Remembering To Rely Upon The Lord

In July of 1955, a law was passed that required for a certain phrase, a particular phrase to appear on all forms of U.S. currency. You guys, no doubt, know the phrase, “In God We Trust.” That became the United States’ motto, and I’ll tell you that I believe it’s a good one because it signifies, demonstrates, or shows our reliance upon God. The problem with this though is we as people—let alone a nation—don’t really do that. People don’t really rely on God. Unfortunately, instead what many people do is rely on themselves, rely on their own intelligence, their own intellect, on their own power or their own strength. Unfortunately, some people rely on our government and politicians, and the list could go on and on.

I have a question for you all tonight. Family, who are we supposed to rely upon? The Lord. We’re supposed to rely upon the Lord. I mention this because tonight that’s what I want to discuss with you guys here—our reliance upon the Lord. We’re going to see in our text, in the Word of God, that there’s a certain king who just doesn’t understand that, a certain king who fails to rely upon the Lord. My hope is that as we look at this text, as we look at this passage, this king’s life, is that we will not fall into or make the same mistake but that we will learn to rely upon the Lord.

That being said, if you would join me please in turning in your Bibles to the book of 2 Chronicles 16. That’s where we’re going to be tonight in our study. If you are a notetaker, I do have a title for you. The title of the message tonight is, “Remembering To Rely Upon The Lord.” As you’re turning there, just some info on this book. Those of you who may not be too familiar with the books of Chronicles, they are Old Testament historical books that provide for us really the history of God’s people, the nation of Israel. They happen to be parallels to the books of 1 and 2 Kings. During this period in Israel’s history, their once united nation—it’s not that way anymore, they’ve split in two. You see, King Solomon, unfortunately, in all his wisdom made a grave mistake, and because of his mistakes, he sinned against the Lord and God tore the kingdom from him.

Ten tribes went to the north and were given to his servant, Jeroboam; two tribes, Benjamin and Judah, went to the south and were given to his son Rehoboam. The period was a period of just spiritual disaster. It was spiritual decay for God’s people. Not a single king in the north acknowledged the Lord, not a single one. The south also had wicked kings, but from time to time a good king would rise up, and that king would set his heart to seek the Lord and follow Him. But for the most part, it was just a bad time of spiritual decay.

One of those kings we are going to be talking about tonight is Asa. He was a good king who loved the Lord, but unfortunately for Asa, he made a pretty bad mistake, a big one—he failed to rely upon the Lord at a crucial, crucial moment in his life, at a crucial point. We’ll see that here in our text, and, as I said, hopefully learn to do things a bit differently.

We’re going to be covering the entire chapter, though it’s not long, only 14 verses. I do want to break it down into sections so we can just see it a bit more fully and clearly. Verses 1-6 we’re going to call, “A Problem Emerges,” and you’ll see the problem that does emerge for King Asa. In verses 7-10, we’ll see, “A Prophet’s Exclamation;” finally, and lastly, verses 11-14, we’ll see, “A Poor Ending.” Let’s begin looking at verse 1, our first section titled, “A Problem Emerges.” Follow along with me in your Bible.

It says, “In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa King of Judah.” I know it’s only one verse, but I just want to pause right here and kind of unpack things and establish characters and discuss the issue, the problem, that’s emerging here for the king. As I mentioned, the kingdom of Israel is split at this time, so we have this king, King Asa, who is the great grandson of King Solomon. He’s in the south. Again, good king, did what was right in the sight of the Lord, is what the Bible says. In 2 Chronicles 14, we’re told that he removed the altars that were set up for pagans and the foreign gods, the wooden images. He did all that. He also led the people closer to the Lord, definitely.

You have then King Baasha, whom you just read about in verse 1, we just saw, he is the king of the north at the time, and he on the other hand is not a good dude. Just to put it to you bluntly, he’s not a good dude. Second Chronicles doesn’t tell us his story, but 1 Kings does and it is not a good one. It’s not good. The Bible says that God actually used Baasha as an instrument of judgment. He lifted him up to the place of being king. He actually used him as the one to take out the wicked family of Jeroboam, but instead of Baasha directing his heart and giving his heart to the Lord, unfortunately, he is also wicked and therefore he is later judged for his sins.

