Gen 32:9-11, And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who didst say to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,' I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown to Thy servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 
	In our reading this morning, we see the fear that grips Jacob as he was returning to his homeland after serving Laban for twenty years. He had left his family after tricking his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing that was Esau’s as the firstborn. His mother had arranged for him to get away by sending him in search of a suitable wife from her family instead of a Canaanite. Esau had sworn vengeance upon him for his trickery and Jacob had fled with nothing but his staff in order to escape the vengeful retribution of his brother.
	Twenty years later, after having become a rich man with flocks and herds and wives and children, God had sent Jacob back to the land of promise to claim that which had been given him by God. However, Jacob was still in fear of his brother’s wrath. This was apparently with good reason as Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob saw this as an army arrayed against him to carry out the vengeance of his brother. Therefore, he divided his family into companies in order that someone would hopefully survive the attack.
	Then, we have the record which we just read of his calling out to the Lord to go before him and to keep him and his family safe. This is the key of what we want to see in reality today. Jacob was afraid and in that fear he called upon the Lord to be his deliverance. He had done everything in his power to prepare for the worst and it was not sufficient to allay the fear and the dread and the anxiety that were attacking his heart and spirit. Therefore he called to God to be his salvation. He reminded himself, in his prayer, that all that he had he had because God had blessed him and given it to him. He had started his journey to safety with nothing a staff rod and he was returning with all the great wealth from the hand and blessing of God’s grace and love. 
	Jacob also was recounting to the Lord, and to himself, that it was God Who had instructed Jacob that it was time to return to the land of promise and that Jacob was doing so in obedience to God’s command. In that obedience, Jacob was now face-to-face with the very real fear for his life and for the lives of his family. Esau was very likely to kill him if he continued forward to the land as specified by God; therefore it was God, Alone, Who could save Jacob and his loved ones. Jacob asked God to work out the salvation that was so necessary for God’s promises to come into full fruition. If God didn’t do something in regard to Esau, Jacob would soon be dead and forgotten and all the promises of God to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob would soon be, as well, dead and forgotten. 
	  Jacob counted on God to make a way in this utterly impossible situation. Jacob could not fight against the numerical superiority of his brother’s men. He had to count on the Lord to make the surety of His promise a reality in the lineage of His blessing. Jacob was sorely afraid, but in that immense fear, he turned to the Lord to be his Savior. 
	This is something that we each need to learn in our own lives. It is not something that we can simply think of in terms of intellectual knowledge. We have all read the scriptures and we have all heard the many messages of encouragement to trust the Lord to be our Savior in every situation. But, sadly, it seems that it is only when we are in the direct presence of the threat to our very lives that we truly turn to God and cry out from the depths of our souls and hearts and spirits for God to save us. Knowing something as a fact is entirely different from believing it as the very core of our life. It is as the Lord proves Himself ever faithful that we begin to truly understand and appreciate and believe that He is our every source of provision and protection and life.
	In 2 Chron 20:3-15, we have another example of this knowledge becoming a reality in the hearts of God’s people. Please turn to it and follow along, 2 Chron 20:3-15. And Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord; and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, "O Lord, the God of our fathers, art Thou not God in the heavens? And art Thou not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Thy hand so that no one can stand against Thee. Didst Thou not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham Thy friend forever? "And they lived in it, and have built Thee a sanctuary there for Thy name, saying, 'Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before Thee (for Thy name is in this house) and cry to Thee in our distress, and Thou wilt hear and deliver us.' "And now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom Thou didst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), behold how they are rewarding us, by coming to drive us out from Thy possession which Thou hast given us as an inheritance. O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee." And all Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives, and their children. Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; and he said, "Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. 
	Again, please note that what started with fear in Jehoshaphat’s heart was turned to trust in the Lord’s provision and protection. The surrounding nations were about to attack and seemingly overwhelm Judah. The gathered people called out to the Lord and sought for Him to be their every defense and security against what could be the decisive blow to wipe them off the face of the earth. Here to, the people remind themselves and God of all that He has done to this point to keep His promise and blessing alive on this earth in the people that He had chosen unto Himself. 
	Another key in this passage that we want to take to heart is the fact that it was not just the men that were gathered together before the Lord. The assembly included the women and children, specifically mentioning their infants. The thing that is so important in this is that the people were not shielding the children from the fact that they were afraid and were seeking God to save them. This was not a matter of putting on a brave face before the young ones and telling them that everything was going to be ok. 
