Father's Day Service, 6/21/2026, Pastor Jeremy Mercer - "Walk Like a King

The word positions men as kings and priests of their own homes, not so they can rule harshly, but so they can lead like good kings and even great kings. First and Second Kings, along with Chronicles, show a painful pattern. Some kings did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but many did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The Northern Kingdom had king after king fall into evil, and even Judah had only a few who truly walked in the ways of the Lord.

Jehoshaphat stands out as one of those rare good kings. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of David, sought the God of his father, and refused the Baals. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord, and he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. That detail matters because some kings worshiped God, but they still left evil standing. A great king does not just worship right. A great king tears down what needs to be torn down.

Second Chronicles 20 shows Jehoshaphat facing a great horde that Judah could not defeat. Jehoshaphat was afraid, but fear did not make him a coward. His fear became the place where he set his face to seek the Lord. He did not make a treaty with ungodly nations or trust in natural strategy. He called Judah together, proclaimed a fast, and led wives, children, and little ones to seek God. His prayer confessed that God ruled over every kingdom, that God had given the land, and that Judah did not know what to do, but its eyes were on God.

The Lord answered through the prophet, telling Judah not to be afraid because the battle belonged to God. Jehoshaphat bowed low, the people worshiped, and the singers went before the army declaring, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” When praise began, the Lord fought the battle.

The call to men is to lead families this way. Prayer must be more than a dinner ritual. Children need to see fathers seek God in crisis, decisions, vacations, school days, and family life. The way a man walks becomes the story his children will one day tell. A bad father is not an excuse, because David was the pattern then, and Jesus is the greater David now. God can change a family line in one generation when a man seeks the Lord, walks like Jesus, and tears down the high places.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Set your face to seek God Jehoshaphat was afraid, but his fear did not drive him into panic or fleshly planning. His fear became the doorway to seek the Lord with seriousness, fasting, and public dependence. A man’s leadership is not proven by acting like nothing hurts, but by turning the whole weight of trouble toward God. [62:37]
• 2. Lead the family into prayer Jehoshaphat did not seek God privately and leave the people guessing. He gathered Judah, including wives, children, and little ones, so the next generation could learn what faith does when the odds are impossible. A home is shaped by what children see repeated, and prayer teaches them where strength really comes from. [67:49]
• 3. Tear down the high places A man can worship God and still leave old evil standing in the house, the habits, the family line, or the secret places of the heart. The high places name those things that should not remain just because they have always been there. Great kings do not only avoid idols, they remove what keeps tempting the next generation. [76:22]
• 4. Jesus is the greater David Some kings had good fathers, and some came from terrible examples, but the good ones were still measured by David. For men now, the truest pattern is Jesus, the Son of David who reigns forever. A broken family story does not have to keep writing itself when Christ becomes the model for how a man walks. [78:38]
• 5. Consecration means lifelong endurance The prayer of consecration was not about one emotional moment, but about giving the whole future to God. A man who asks God for victory also needs endurance to keep seeking Him when the moment passes. The Lord forms strong men by keeping them humble, faithful, and fixed on walking like Jesus for the rest of their lives. [91:16]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [39:11] - Men as Kings of the Home
• [41:40] - Jehoshaphat Walked Like David
• [45:20] - Judah Faces a Great Horde
• [47:43] - The Battle Belongs to God
• [49:29] - Praise Goes Before the Army
• [50:06] - Good Kings and Bad Kings
• [58:36] - What Made Jehoshaphat Great
• [61:47] - Fear That Seeks the Lord
• [64:46] - Fathers Lead Families in Prayer
• [69:46] - Walking Before the Next Generation
• [73:23] - Tear Down the High Places
• [78:38] - Jesus Is the Greater David
• [81:11] - Hezekiah Restored What Was Ruined
• [86:10] - Consecrating the Men to God

Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 20:1-22
After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. [45:09]

2 Chronicles 17:3-6
The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. [41:40]

1 Corinthians 5:6-7
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. [01:17:02]

2 Kings 18:3-7
And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. [01:21:16]

Observation questions

1. In 2 Chronicles 20, what did Jehoshaphat do first when he heard that a great multitude was coming against Judah, and who did he gather with him to seek the Lord? [01:07:49]
2. According to 2 Chronicles 17:3-6, what specific things are said about how Jehoshaphat walked, what he refused, and what he removed from Judah? [58:36]
3. In Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20, what does he confess about Judah’s condition, and what simple statement shows where their hope was fixed?
4. In 2 Chronicles 20:21-22, what went before the army, what were the people saying, and at what moment did the Lord begin to rout their enemies? [49:29]

Interpretation questions

1. Jehoshaphat was afraid, yet he set his face to seek the Lord. What does that show about the difference between fear and unbelief? [01:02:37]
2. Jehoshaphat did not only seek God privately; he gathered wives, children, and little ones before the Lord. Why does that matter for the spiritual life of a people or a household? [01:04:46]
3. Some kings did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet still left the high places standing. What does that suggest about the danger of tolerating what is sinful, old, or spiritually compromised even while still worshiping God? [59:28]
4. Hezekiah even destroyed the bronze serpent Moses had made because it had become an object of worship. What does that reveal about how good things can become dangerous things when they take God’s place? [01:21:16]

Application questions

1. When fear or pressure rises, what is the usual first response—panic, silence, overplanning, calling other people first, or seeking the Lord? What would it look like this week to set the face toward God before doing anything else? [01:03:54]
2. Children and families learn where help comes from by what they see repeated. What does prayer actually look like in the home right now? Is it mostly limited to meals, or are there other moments where the household stops to seek God together? [01:07:51]
3. Great kings think about the next generation, not just the present moment. If children or younger believers told the story of what they have seen up close, what patterns would they mention—trust in God, anger, peace, compromise, prayer, distraction, humility? [01:12:06]
4. The high places are the things that should not be left standing. What might those be right now—old habits, media, private sin, bitterness, family patterns, objects tied to the past, or something else? Which of those has been tolerated for too long? [01:16:22]
5. A broken family story does not have to keep repeating itself. Where has there been a temptation to excuse sin or passivity by saying, “That’s just how the family has always been”? What would it mean to let Jesus rewrite that pattern now? [01:18:38]
6. Jehoshaphat led people to pray in serious moments, and Hezekiah restored what had been neglected. What is one concrete way to restore worship and spiritual seriousness in the home or personal life over the next month? [01:20:49]
7. Consecration is not only a moment of emotion; it is a decision to keep going. What kind of endurance is needed most right now—to keep praying, to keep leading, to keep obeying, to keep tearing down sin, or to keep trusting when nothing has changed yet? [01:31:16]