Jehoshaphat is a funny name, but don’t let the name fool you. He was one of Judah’s best kings, if not the best. As good as he was, he had a couple of “bad moments.” But I don’t want us to concentrate on those.
There is much that he did that was laudable (II Chronicles 17-20). One thing in particular I want to draw your attention to. It’s in II Chronicles 19:4-11.
As king, Jehoshaphat was concerned about justice being administered in his kingdom. To that end he appointed judges in the land (vs.5). Notice the exhortation he gives to these appointees in verses 6 & 9. He tells them twice that their judgments should be given “in the fear of the Lord.”
He knew that the only thing that would steer men correctly was the knowledge that all of their private moments were being observed by a God who has an inflexible hatred of sin. So, in my judgments, in my decisions, in my choices, I must keep one eye cut toward heaven, knowing that although I may get away with things before men, there is a God before whom I must stand.
I bet you’ve heard of this definition of character: “character is who you are when no one is watching.” Dear ones, know this: There is a God in heaven, who scrutinizes our ways. That’s what I think the Bible means when it calls me to walk “in the fear of the Lord”: That God knows where real character can be found.
