If asked to do something that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, will you do it? What if the situation is critical, life and death critical, will you still follow what you were asked to do, or would you stick with the way things have been done for ages? Our Old Testament Scripture tells the account of the King of Judah and the surprising way he met some enemy nations that were coming against him, what God wanted him to do, and the amazing results when he obeyed.
During the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, the kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom retained the name of Israel, while the southern kingdom became the Kingdom of Judah. Israel had no godly, believing kings, while Judah had some good and godly kings, and some who were not followers of the Lord. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah in our Scripture today, was a godly and believing king.
During the reign of Jehoshaphat, three neighboring nations decided to come against Judah, and gathered their armies together. These nations were Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, also known as Edom (vs. 1). Ammon was northeast of Judah, Moab directly east, and Edom south and southeast. Ammon and Moab were descended from Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughters, and Edom was descended from Ishmael.
This was three armies against one, three powerful nations with strong, well-trained armies, against one. King Jehoshaphat was naturally worried, as they were marching down towards his nation. What was he going to do? Should he send some messengers with pleas of surrender, and for them to just take the country’s wealth and leave the people alive? Or should he gather his army, much smaller than three armies, and give it their best try? Jehoshaphat did neither! What he did do was to call upon the people of his kingdom to join him in prayer and fasting, praying to the Lord for His help and deliverance (vs. 3-4). The king did not throw up his hands in a panic, crying “Oh what am I going to do, God?” He went to the Temple and prayed to the Lord, reminding Him of His promises and of His past deliverances (vs. 5-12).
God responded by the message of one of His prophets, Jahaziel, telling the king to bring his army to a certain position, but they were not to attack or fight, as the Lord would deliver them (vs. 14-17). Jehoshaphat did as the Lord commanded. He brought his army out, but instead of putting the strongest soldiers first, just in case, he put the Temple worship singers, basically the church choir, up in front to sing praises to the Lord! (vs. 18-21). What did God do in response to Jehoshaphat’s obedience and the songs of praise to Him? He defeated the three armies, without Judah having to lift a sword or spear! (vs. 22-24) All because of obedience and praise!
We all have various “armies” that come against us - illness, financial troubles, problems our children are going through, etc. Are we trying to fight them on our own, or do we go to God first and foremost? Are we crying in defeat or do we bring praise to the situation? Satan and his demons do not like it when we praise the Lord! And the more that we praise Him, the more they will take flight! When we are in a really desperate situation, rather than crumble with worry and fear, instead start praising the Lord!
In closing, let me share an account of how praising the Lord saved a little boy’s life. Back in 2014, in Atlanta, Georgia, little nine year old Willie Myrick was kidnapped from his yard by a stranger. The kidnapper threw him into the back seat of his car and drove off. Instead of crying or panicking, Willie just started singing over and over the worship song “Every Praise” by Hezekiah Walker. (Every Praise) Over and over the young boy sang that song, despite his kidnapper snarling at him to shut up. Finally, after three hours, the kidnapper pulled over and made Willie get out of the car. The demons in that situation could not stand the continual praise to God that the young boy kept giving! When Willie Myrick started to praise God, He sent His angels to surround the boy and keep him safe. Singing praises to God saved that boy’s life!
Will you praise the Lord when problems surround you, like King Jehoshaphat did, like Willie Myrick did? “Every praise is to our God!”
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