When we praise God in advance— God advances our position. Praise confuses the enemy. Praising God honors God- it gives honor to where honor is due- it is an opposite of pride, or self praise. The sound of praise- the power of the sound of praise cannot be measured in the natural, because it is a supernatural occurrence, it is a demonstration of faith, it is a sound of assurance that the God of Heaven is still God on Earth, for the ‘Earth is His and the fullness thereof, and them that be that dwell in it.’
Praise is a declaration of God over circumstances. Praise is how we fight.
In the Book of II Chronicles and in the 20th chapter, we find Jehoshaphat, King of Judah (Judah meaning Praise in Hebrew) surrounded by his enemies- Moab, Ammon, and those of Mt. Seir.
In the 19th Chapter we see that Jehoshaphat was warned of the wrath of God for helping the ungodly and loving them that hate God. “Nevertheless,” said the seer Jehu, “ there are good things found in thee..” Those good things were the zeal of Jehoshaphat to get his country in order- namely first that he ‘prepared his heart to seek God.’ He also went and gathered everyone together again and ‘brought them unto the Lord God of their fathers.’ ‘He set judges in the land, city by city,’ and instructed this: “wherefore NOW, let the fear of the Lord be upon you: take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.”
Also he reestablished order in the church and charged them saying: “thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a perfect heart.” “Deal courageously and the Lord shall be with the good.”
There are many lessons to be learned from this passage that we can take to heart as a country, and individually in this day and hour. Namely I will note that Jehoshaphat recreated the judicial system and set it in order. He established new judges in every city and commanded them to judge not after man but God, to respect no persons and to employ the Fear of the Lord.
Today we have a judicial department that is out of control, punishing political dissent and opposition, defunding local law enforcement with the intent to replace them with a federal police department equipped with AI, military weapons and backed by a stacked Supreme Court complete with new additional justices that are no longer impartial. Thomas Jefferson wrote what was once the mandate of our DOJ, “The most sacred of the duties of government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.” We have fallen so far away from that mandate and we need to implement here and now, as Jehoshaphat did long ago, “New Guards” that are impartial, take no gifts, and respect no person or party. Equal Justice.
We have never truly had equal justice in this country for all citizens and races. Now we see a justice department that does the bidding of a party, much like the Stasi or the KGB, enforcing the power of a party not the ‘equal and impartial justice to all its citizens,’ but I digress.
Let it be known that every time one tries to get his house in order- there will be a giant in the way, and for Jehoshaphat the giant was the three headed giant of Moab, Ammon and Mt Seir. One can only muse over the ways of God, seeing that trials come to test our character. The question isn’t is the trial coming, the question is are we prepared for it. For Jehoshaphat, he ‘prepared his heart to seek God,’ and he did so just in time, for the enemies of God began to conspire even as he set his house in order.
Jesus explains this phenomenon to us in the book of Mark, that ‘for the sake of the Word, affliction and persecution arises.’ Moses said the trials were “to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart.” These examinations of our heart by God occur individually and as a Nation. For Judah their test came as a result of their putting God first once again in all aspects and facets of their lives.
This begins with Praise. In the good times and in the circumstances where there seems to be no way. It is chronicled that when Jehoshaphat was told of the news of the armies that were making their encampments and surrounding Jerusalem with an innumerable and formidable force of 3 Nations whose purpose was to raze Jerusalem to the ground and steal their women, children and any possessions of value, and kill all the remaining men— ‘that he set himself to seek the Lord.’ We seek the Lord when we ‘enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.’
Verse 20:4 says and “Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord, even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord.’
Jehoshaphat stood before the people and prayed to God, bringing to remembrance the past mercies and promises as a platform for God to extend new mercy and help for His people. He professed his and his nation’s entire dependence upon God for deliverance. Even though he had a great and well disciplined army - he gave the fight to God and proclaimed “we have no might against this great company.”
Verse 14: “and the Spirit of the Lord came into the midst of the congregation” and “upon Jahaziel, and he said: Hearken ye all Judah: thus saith the Lord unto you. Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not your’s but God’s.” He said “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves and stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord.”
