II Chronicles 20:9 “If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.”
Evil is unrelenting, it seems that in every generation “evil”, like a ravenous beast, is lurking at the door, seeking an opening whereby it may enter and devour the Children of God and the Lord’s Church. King “Jehoshaphat” and Judah were severely threatened by an “evil” army that was coming to destroy them, and all the people of Judah were coming together, looking to “Jehoshaphat” for leadership and to the Lord for deliverance (II Chronicles 20:1-9). King “Jehoshaphat” met with the people at the Temple and, while in prayer he recalled the prayers that past kings had offered in this Temple; such as, Solomon when he prayed, that when troubles come “Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants” (II Chronicles 6:27), and God answered Solomon out of the Temple, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.” (II Chronicles 7:14-15). The Lord did hear their humble and sincere prayer and did mightily deliver them from their “evil” enemy (II Chronicles 20:24-25). Judah had the Temple in Jerusalem, we have “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), the “Jerusalem which is above” (Galatians 4:26), “the temple of God” (I Corinthians 3:16), “the house of God, which is the church of the living God” (I Timothy 3:15). Now, as we are again faced with a dreadful “evil”; so, let us flee to “the church of the living God”, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25). The “day approaching” is the next Lord’s Day, in which we gather together to Worship and Pray!