1 Chronicles 5 Devotional

Help and Judgment from One Hand

“And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.”1 Chronicles 5:20 (BSB)

Reuben was Israel's firstborn, but his birthright passed to the sons of Joseph because he defiled his father's bed (5:1). The chapter then follows the tribes east of the Jordan: Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. In battle they cried out to God, and he answered them, because they trusted in him (5:20). The battle belonged to God (5:22).

Then the chapter turns. These tribes were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and went after the gods of the peoples God had destroyed before them (5:25). So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of the king of Assyria to carry them into exile (5:26). The God who answered their cry is the God who sent them away. Both are his doing, and both are real. Their victory was not a reward for strength, and their exile was not an accident of politics. The safest place is the one these tribes knew for a moment: crying out to him in trust.

To think about: In what situation today do you need to stop relying on your own strength and cry out to God in trust instead?