord!

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11