	The children were included in the coming before God to seek after Him, to pray unto Him and to witness all that God would do in response to their calling out to Him. This is what we, as parents, and grandparents, and teachers, and as the united family of the Lord are to do with our children. They are to be as much a part of our coming together as an assembly before God as anyone else. It is in the practice of calling together, in one heart unto God that they will see that we are not as this world in the manner in which we conduct all our affairs on this earth. 
We want them to know that when decisions are made, they are made by the Lord in answer to our prayers for His guidance and His direction. We want them to see that when we are afraid and when we have great trials and difficulties and tribulations and severe storms in this world that we count on the Lord and seek Him with all our hearts to be our deliverance and our salvation. We want our children to be included in the every manner of seeking after the Lord and counting on Him to make Himself known in a living response to our prayers and as the peace in our hearts against all the frustrations and qualms of our walk on this earth. It is never too early for our children to see that being a Christian is much, much more than just a religious preference. It is the every basis of our every decision and our every pattern of operation on this earth to the glory of God Almighty. 
Finally, in this passage, we have the tremendous proclamation of the Holy Spirit through the voice of Jahaziel that we want to recognize as the manifested reality of our day-to-day experience in this life that we live unto God. 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. 
Oh that we would all come into the living knowledge that the battle is not ours, it is the Lord’s. He has already accomplished the victory by the death and resurrection of His Only Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we will not have the struggles and the trials and the hardships that are part of this realm of decay and death and sin. That is something that we are to expect as we have mentioned time after time. The thing that we need to appropriate is that we are not here to fight our own battles. We are here to stand in that victory which Christ has secured for eternity! We are here to show, in the life that He lives in us, that God has done all that He has determined to do in being the very salvation of mankind through His Only Begotten Son. We do not have to struggle with the course of trying to be perfect in this realm. We do not have to fear the threats and the taunts and the injustices that will be hurled upon us. We simply have to count on the Lord to reveal Himself in the every manner of being our deliverance and our Savior as He shows Himself in all His Omniscience, and Omnipresence, and Omnipotence. 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's.
Our final example of overcoming the fear and distress by faith in the promise of God for this morning is the Prophet Jonah. Please turn to Jonah 2:1-9. Jonah 2:1-9, Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, "I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice. "For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Thy breakers and billows passed over me. "So I said, 'I have been expelled from Thy sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Thy holy temple.' "Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. "I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. "While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer came to Thee, Into Thy holy temple. "Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, But I will sacrifice to Thee With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord." 
Once again, we have one who cried out to the Lord for salvation. Jonah’s very life was in dire distress as he was drowning in the waters. The Lord made the provision for his rescue through the swallowing of Jonah by the big fish. This indicates that the manner of rescue is not necessarily by the means that we would choose or that we would even see as possible. Yet, God was faithful to hear and to save Jonah. What we want to recognize is that Jonah knew that the fish was sent from God for God’s own purposes. In that salvation, Jonah not only expounded upon God’s faithful regard for Jonah’s life, but he renewed his heart after what God desired from him.
Please take note of the manner of Jonah’s response to this gracious action of God. But I will sacrifice to Thee With the voice of thanksgiving. There was absolute and solemn thanksgiving expressed by Jonah, as should be evidenced in each one of us when we see the Hand of God in operation. Again, it may not be in the manner that we would choose or that we would prefer or that we understand, but when God manifests Himself, in all His glorious mercy and grace, we are to give Him all thanksgiving in our sacrifices unto His Majesty. 
God’s people are to express full willingness to give Him honor and adoration and thanksgiving in the unity of one heart as He shows forth the manner in which He chooses to make known His every provision of our salvation. We know the joy of our eternal salvation in Jesus Christ, but as God manifests the outworking of that eternal security in our daily walk with Him, we are to offer Him all the credit and the humble blessing of thanksgiving and reverence in the faithful service of worship that He deserves. So be it!    
	And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who didst say to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,' I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown to Thy servant... Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is 1 Chron 16:34-36. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Then say, "Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks to Thy holy name, And glory in Thy praise." Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. Then all the people said, "Amen," and praised the Lord. Amen.