I love that King Jehoshaphat recognizes he is in over his head and his first steps are to humbly seek God and to call the people of Judah to fast and pray. Jehoshaphat steps up in the courtyard and begins to pray, I imagine in a loud, urgent voice…

Jehoshaphat follows the call of God in 1 Chronicles 7:14. He reacts to his sin and Jehu’s exhortation with humility rather than arrogance and pride. His first steps indicate the king recognized the root cause of his sin was a neglect of God’s Word that led to…

for speaking truth, Jehoshaphat humbles himself and rebuilds the spiritual foundation of his country. Just as he did at the beginning of his reign, he commissions teachers, priests, and judges to teach the Law of God with genuine hearts of faith…

Jehu did not wait for Jehoshaphat to rest up or even clean up from the battlefield. He met him and lost no time in boldly declaring that Jehoshaphat had really messed up this time.  Don’t forget that beautiful word: Nevertheless…

The life of Jehoshaphat is a school room that can fuel our own pilgrimages with hope. He committed his life to serving God, but he still sinned in ways that had a negative impact on the very people he was called to protect…

Jehoshaphat owns his sinful choices and reacts to Jehu’s rebuke with humility and repentance. Remember how he started out his reign by sending priests into all the towns to teach the Law of God? After seeing the results of his…

Weary, emotionally exhausted, in wonder at the close call of losing his life, filthy from battle, may be wary of how God will treat him after this debacle of a battle, Jehoshaphat starts toward home. A man on a pilgrimage, wanting to hope but…

Remember we can find Jesus in every Old Testament story, on every page of the Bible. We might not see His name, but He is there. There is a beautiful taste of redemption in what looks like a total failure on the part of King Jehoshaphat….

Ahab took the throne of Israel after the death of his father Omri (a despicably evil man). His rule began during the last years of the reign of King Asa, the father of Jehoshaphat. It was no secret King Ahab followed in the steps of his horrifically evil father and…

On the heels of describing the enormous accomplishments and prosperity Jehoshaphat enjoyed because of God’s blessings, this godly King makes an alliance with Ahab, the evil king of Israel. Yes, this is the same Ahab whose wife was …

At thirty-five years of age, Jehoshaphat follows in his father’s footsteps and becomes King of Judah after his father’s death. He also follows his father in the way he immediately takes steps to fortify the country and continues to build a strong…

Over the past few weeks, we peeked into the lives of Anna, Hannah and Mary. Although we only got a glimpse into one period of their lives, we learned their practices of worship and trusting God prepared them for unexpected life crises. Their auto-responses to shattering news…

During the worst days and months of my grief journey, my default mode was to turn to close friends for help. Through them God kept His promise He would make His people a blessing to others. They became God’s “promise keepers…

As I have dug deeper into the lives of Anna, Hannah, and Mary, I am struck by the tangible demonstration of the promises of the Covenant and why theology matters every day, but especially when life comes crashing down around us…

The similarities in Hannah and Mary’s songs are striking and a reminder that writers, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote the Scriptures. Paul’s words to Timothy about the perfection of Scripture apply to these songs as well…

Though Mary never met Hannah, Mary’s song of praise parallels Hannah’s worship song. I like the idea of Hannah “mentoring” Mary through the record of Scripture and now…

Hannah’s song requires much more than a devotional in order to unpack the rich doctrines and joy that drives its way out of Hannah’s heart and into these beautiful words. Remember Eli could not hear Hannah’s lament for…

The parallels between Mary, the mother of Jesus, God’s Son, and Hannah, the mother of Samuel, God’s priest, are remarkable. Neither woman’s claim to fame is that of a Deborah, Esther, Miriam or other women of leadership. We know Mary and Hannah because they are mothers who gave birth to sons through…

What is your default mode when life comes crashing down? What systems are you building into your life while the sun shines that will fuel your pilgrimage with hope when storm clouds burst open and…

Slowly, slowly life crashed down on Hannah. Year after year she longed for a child, but God closed her womb. Her default mode in the face of disappointment was to continue her practice of corporate worship and prayer…