Repent, Rely, Rejoice

Introduction

Again we are standing at the beginning of a new year. What will this year bring? New business ventures, a new job, trying out new farming practices, new technology? Some may experience great successes, others great disappointments. The year may pass by with the usual events and rhythms of life. Or, life may throw us a curve ball, and everything is turned upside down and out of whack. You may experience a serious illness. Some of us will face new and challenging changes in our lives. Our school children will be moving on to new grades. Bailey will begin high school. Jason, Payge, and Kyla will graduate from high school, and enter adult life. I am sure they are filled with excitement as well as some anxiety as all of us are at the beginning of this year. How will we face and live in the new year?

We must not fear. We must not be anxious. Be strong and courageous. Seek first the Kingdom. These are the instructions of our Lord. Easy to say, but how? I want to give you three R’s to remember, and to live by during this new year. They are Repent, Rely, Rejoice. Repent — turn back to God. Rely — trust in God. Rejoice — rejoice in the Lord always, glorify God in everything we do. Repent, rely, rejoice because God’s love endures forever. No matter what happens, his love is with us always, everywhere, in all circumstances.

1. Two Kings and the Three R’s

Asa, the king of Judah, followed the ways of the Lord. He did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord. The people sought the Lord their God. He blessed them, gave them rest on every side, and they prospered (2 Chron 14:1-7). Then a large army attacked Judah. Before the battle Asa prayed and called to the Lord his God: “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” (2 Chron 14:11)

Because they turned to God, prayed, and relied on Him, God answered their prayers. The Lord struck down and crushed their enemies. The terror of the Lord fell on them (2 Chron 14:12-14).

Afterwards God sent a prophet: “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. … But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” (2 Chronicles 15:1-7)

Asa took courage. He removed the idols from the land, and he repaired the Temple’s altar. He called a great assembly of the whole nation. There they: “entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.” (2 Chron 15:12-15)

However, after many years of peace, Baasha, king of Israel, moved against Judah. What did Asa do? You would think that he has learned his lesson to rely on the Lord. But no! He relied on his own schemes, on worldly, military power. He sought help from the king of Aram, a foreign nation, an enemy of God’s people! So the Lord sent his prophet to Asa.

“Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen. Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” (2 Chron 16:7-9)

What was Asa’s response? “Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.” (2 Chron 16:10)

And the consequence? “Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians.” (2 Chron 16:12) Asa did not repent, and he never again relied on the Lord.

After him, his son, Jehoshaphat, became king of Judah. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord (2 Chron 17:3-6). He sent his officials, the Levites and priests to go through the land to teach the people the Law of the Lord, the ways of the Lord (2 Chron 17:7-9). And so, “The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.” (2 Chron 17:10)

Unfortunately, God’s people stray easily. Jehoshaphat allied himself with the evil, unfaithful, idol-worshipping king Ahab of Israel. Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to help him in his war, and Jehoshaphat agreed. In 2 Chronicles 18 we see how the two kings ignored the word of God, the truth, spoken by the prophet Micah. They listened to the false prophets, to lies. And of course they lost the battle. King Ahab was killed. Jehoshaphat’s life was in danger on the battle field. He cried out to the Lord. God saved him, and he returned safely to Jerusalem.

God sent his prophet to the king. “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.” (2 Chron 19:1-3) Jehoshaphat repented. He went out among the people and turned them back to the Lord. He appointed judges in the land. He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

He appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the Lord. He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord. In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities … you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.” (2 Chronicles 19:4-10)

Then a vast army came to attack Judah. Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord, and relied on God. ‘Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard and said:

“Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’ … For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.’ (2 Chron 20:3-9,11-13)

And the Lord responded: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. … You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” (2 Chron 20:14-17)

The people and the king worshipped God, and rejoiced in the Lord. “Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.” (2 Chron 20:18-19)

Jehoshaphat encouraged the people: “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets, in others words, in the Word of God, and you will be successful.” He appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness. And they were saying — Give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever. (2 Chron 20:20)

And of course, God gave them victory. The Lord himself set ambushes against their enemies, and they were defeated (2 Chronicles 20:22). “Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets. The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.” (2 Chron 20:27-30)

Unfortunately, in his later years Jehoshaphat relied on economic power, and not the Lord. He allied with Israel’s wicked king, and built a large trading fleet. The Lord then destroyed the ships, and they were not able to trade (2 Chron 20:35-37).

Repent, rely, and rejoice that’s how we as God’s people should face and live in this new year.

2. Repent, Rely, Rejoice

Repent — We must live lives of repentance. When we sin, we must repent, and turn back to God. He is faithful. His love endures forever. He will forgive us. He will pick us up. He will restore us, and give us peace and joy. We must be sensitive to the leading and the voice of the Holy Spirit. We must identify the idols in our lives, and get rid of them, quickly. We must pay careful attention to our lives. We must contend for our souls! We must make sure we walk in the ways of the Lord.

I cannot tell you what you must repent from. Each one of us must examine our hearts before the Lord, allowing the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to convict us. And we must do so with brutal honesty. When we observe our lives and the world around us, then there are clearly sinful patterns, trends, and practices that we must repent from.

We must repent that we are allowing fear, untruths, materialism, greed, worry, anxiety to drive and shape our viewpoints, decisions, and actions. We must repent that we are not allowing God’s Word to guide us in all of our life. We must repent that we are not seeking the Kingdom first, but our own kingdoms and our own selfish interests. What have we been relying on instead of trusting in God?

Rely — So many times we rely on our own plans and devices. We put our trust in our own skills, training, money, material things, politics, the economy, worldly leaders, technology, our computers, our smart phones. We make our own plans, and then we tack God onto our plans as an add-on, an afterthought. We ask God to bless our plans. Instead, we need to ask, What does God want us to do? We must ask this question about everything and in every case or situation. Pray, pray, pray. Bring everything to God in prayer. And then while still praying, make your plans in complete submission, reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And when God’s will become clear, do that, not your own will. Follow the Spirit’s leading, trust in God, no matter what. Be courageous! Because God may lead you in ways completely different or opposed to your own will and those of the world.

Rejoice — Rejoice in the Lord always. I have said much about this two weeks ago, and don’t want to repeat myself, except to read again these important verses: ““Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

And the Lord will give us rest on every side. Because we are living in the end times we may not experience rest and peace in this world. Most likely unrest will increase in society and the world. We will be persecuted. We will be disappointed. We will experience hurt and pain. We will suffer. We will grief. But … When we repent, rely, and rejoice we will experience, in our hearts, in our souls, and in our lives, rest and peace in the midst of all the unrest that is going on around us, in the midst of the unrest that may happen in our own lives. When we abide in Christ, repent, rely, and rejoice, we will experience God’s love, God’s presence, and “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). This is God’s promise. His love endures forever. Repent, rely, and rejoice!