Very suddenly does the scene change in these chronicles of the kingdom of Judah. From the peaceful and pleasant duty of completing the arrangements for securing justice throughout the land, Jehoshaphat was driven to consider the alarming intelligence that a powerful combination of enemies was threatening the independence of his kingdom. We learn from these facts -

I. THAT WE MAY SUDDENLY FIND OURSELVES IN MOST SERIOUS PERIL. Judah does not seem to have done anything to provoke this attack, or to have had any reason to expect it. It came upon them like a clap of thunder in a clear sky. Such things do occur to nations, to Churches, to families, to individual men. In some wholly unexpected quarter a grave difficulty arises. That power which should have been an ally suddenly becomes an enemy; that very institution which had been the source of sustenance threatens to drag us down with itself into financial ruin; the very men who promised to be, and who were, our best friends on whom we could rely, turn into our opponents and thwart our purposes; the bright, the brilliant morning has become a clouded noon, and a severe storm impends. Unhappily all history, observation, and experience will furnish abundant proof that this is not a remarkably exceptional, but an occasional or even a frequent occurrence in human life. It is a possibility that has so much of probability about it that we do well to be prepared for it lest we should be called to face it.

II. THAT OUR TRUE REFUGE IS IN GOD.

1. But if that is to be so, we must be in a right relation to him. We must be able to say, with a deep significance, not only "O Lord God of our fathers," but also "Art not thou our God?" (vers. 6, 7). We must be true children of Abraham, who was himself the "friend of God" (ver. 7). We must be distinctly and definitely on the Lord's side; we must be with Christ and not against him (Matthew 12:30). We cannot look for the delivering grace of God if we have not been reconciled unto him through Jesus Christ, if we have remained amongst those whose "sin has separated between them and their God."

2. Then there must be a consciousness of rectitude under the special circumstances. Jehoshaphat could plead that he and his people were in the land as rightful possessors of the soil; they inherited from God himself (ver. 11), and these invaders were wholly in the wrong; their attack was utterly indefensible (ver. 10). The king could plead that the cause of Judah was just and right. This consciousness of integrity we also must have, if we would fall back on God. "If our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God" (1 John 3:21); but otherwise we cannot raise our hopes. We cannot ask him to intervene on behalf of a cause which is one of unrighteousness, or one in which we have been acting quite unworthily of our Lord and Leader.

3. We must bring to God the attitude of conscious dependence. "Our eyes are upon thee," we must be able to say, sincerely (Psalm 27:1; Psalm 46:1; Psalm 62:5, 6).

4. We should be united in our attitude and action. "All Judah stood before the Lord, with their wives and little ones" (ver. 13). It is not only the leaders or the representatives that should make their appeal to God. Let all the people, let the "little ones," whose presence and whose prayer might not seem to be so essential, appear before God and join in seeking his help.

III. THAT WE MUST MAKE DIRECT AND EARNEST APPEAL TO HIM. Jehoshaphat took active measures to enlist the intervention of Jehovah; he "set himself to seek the Lord" etc. (vers. 3-6). It behoves us, in the day of our trial and our peril, to take active measures to secure the merciful and mighty succour of our God. We must make our earnest and our persevering appeal to him, and be waiting upon while we wait for him. And our appeal will, at any rate, be threefold. We shall plead:

1. Our utter helplessness apart from his effectuating power. "We have no might," etc. (ver. 12). We shall, of course, be alert, diligent, energetic; we shall put forth all our skill and strength; but we shall feel that all will be wholly unavailing except our God works with us and through us.

2. His almighty power. (Vers. 6, 7.)

3. His Divine faithfulness. (Vers. 6-9.) We also, like the King of Judah, can plead the inviolable word of our Lord. He has promised to be with us, to provide for us, to guide us through all our journey, to give us the victory over our enemies, to reward our faithful labour with a blessed increase; "And none shall find his promise vain." - C.

(on the occasion of a public fast): — A fast may be defined to be a voluntary abstinence from food, as a token of our humiliation before God. Objections —

1. There may be this outward mark of repentance without any real sorrow for sin. Answer — The outward expression then becomes a mockery.

2. A public fast has the appearance of ostentation. Answer — If you alone were to keep the fast, it might aver the appearance of ostentation, but in the case of public fasting, it becomes a duty not only really to fast, but to show openly your compliance with a prescribed service, and gladly to embrace the opportunity of humbling yourselves before God.

3. If we feel repentance in our hearts, God, who sees our hearts, does not require to be informed of it by any external expression. Answer — The same may be said of prayer and also of all the means of grace which God has appointed.

4. Why should fasting in particular be selected as an external mark of humiliation. Answer —(1) Fasting has always been the public token of humility, and this in heathen nations as well as amongst Jews and Christians.(2) It was enjoined of God upon the Jews.(3) It was practised by our Saviour and His disciples; and recommended by them to the world.(4) It has all the qualities that might reasonably be expected in an external act of humiliation.

(a)It is a duty easily practised.

(b)Requiring no apparatus.

(c)Connected with no expense.

(d)Simple in its own nature.

(e)Equally adapted to all ranks, climates, and places.

(f)It involves an act of self-denial.

(g)It is an act connected with the mortification of those very appetites whence many of the sins for which we thus humble ourselves proceed.

5. Fasting may disorder a person of weak health, and thus indispose him even for the service of the day. Answer — The spirit of the Christian system, insists only on the principle, and leaves the application of it to the case and conscience of the worshipper.

6. A public command to fast is a species of compulsion, and therefore inconsistent with the notion of a voluntary act of humiliation. Answer — All that is done by the command of the Government is, to render that convenient which might otherwise be very inconvenient, and that practicable which might be otherwise impracticable.

7. It is unreasonable to expect the poor to give up a day's labour, and to abridge their diet who scarcely ever enjoy a full meal. Answer — It is a voluntary sacrifice: God enjoins no man to make it who is unwilling. No man will really be a loser by serving God.

(J. Venn, M. A.)