7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’ 2 Chronicles 20:7-9
Jehoshaphat had an up and down relationship with God, but even at his worst, He remembered who God was and all He had done for the Israelites. He went back to the time that God brought them into the Promised Land and gave Israel the ability to overcome the enemies before them. Because of their many victories they were able to inhabit and live in the land God promised through His Covenant with Abraham and now that was being threatened. They are now recalling all the ways God showed up to protect His people from whatever was threatening them. And now just like their ancestors, they were in front of the Temple to stand in His presence knowing that God would hear their cries and come to rescue and save them.
They were not standing hoping God would hear them or maybe show up. They were standing there with the assurance of the generational Covenant of Promise He made with Abraham. And they still CAN cry out and KNOW God will answer and save them. Now we too have a Covenant we can stand on, a perfect one because it was made between God and His Son. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we too can cry out with the same assurance that He will come to rescue and save us. When we pray, let’s remember that better Covenant we have entered into with Him. And as we go before the Throne of Grace we have the full assurance that now we enter by the powerful name of Jesus and call on Abba our Father, who will rescue and save us from whatever is trying to destroy us.
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