Before Baasha is going to go out, before that happens, he’s got a plan to take out Asa the king of Judah, which is what we see happening here in verse 1. The problem emerging is that King Asa has Israel’s king on the attack. In verse 1 it says, “ . . . Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in.” Ramah, so you know, was about five miles north of Jerusalem. It was extremely close. I’ll tell you this, Baasha has no interest in being friends, just so you know. He’s not building a summer home five miles north.

I’m getting ready to go on vacation here soon. I’m going to go spend some time at the beach with my brothers and just hang around, snorkel. That is not what Baasha is doing, he is preparing for war. He is building up this city that is five miles to the north, and he wants to attack. He wants to attack the king of Judah. You see and understand that there is a big problem, right? War is a big issue, and it’s against the king who fears and loves or seeks the Lord.

Now, this just brings up just a point that I need to make. I know you guys know this, but we as Christians, we as believers in Jesus, are not immune to problems. We as believers experience heartache. Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” I had a lady once tell me…she did not go to this church, she went to another church down the road. I knew the pastor, but she came to me one day. I saw her, and she said, “We, as Christians, are not supposed to have sickness. We, as Christians, should never experience heartache,” that’s what her pastor had told her. She told me that we, as Christians, are supposed to have prosperity. We as believers in Jesus are supposed to live good lives. Now, I love that lady, but let me tell you, that is not true and you know it well. There’s no place in Scripture that teaches that in any way, shape, or form. God’s truth tells us, God’s Word tells us that we will get sick, we will have trouble, we do have problems, and they will emerge for us, too, not just for this king.

The question is though, how or who do we rely upon when those problems do emerge? King Asa, just setting the stage for you, again has a problem, right? War is on the verge, and we need to see what he does. Who does he better yet rely upon? Let’s find out. Look with me if you would at verse 2. It says, “Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 ‘Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you sliver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.’ 4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.”

If you’re thinking that Asa has made a foolish mistake, let me tell you ahead of time, you would be right. Let’s just look at this. Let’s discuss what he did. Upon hearing the news that Israel’s king had come to fortify Ramah and built up the city and prepare for war practically, again, in his backyard, it’s just five miles north, King Asa decided that the best thing to do was to go to a pagan king for some assistance. That’s what he decided. Forget that he knew who the Maker of heaven and earth was, forget that he knew he had the Lord who he could always go to, no, the Syrian king, Ben-Hadad, in his mind is who he thinks can help him with his problem. It’s a very sad move, but, family, how often do we do the same? Right? How often when a problem emerges in our lives do we run to outside sources or to somebody else when an issue happens?

Listen to me very carefully. I am not saying that you cannot go to a friend. I am not saying that you cannot go to a pastor for help and for guidance. The first person that you need to go to, the first Person that we need to go to and rely upon is our God. That is who we need to run to every single time an issue, a problem, emerges in our life. We need to make sure we rely upon the Lord and place our trust and faith in Him, right? Asa thought this pagan Syrian king apparently was the better option, and you know Ben-Hadad, the Syrian king, apparently meanwhile is an alliance-making kind of guy. He loves making treaties. He and is family have alliances with everybody. Verse 3 tells us that his father and Asa’s father had an alliance. They had a treaty. He had a treaty currently with King Baasha, and you know, for a little silver and a little gold, I’ll break my other treaty and make a treaty with you. Why not? I mean if the money’s right. King Asa bribed him with money, and Ben-Hadad was happy to oblige.

Verse 4 says that he went out then and, “ . . . attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.” Those, so you know, were cities in the northern part of Baasha’s kingdom. Essentially, what Ben-Hadad did is he went and cut off the major trade routes and limited Baasha’s power. He crippled his income forcing Baasha to retreat and leave Asa in the south all alone.

Now, you gotta play this out in your brain. No doubt, Asa probably thinking something similar…I don’t know how many of you have seen The A-Team, but along the lines of Hannibal. Somebody, I can see your guys’ heads, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Right? I mean, why not? His plan has worked. He’s got his enemy to retreat—no more Baasha building a summer house in his backyard, everything’s good. There’s no threat of war, problem gone. I love it when a problem is done away with, right? He and his kingdom are safe, everything is fine. Oh, on top of that, look back with me at verse 6. Just catch this, verse 6, “Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.”

You see, not only did his wonderfully thought out plan to drive away the Israelite king work, right?, he got rid of Asa, but he was also able to take supplies left behind and build his own fortified cities—Mizpah was three miles to the north of Ramah, Geba was three miles to the east. Not only does Asa get rid of his enemy, but he also makes his position more secure.

