1 Peter 5:10 –

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Introduction

• What does it mean to settle?
  1. To place on a firm foundation or sure footing;
  2. To resolve or determine a matter definitely and conclusively.
• When God fights His children’s battles, He settles the matter once and for all. He does this by ensuring that the victory won is definite and conclusive.

Some examples:

God took Israel out of Egypt, but He ensured that Pharaoh and his army were never a problem to them again (Exodus 14:28). He dealt decisively with the enemies of Israel.

When three nations (Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir) rose up against Judah, He decisively and conclusively dealt with these three nations and ensured that none of them escaped.

Today, we will look at the story of Judah and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:1-30) and learn a few important lessons.

• When the problem comes, turn to God FIRST.
  1. Three nations (Moab + Ammon + Mount Seir) formed an alliance against Judah.
  2. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, feared (vs. 3).
  3. Why?
     • He feared because he saw the size of the problem before him;
     • He feared because he did not know what to do (vs. 12).
  4. Nothing wrong when your initial reaction is fear. This is probably the initial reaction for anyone. However, do not continue in the fear.
  5. Jehoshaphat did one thing that was spot on: he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast (vs. 3). He shifted his focus from the problem and turned immediately to God.
  6. When trouble comes knocking at your door, do not seek help from man first. Go to God FIRST in fasting and prayer.
  7. Why is this important?
     • All power belongs to God (Psalm 62:11; Matthew 28:18). He is the Lord strong and mighty…(Psalm 24:8);
     • Where you are struggling for one solution or a way out, God has 1000’s of solutions or ways.
• The Holy Spirit is our ALLY.
  1. He has ALL the answers (vs. 14). He will reveal the mind of God and tell you what to do (vs.15).
  2. The battle is not yours but His, once you are His and you hand them over.
  3. He takes over completely (vs. 15).
  4. Not only will God the Holy Spirit tell you WHAT to do, He will tell you precisely HOW to do it and WHERE to go (vs. 16).
• Hand it over to HIM and He will settle it once and for all.
  1. God decided to settle this matter once and for all by ensuring that none of the armies in this evil alliance survived to fight another day.
  2. He did this by fighting the battle Himself. God told Jehoshaphat and Judah that the battle belongs to Him and they would not need to fight (vs. 15).
  3. God fought for Judah and the enemies destroyed each other so much that there were none that escaped (vs. 23-24).
• Divine Settlement = Divine Transference.
  1. Also, when God decides to settle a matter, He does exceedingly abundantly above all that you can imagine or ask (Ephesians 3:20).
  2. All Jehoshaphat asked was for God to deal with their enemies and win the impending battle for them (vs. 12), but he got more than he asked for.
  3. According to Isaiah 46:10, God knew ahead that these three nations were going to be utterly destroyed, and He made sure that they came to battle with all their riches and treasures – they weren’t going to need them after the battle!
  4. There was a divine transference of wealth. It took Judah three days to gather the spoils; “…it was so much” (vs. 25).
• Divine Settlement requires Total Obedience.
• When God wants to show His might, He asks His children to do the ridiculous.
• Ridiculous = absurd or laughable. Something that does not make sense from the human viewpoint.
• He does this just to show that He is the Sovereign, Almighty God. Psalm 115:3 and 135:6 say “God sits in the heavens and He does as He pleases.”
• God told Jehoshaphat to go to war with just praise singers and worshipers.
• He obeyed, and the enemies were totally defeated.
• To enjoy Divine Settlement, what are my Responsibilities?
  1. Seek the Lord first and ask for help (vs. 3);
  2. Make the Holy Spirit your ally (vs. 14);
  3. Give God quality worship and praise (vs. 18-19);
  4. Believe in the Lord and in the Power of His Might (vs. 20);
  5. Believe in His Word also (vs. 20);
  6. Total obedience is key (vs. 21).

Conclusion

When you give God quality praise regardless of what is in front of you:

• He will settle your case.
• He will ensure that you praise Him continually.
• He will reward you handsomely.
• The valley where your enemies lay dead will become your own valley of blessing.
  1. Israel versus Pharaoh/army;
  2. Daniel versus his accusers;
  3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego versus their accusers.

Pastor Biodun Bada, RCCG, Hosanna Chapel