March Out with Praise

As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,

    for his love endures forever.”

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

2 Chronicles 20:20-22

King Jehoshaphat had a problem. A vast army, greater than any Judah could hope to defeat, was coming against them from Edom. But Jehoshaphat did what all of us should do when we face a problem, "he resolved to inquire of the LORD" (2 Chronicles 20:3). The people of Judah humbled themselves and fasted and gathered to hear from the Lord what they should do. God answered His people through one of His prophets telling Judah to go out to battle the next morning but that they wouldn't have to fight. They would only stand and see the great deliverance He would work for them. 

Verses 20-22 above narrate how Judah marched out to battle the next morning. They didn't put their greatest warriors at the head of the army. They didn't put their cavalry or their chariots there either. No, they placed their singers right out front, at the head of their army declaring God's praise. They believed God's word and they placed their hope in Him, instead of in their ability to fight. When they macrhed out to face the Edomite army that morning their weapons weren't the sword or the spear, they were praise and faith. 

How often do we march out to face our problems with faith in our own strength, or faith in money, or faith in the wisdom of the world, instead of facing our problems with faith in God? I can't help but wonder. What marches at the head of your army when you're in trouble? Place your hope in God. Learn to march out into battle with such great faith that you go out praising Him for the victories He hasn't even give you yet.