Now, I am not in the military. I have no military background, but I think it’s safe to say, I think you guys would agree, this is a major “W,” right? This is a win! You drive out your enemy, you get rid of them, and you take their supplies and make yourself stronger. King Asa, no doubt, was ecstatic. He had to be. There’s just one small, itty-bitty little problem. Somebody is not ecstatic about it, and I know you know who it is. It’s the Lord. The Lord is not happy, and we’re going to see it in this next section.

Let’s look at verses 7-10, the next section I have titled, “A Prophet’s Exclamation.” Follow along with me. It says, “And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him”—notice this—“‘Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the King of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’”

In verse 10 you’ll notice Asa’s response, “Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.” You know, King Asa’s plan to use Ben-Hadad the Syrian king to get rid of his enemy went from a major “W” to a major “L,” right? You guys can almost picture the scene in your mind, right? Everything is going good in the southern kingdom, right? The enemy is gone. Baasha’s out. No doubt King Asa and his servants, everybody’s sipping on some freshly squeezed Jerusalem grape juice, maybe munching on a falafel or two, King David’s greatest harp hits is playing in the background. Everything’s great. There’s no more issues. There’s no more problems, and then…and then somebody walks in the door. Hanani the seer, which is just another word for prophet, Hanani the prophet walks in with some news—actually, a word from the Lord, in fact. That word is that, “You have done foolishly, Asa. You’ve done foolishly.”

You guys can kind of imagine the stunned silence that would’ve immediately followed those words, right? Hanani says in verse 7, “Because”—look at it with me—“Because you have relied on the king of Syria,”—the Hebrew word there for “relied” is shâʻan. It means to trust in, to lean on, to support oneself. So, “Because you have”—trusted in, leaned on, supported yourself—“on the king of Syria, and . . . not”—trusted in, leaned on, or supported yourself—“on the LORD,”—because you have done this, God said through Hanani that Ben-Hadad had escaped his hand, and in verse 9, “ . . . therefore from now on you shall have wars.” You will have wars. It’s a very sad outcome for the king, it really is. It’s even sadder if you know that Asa, prior to this time, had really enjoyed nothing but peace. That’s what he had. If you know his story, in 2 Chronicles 14:6-7, let me read it to you, okay? Here’s what happens. He says, “He”—that’s Asa—“built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest. 7 Therefore”—Asa—“said to Judah, ‘Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD . . we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.’ So they built and prospered.”

Everything before this was great. Asa had been a king, he’d been a man who sought the Lord, who relied upon his God. It wasn’t that he made this decision because God in the past had perhaps shown him, “Hey, I can’t be trusted. I can’t be relied upon.” You and I all know those kinds of people, “Hey, be here at 6 o’clock,” “Be here at 8 o’clock,” and they’re four hours late or they don’t show up. I’ve done that to somebody at the gym once or twice before. God had never done that. God had always been there.

If you look at verse 8, Hanani reminds Asa about this, that God had come through for him in the past. He says, “Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet,”—Asa—“because you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.” “The Lord,” he says, “shows Himself strong on behalf of those who are loyal to Him.” “Asa, when you were relying upon God, when you were trusting in,” shâʻan, “when you were supporting yourself in, when you were leaning into the Lord, He showed Himself strong on your behalf.” That’s what He did, and you and I know that’s what God does. Unfortunately, Asa gets a “You have done foolishly,” and what’s worse is that Hanani’s message is not well received.

In verse 10, if you look back at it, “Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison,”—instead of repenting, he throws him in jail. I mean, you want to talk about shooting the messenger, he got the double-barrel shotgun. That’s what he did. And, if that isn’t enough, in his rage he apparently oppresses some of his people. These were likely supporters of Hanani the prophet. It’s a sad, sad picture, especially when you know how great of a king Asa was in the past. It’s very sad. You see, if he just relied upon God, how different things would’ve been, right? He, no doubt, Hanani tells him, would’ve defeated not only Baasha but Ben-Hadad as well. Syria, you have to know, would end up being a major pain in the Israelites lives, all because of this.

Now, something real quick I want to mention before we move on. Some of us perhaps, I know I found myself doing this and had to catch myself, are shaking our heads internally thinking, How foolish of a man, how foolish of a king. I wonder, Revival, if we were to look back at our lives, and I mean to really look back at our lives and see how many times we, too, have failed to rely upon God. I can tell you that as I thought about that, easily more than a thousand, and I’m being generous, I would hear a bunch of, “Chris, you have done foolishly.” So, we need to be very careful not to be too harsh or critical when we, too, at times forget to trust and rely upon our God.