So they got up the next morning and did as instructed to get dressed up and go down against them prepared for battle.
Jehoshaphat said to them as they prepared “Hear me, OJudah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God and ye shall be established; believe in His prophets and ye shall prosper.” And he “appointed singers unto the Lord that should praise the Beauty of Holiness as the went out before the army and to say, ‘Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth forever.’”
Verse 22 “ And when they began to sing and praise the Lord sent ambushments and they were smitten”
The three armies began to fight themselves and the Bible reads that “dead bodies were fallen to the earth and none escaped.”
I’m reminded of the song “Surrounded”
by Michael W Smith, here performed by the ‘Upper Room,’ that sings “it may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by you.”
Imagine for a moment a situation in your own life if possible where you can relate to being completely surrounded- by an enemy, and fear and unrest associated with not knowing what to do. The very last thing that comes to the natural mind is to sing and dance and give praise to God— rather our carnal natures begin to rebel and blame God for the circumstances and pain, questioning the creator as to how He could allow this pain and suffering to completely surround me. Yet even though the kingdom of Judah was physically surrounded by a real and tangible enemy in the natural, they fought the battle from the spiritual. They did not rely on their army to save them, nor their strength, nor their fortifications— in fact they dismissed all these and clung to the supernatural help of God to provide for them a defense.
It says Jehoshaphat got everyone dressed up and prepared for battle - but then sent the praise team out to fight- and is exactly what we must do today. Get dressed up and prepared for battle- and as we offer up praises to God we ‘will stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.’
There are so many nuggets of truth that this passage of scripture offers, so many- but I want to really hone in on one. The Advancement by Praise.
Praise puts us back into right standing with the creator of the universe. It magnifies God while simultaneously demonstrating the acceptance of our place in the hierarchy of things. Praise is the acknowledging of God- it is an invitation of the Presence of God into our every day lives, into our circumstances and into our drama. Praise is not leaning on self but depending on God.
Praise, as we see here in this passage confuses the enemy, it emboldens us through faith. ‘Show me a man of courage and I will show you a man of faith.’ ‘The righteous are as bold as a lion.’ Praise gives us an entrance into the throne room of Heaven whereby we make our petitions known unto God, faith is simply our prayers in action. It is moving in the direction of what we pray and hope for. Faith moves God. Praise moves God. The are laws written into the universe from outside our known dimensions of space and time—faith supersedes them both. Praise is how we enter into the realm and dimension of God, praise takes us home, for we are truly ‘strangers and pilgrims on Earth.’ We are already seated in Heavenly places through Christ Jesus, and our praise puts us front and center before the Lord where we can be heard.
If in this life only we have hope, then miserable shall we be.
20:21 Says “he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness...
Psalms 96:9 says “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness”
The greatest form of praise- the greatest worship the truest worship we can offer up to God, is obedience to His commandments, it is “charity out of a pure heart Faith unfeigned.” Holiness is how we demonstrate to God we believe— it is a platform by which we know our prayers are heard, it is the blessed assurance, it is the personal relationship that can only be judged by God, those daily sacrifices that are offered up that speak of the belief that God is watching, even if God is the only one who sees. It is giving in secret, fasting and praying in secret while hoping for an open reward from the Lord- and “Faithful is he who has promised,” and “I KNOW, in whom I have believed and I am persuaded that HE is ABLE, to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day.”
Praising God is how we invite God to fight our battles for us, that we ‘may stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.’
We are to prepare and then praise— God help us to trust in You, ‘help Thou our unbelief,’ and give us the courage to praise - even when surrounded by our enemies.
In Jesus Christ, whose Name I pray and who’s Atonement gives me ‘boldness and access with confidence,’ that you hear my praise and my prayers, Amen.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16
I like doing what is well pleasing to God.
Just doing good to others and talking to them— is well pleasing to God.
But we forget to fellowship too often I think. Thank you for the fellowship— God is well pleased.
‘The desire of a man is his kindness’. When we have a heart to please God when we have a desire for the Lord— kindness is the result. A kind word. A kind thought even. A kind prayer, A kind visit. God help us to remember to do good and communicate.