The Battle Belongs to the Lord
2 Chronicles 20:21-22 “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.”
Imagine the scene from 1 Chronicles 20. The Lord has allowed the nations of Ammon, Moab, and Seir to come against the people of Israel. King Jehoshaphat, the King of Israel, sought out the Lord and the Lord told the whole nation to fast and pray. God’s response to their prayer and fasting was for them to trust him to deliver them. God’s instructions included preparing an army with a choir at the front. Not your usual military strategy by putting the least battle hardened and ready people in the front line. The choir was to “sing to the Lord and to praise him.” They declared “give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever (2 Chronicles 20:21).” And God delivered them from their enemy. The opposing nations turned on each other until they were all dead. The people of Israel never even lifted a finger, all they did was praise God, giving thanks to him, and God did the rest.
Yes, sometimes God does allow calamity, or the threat of calamity to us, so he can test us and see what our response is. Will we turn to God in fasting and prayer? Will we seek God’s will? Will we trust God to fight for us as we offer him our praises and thanksgiving? When calamity comes against us, we seem to forget that the victory is the Lord’s. We try to figure our way out, rather than turn to the Lord.
We also forget the power of praise. As Psalm 22:3 says (KJV) “God inhabits the praises of his people.” Do we truly believe this? That as we praise God, God dwells with us in a special way (of course as Christians, God always dwells with us through the Holy Spirit). As we praise God, God fights for us, the battle is his. The enemy flees at the sound of his name.
When we think of praising God, we probably think of being in a worship service gathered with other believers singing along with a praise band or organ. However, praising God is not limited to a group setting or service, we can, and should, praise God wherever and whenever we can. Praise is one form of prayer where we declare with our lips the greatness of who God is and what God has done. It could be with song,as we listen to and sing along with Christian music (directing it to God, not just listening for our own pleasure), or it could simply be us sharing our thanksgiving and adoration to God for who God is and what God has done for us.
Is praise a regular part of your life? It might be the very means through which God brings victory over our calamities and the attacks of the enemy.