We’ve seen two sections thus far, section 1, “The Problem Emerges;” section two, “The Prophet’s Exclamation;” now let’s see, lastly, beginning in verse 11, “A Poor Ending.” Follow with me. It says, “Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but”—catch this—“the physicians. 13 So Asa rested”—that means he died—“with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him”—it says—“in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.”

First off, something to point out as we examine this section, the funeral service for Asa. I have to tell you, he was honored in a great way, and you see that, you get that. There’s a massive ceremony, if you look at the ending part of verse 14, and you see, “ . . . a very great burning.” That doesn’t mean that he was cremated, he got his own tomb. It means that he was held in high regard. The “burning” was to show him that he was honored among the people, so he got a huge, huge funeral service, “ . . . with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments,” were also a way of showing him great honor. He had, you could say, one of the greatest funeral ceremonies ever. It was big time, and if you go through the list of the kings, really he does. He has one of the best ones. The problem is though, while he had a great and awesome funeral, his ending was still very poor, very poor.

Let me explain to you what I mean. If you look after verse 11, which by the way, just relates that the rest of his acts are detailed in a book. We, unfortunately, don’t have that book. It’s likely not the book of 1 Kings because Kings doesn’t really cover much of his life. After that note we see that Asa failed again to rely upon the Lord. Notice again verse 12, “And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.” In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, which would’ve been three years after Baasha’s initial attack, Asa gets a foot disease. I’ll tell you it’s not a small toenail issue, it’s severe. We don’t really know what it was. Some people have guessed that it was gangrene or gout, perhaps dropsy, but we don’t have an idea or really can’t be too sure, so it’s useless to speculate.

Here’s what we do know, and we know it for sure, is that much like the first time when he failed to rely upon God with the issue with Baasha, he does it here again. In his sickness, he fails to rely upon God. The author states that he did not seek the Lord but sought the physicians. Now, I just want to be absolutely clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to see a doctor. There’s nothing wrong with going to see a physician. Luke, if you know your Bible, was a physician, so there’s nothing bad with going to see a doctor. When I get a cold, I need the greatest doctors in the world. I know you ladies don’t really experience the kind of colds that we men get, but let me tell you from personal experience, it is the worst pain ever. (Now, I know what you ladies are thinking.) There’s nothing wrong with going to the doctor. There’s nothing wrong with going to see a physician.

The problem here, the problem, family, for Asa is that he only seeks out and relies upon the physicians. That’s the problem. Instead, what he should’ve done is relied upon the Lord first while seeing the doctor. That is what he should’ve done. Unfortunately for Asa, though he started off extremely well in his early years—the Bible does say that—because he failed to rely, that word again, shâʻan, because he failed to trust in, lean into, and support himself in the Lord, he dies; and his ending, sadly, is very poor. It reminds me a lot of Samson. It’s a very sad ending.

But what about us? What about us here tonight? What do we do with all of this? What do we do with an Old Testament text like this? How can we apply it to our lives? What can we learn? What are some of the important and crucial lessons from this passage? Well, if you’ll allow me, family, I’d like to present to you three—three lessons that we learn, that we can take home with us and hopefully not make the same mistake. Let me begin here with the first lesson that we learn is that we must always remember to rely upon the Lord. We must always remember to rely upon the Lord. You know, that really is the message of 2 Chronicles 16. That’s what it is. It’s not that you can’t or that you shouldn’t go and rely on others, it’s not that you can’t or shouldn’t go to the doctors or rely on them or medicine, that’s not the message. The message is that first and foremost we must always rely on our God. That’s what Hanani told Asa, “You should’ve relied upon the Lord.”

And so you guys know, when I say “always,” I mean always. Always means we rely upon Him yes in the difficulties—when things get hard, when things go south. A great Bible character for you to hang onto and look into for this, a great example of trusting God, relying upon God and the difficulties is King David, right? In Psalm 56, when he’s captured by the Philistines, the enemies of Israel, David says, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” In Psalm 57, the very next psalm, written when David was on the run from King Saul. Saul, as many of you know, was trying to murder David. If you need a difficult situation, somebody trying to kill you is pretty difficult. In Psalm 57:7 David exclaims, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;”—and David says—“I will sing and give praise.” You see, instead of being downcast and upset, David relied upon the Lord in his difficulties, and he even sang and gave praise.

