2 Chronicles 20:26

 2 Chronicles 20:26 says, And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.  After three days of gathering the spoils of war, the people of Judah gathered in the valley of Berachah on the fourth day and blessed, or I believe praised the Lord.  If we have been blessed by God, we should never get so caught up in the blessings that we forget to give God thanks and praise.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.  Then they all returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, rejoicing that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies.  We need preachers leading us in rejoicing that God has given us victory over our enemies today, and we need to join in rejoicing with them.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.  They came playing many different music instruments, and we need to praise God with music as well today.  Verse twenty-nine states, And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.  The fear of God was on all the countries around them.  There are many countries today who not only don't fear God, but they stand in open defiance against Him, but one day, they will learn how wrong they were.  We are not to serve God out of fear, but out of knowing that He loves us enough that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for us.  Verse thirty adds, So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.  The realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet because God gave him rest.  God has already given Christians the victory today, so our lives should be lived quietly at rest in Him, no matter what is going on in the world.  Verse thirty-one continues, And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.  Jehoshaphat reigned for twenty-five years.  Verse thirty-two says, And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord.  Jehoshaphat walked in the ways of God as Asa his father had done, not departing from it.  We also need to walk in the ways of God, as Christians before us did, not departing from His truth.  Verse thirty-three adds, Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.  Still, he didn't take away the high places, we are told because the people hadn't prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.  We may be close to being spiritually correct today, but if anything, outside of God's will has been allowed into the church, we need to be prepared in our hearts to get rid of it.  Verse thirty-four continues, Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.  As with other kings of Israel and Judah, we are told that the rest of his acts are written in a book, this one another one that that we don't have, but we do have all that we need to know in the Bible.  People can never know everything about God in this lifetime, but we have a record of all that we need to know recorded in the Bible and preserved by God.  Verse thirty-five states, And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:  Once more, Jehoshaphat joined in a pact with the king of Israel, this time with Ahaziah, who was said to have done very wickedly.  We may want to be united with others who profess to be Christians, but if they are doing things that go against God's word, we need to stay apart from them.  Some religions sound good, but if they do not acknowledge God for Who He really is or change Who Jesus Christ is, we should never join with them.  Verse thirty-six adds, And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber.  Jehoshaphat joined in this pact with Ahaziah to send ships to trade with other people.  I don't know if he was just looking for greater riches or what, but it seems he didn't ask God about this first.  Even if someone is promising us riches today, we should never join them just for earthly riches.  We need to always seek God's will first, and then do everything in accordance with His will.  Verse thirty-seven continues, Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.  Eliezar a prophet of God came to Jehoshaphat and told him that since he had joined with Ahaziah that God had broken his works and the ships were broken.  God is never going to bless anything that is not done in accordance with His word and under His leadership, even if we prosper in the world.  All that we do outside of God's will ultimately will be destroyed.