Family, we all have difficult days. Who are you relying on? In 2019, shortly after my wedding, shortly after I got married, my grandfather passed away. Today he would’ve been 92 years old. I miss him very much. But there’s a person who, no doubt, misses him much more than I do, it’s his wife, my grandmother, that’s still here. I thought that I would call her today and just check in to see how she was doing. I told her that I loved her and I was praying for her. Now, my grandmother does not break down easily or often, but today on the phone she did, and she started crying. She said she misses Papa, my grandfather. I told her, “You know, I miss him, too, and I know there’s days, especially like today, that are hard and challenging, that are difficult, but,” I told her, “that she could trust Jesus, that she could rely upon the Lord for strength today.” I encouraged her to take comfort in her God, and that’s what we must do. We must rely upon the Lord, especially, especially in the difficulties.

It’s not always difficult for us in life, right? We also have good days. Always means good, bad, and so we not only rely upon the Lord on the bad days or the difficult ones, but even in the good times. Now, this is where many of us, including myself, we fall short, don’t we? Because when everything is going good and there are no problems, when everything is going great and there’s not really persecution or tribulation—the marriage is solid, the kids are good, when work is fine—it’s kind of easy to get lost in things and to remember that we still need to rely upon the Lord.

Let me read to you Psalm 62:8. It says, “Trust in Him”—rely upon Him—“at all times.” That’s what it says. “Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” We must rely upon the Lord in difficulties, in hard times, rely upon Him when the things are good and smooth, that’s what we have to do. And, I’ll mention one more before we move on—we must rely upon the Lord in the critical moments of our lives. You know, for King Asa we saw that he faced a critical moment. War is a big deal, war is a big deal. There hadn’t been war in his land for a long time, but unfortunately, he chose to rely on an outside source instead of the Lord. We cannot do that. We can’t.

I was talking to a brother of mine who is going through a rough time. He’s got some health issues and things that are happening. He and I were on the phone on Monday, and he told me that he’s got a decision to make, he’s got some choices, some critical moments, he said, critical things to think about, and he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know what God wants him to do, and I told him, I said, “I don’t know what the choice is. I don’t know this critical decision that you have to make. I don’t know because I’m not God. But I do know this,” I read him this passage, and I said, “If you rely upon the Lord, if you rely upon the Lord, and you trust Him, He is going to be able to give you the wisdom you need to make that choice.” May we, may I, and all of us always remember to rely upon the Lord in every situation, family.

Let me share with you the second lesson we learn from this story. We can confidently rely on God because of His past faithfulness. We can confidently rely on God because of His past faithfulness. I want you to look back with me at something in verse 8. Notice what Hanani said. He said, “Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you”—Asa—“relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.” After rebuking King Asa, Hanani did something that I’m so grateful for, you see, he reminds the king, he reminds Asa that God had come through for him in the past. God had been there. The Ethiopians and the Lubim were huge armies, “Asa, you remember. You relied on God that time, though, and He took care of it.” “He delivered them into your hand.” So you have an idea of how big the armies were, 2 Chronicles 14:9 tells us there were, “ . . . a million men and three hundred chariots,” far more than what he was facing with Baasha up against him. The king should’ve remembered how God had been faithful in the past, and, Revival, that is what we need to do as well. We need to remember that God comes through.

In Deuteronomy 8, Moses, great chapter, you guys need to read that, Moses tells the people of God, they’re getting ready to go into the Promised Land, he says, “You need to remember, remember.” Sixteen times that word “remember” is used in the book of Deuteronomy, but remember what God has done. Why? So that you can confidently go into this land that you failed to go into before trusting and relying upon God.

When a young shepherd boy named David spoke to Saul about fighting Goliath, Saul, not being convinced that he could do it, David remarked, David says, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” What was David doing? David was remembering how God had got him through, how He had been faithful to him in the past so he could confidently rely and trust on Him now in the present.

You know that song that Nathan and the band sang, “Same God,” I remember hearing that song for the first time. I actually told Nathan about it, and I love that song. The song, if you remember it, I’m calling on the God of Jacob, I’m calling on the God of Moses, I’m calling on the God of Mary, I’m calling on the God of David. The song then goes on in the lyrics to relate how God has come through in every single one of their lives. The song says that He is the Rock of Ages and that we can stand on His faithfulness. That’s what we can do. Well, it’s the same God, family, it’s the same God who showed Himself faithful to them—not just them, there’s many more in Scripture and throughout history—but the same God who’s done that, who’s shown Himself faithful on their behalf has done it for us, and He continues to do it. If you think back on your life, count how many times God has come through; count how many times God has been there, and how many times He’s shown Himself strong on your behalf.

Verse 9, “ . . . the LORD”—Hanani says—“show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” It’s one of the most famous verses in Chronicles, probably in the Bible. God does this. He shows Himself strong on our behalf when we trust and rely upon Him. Now, I’m not saying it’s easy, I’m not saying it’s easy, especially when you’re not going through it. I’m not saying that, but look back. Look back at your life.

I think at the barbecue, at one of the barbecues I shared how my son at his birth there were some complications. We got to the hospital and the nurse…everything’s fine at first, and then the nurse says, “We can’t find his heartbeat,” seven nurses rush in. Me and my wife are freaking out, and things go haywire. I’m not going to lie to you, I was overwhelmed. It’s my first baby. It’s my first child, and so I freaked out, I did, me and my wife. But, I’ll tell you what, I remember sitting there thinking in the room, I have to trust God. We have to trust the Lord. We have to trust God. I remember telling my wife that God has never let us down in the past, and I’ll tell you, guess what? My little baby boy is five months old now. He’s five months old, and he’s doing fabulous. He’s doing great. Why? Because God is faithful. God is faithful to us. He will never let us down. If you ever doubt for a moment, look back at His past faithfulness, and you will find that He can be relied upon. He can.

One more lesson I’d like to share with you. I think this one is pretty plain to see. Thirdly, and lastly, we learn that when we fail to rely on God, things are bound to go wrong. When we fail to rely on God, things are bound to go wrong. For King Asa, those many years ago, things went wrong. I know that at first he must’ve thought, Man, this is great. King Baasha is off my back, Ben-Hadad is now my BFF. Life is good. I’ve built two cities up to defend myself. Everything is peaches—peaches and daisies. But, as you and I know, that’s not the case. The truth of the matter is he messed up. He failed to rely upon His God, and here’s the deal: If we fail to do that, if we make that same mistake, things are bound to go wrong as well.

There’s a good story that illustrates this in the book of Joshua, Joshua 9. Perhaps you know it, it’s the Gibeonites. Joshua and the boys, Joshua and Israel are doing great, man, they’re wreaking havoc, they’re taking out their enemies, they’re inhabiting the land that God has promised. Everything is doing just fabulous! But then, these people, the Gibeonites, hear about everything that Joshua is doing, so they don’t want to get exterminated. They don’t want to be gone. They don’t want to be next, so they pretend to be from a far country—I’m talking like far, far in another galaxy away. They mess up their clothes. They rip their clothing, and they bring moldy bread. They walk up to Joshua and the leaders of Israel and say, “Hey, listen, we’re from a very far country, and we just want to be your servants.”

Joshua and the boys make a great mistake though. You see, instead of relying upon the Lord, instead of seeking God and asking, “Hey, what do we do?” Verse 14, of Joshua 9, says, “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.” Three days later they find out the Gibeonites were their neighbors—too late by then, though. They had already made a promise, a covenant, to protect them. This is what happens when we fail to consult God, when we fail to rely upon Him.

This is why Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5-6, you guys know the verse well, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Something that blew my mind away in studying for this is you will never guess what that word “lean” is in verse 5. It’s the same word we’ve been talking about and discussing all night, shâʻan, rely. Solomon is saying, “Don’t,” shâʻan, “don’t rely, don’t trust in, lean in on, support yourself on your own understanding, but instead in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will,” (what?) “direct your paths.” Do not make the same mistake that a Judean king did so many years ago in not relying upon the Lord.

Family, perhaps you are here tonight and you have come here with a problem, something has emerged in your life recently. Perhaps you’ve come here and there’s a critical decision in front of you—your marriage, or your kids, maybe that’s not going so well. Perhaps work is just not the best. You’re thinking of quitting, things are going haywire, there’s all kinds of issues there. Perhaps someone you love is sick. Whatever it is you’re dealing with, I’d like to encourage you here tonight that God is still God, the same God is the One we serve, it’s the same God from back then.

Tonight, tell Him the problems. Tell Him what’s going on, and tell Him how much you need Him. Family, remember to always rely upon Him. Would you all pray with me?