The Importance of Being Praiseful!

A Victory of Prayer, Praise, and Song: 2 Chronicles 20

By Dennis Edwards

Praise is such an important spiritual discipline. I wanted to read to you a chapter from the Bible which shows you the importance of using praise in your daily life. I’m reading from II Chronicles 20. It says, 

“It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.”[1]

The children of Moab, and the children of Ammon were descendants from Lot the nephew of Abraham. At the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah Lot had fled from Sodom with his wife and two unwed daughters with the help of the angels. Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pilar of salt. Lot and his two daughters fled onward to a small town near the mountains and later escaped to a cave to hide from the great destruction. The destruction was so terrible, the daughters feared that they were the only ones left alive. In their distress they decided to get their father drunk and each took a turn to lay with him, to give them seed. The children of Moab and the children of Ammon are the descendants form the sexual relations Lot had with his two daughters. 

The children of mount Seir are descendants of Ishmael and Esau. Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah, Abraham’s wife’s maidservant. Sarah had passed the time of child-bearing so encouraged Abraham to go in unto Hagar and bring forth seed through her. Ishmael was the result of Abraham’s sexual relationship with Hagar. Afterwards, God touched Sarah’s womb and Abraham and Sarah brought forth Isaac, the child of promise. Esau, the first born of Isaac, lost his birth-right and his blessing to Jacob his younger brother. He later married one of Ishmael’s daughters hoping to regain favor with his father. 

Back to II Chronicles: 

“Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side of Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. 

“And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”[2]

So here we see that there were coming three armies against Judah and Jerusalem, it’s capitol. But the first thing king Jehoshaphat does when he hears about it, is that he proclaims a fast throughout Judah to pray and seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat gets serious with God. He seeks God and makes sure his people do the same. 

“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."

We note that the people responded positively. Why was that? It was a result of Jehoshaphat having set out both prophets and priests to teach the word of the Lord to the people previously. The people’s hearts were ready to seek the Lord because they had been partaking of the teaching of the word through God’s prophets and teachers. In 2 Chronicles 17:9 we read,  

“And they (the prophets and priests) taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.”  

Jehoshaphat’s people were ready to seek the Lord because they had been learning from God’s word. 

“And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 

“And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in Heaven? And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? 

“Art not thou our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of the land before thy people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? 

“And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 

“If when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.”[3]

At that time God’s Holy Spirit was present in the Temple in Jerusalem. From the time of Moses it had been present in the cloud that led Israel out of Egypt and in the cloud came upon the tabernacle and dwelt therein. Later the Holy Spirit of God’s presence filled the Holy of Holies in the Temple that Solomon built. In 2 Chronicle 6:34-35 we read a part of Solomon’s prayer at the time of the anointing of the Temple.

“If thy people go out to war against their enemies by way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.”

Jehoshaphat is reminding both the people and the Lord of the prayer of Solomon. Jehoshaphat is claiming God’s word, God’s promises in his word. He’s helping the people to believe and stand on God’s word.

“And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab, (the descendants from Lot) and mount Seir, (the descendants of Ishmael and Esau) whom thou would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 

“Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 

“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 

“And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.”[4]

We notice here that the whole family was involved in seeking the Lord, in getting desperate with God. It was not just left to the woman, or to the men, but even the “little ones” and the older children participated. 

So then, the spirit of the Lord comes upon Jahaziel, a descendant of Asaph. Asaph was one of the musicians, who like King David, had written some of the famous psalms that we find in the Old Testament. I have found some twelve psalms written by Asaph. We read, 

“Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation; 

“And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

“Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you. 

“And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. 

“And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.”[5]

The Kohathites and Korhites were those who worked with the Levites in the service of the Temple and were the singers, or choral or choir for the worship services. 

“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper. 

“And when they had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy endures forever.”[6]

In the book of Psalms in the Old Testament we can find at least two songs of worshipped used during the Temple sacrifice and service which repeat the phrase, “His mercy endures forever.” One is the first four verses in Psalm 118. I’ll let you read them here. 

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercies endures for ever. Let Israel now say, that His mercy endures for ever. Let the house of Aaron (the priests) now say, that His mercy endures for ever. Let them now that fear the Lord say, that His mercy endures for ever.”[7]

In Psalm 136 the phrase, “His mercy endures for ever,” is repeated twenty-six times. I’ll read you the first four verses of this psalm so you get a feeling of the faith it imparted. 

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods; for His mercy endures for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His mercy endures for ever. To Him that does great wonders: for His mercy endures for ever.”[8]

The rest of the psalm recites the act of Creation, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, and the defeat of great Kings whose lands the children of Israel went on to possess. Both these psalms were used regularly in Temple worship and would have been readily available for the singers to sing. The last verse in Psalm 136 concludes with: 

“O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for His mercy endures for ever.”[9]

The singers were going to march ahead of the army, manifesting the people’s faith that God was going to fight for them. This was all done with consultation and prayer and not dictated by the king. This was all done with consultation and prayer and not dictated by the king. It reminds us of Malachi 3:16ª.

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it.”

Also, in Proverbs 11:14 we read about taking counsel when going to war.

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

“And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.”[10]

And now God’s word explains what the “ambushments” were. 

“For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.”[11]

So God sent a spirit of division between the different armies. First, the two armies who were more closely related, descendants from Lot, destroyed the army that was descendant from Ishmael and Esau. Mount Seir got destroyed first. Afterwards, the descendants of Lot, Moab and Ammon, fought amongst themselves and destroyed each other. 

“And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 

“And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. 

“And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. 

“Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. 

“And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. 

“And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. 

“So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.”[12]

So here we see the importance of using praise to win victories over our enemies. The children of Israel believed that God was with them and therefore they went out in praise. They sent the choir in front of the army to manifest their faith in what the Lord had said to them, that He would fight for them and they would not need to fight. They sang probably from Psalm 118 and Psalm 136 which repeats over and over, “Oh give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endures for ever.”[13]

What was the results? Were they defeated? No, they won the battle without even fighting. 

Maybe you having a battle in your own life and three armies are coming against you. Maybe you’re sick, and you have financial problems, and you have family problems, and it seems that these armies are just destroying your life. Well, what can you do? You can believe the Lord thy God, that’s the first step. Believing in God is going to establish you, it’s going to give your life a good, solid foundation. 

Step two, you are going to believe His prophets, those of His servants who are bringing forth the fruit of God’s goodness in their lives. In this case in our Bible study, the prophets were telling the people, contrary to the seeming impossible circumstances which they faced, that God was with them and would fight for them, if the trusted and obeyed Him. 

Because the people believed, they used the weapon of praise to defeat their enemy, and their biggest enemies were their own fears and doubts about the situation. They started singing and giving thanks which manifested their faith that God was going to do what He had promised He would do. They sent forth the singers in front of the army to demonstrate their confidence in God’s promises. One man’s faith and desperation, that of king Jehoshaphat, had transformed the whole nation to faith and obedience to God. 

So what about you? Will you lift up your voice, no matter how discouraged you may be, no matter how sick you are, no matter how bad you feel the situation is? Have faith in God. He will not fail you. Get desperate in prayer. Call out to God with your family and loved ones. Seek the Lord while He may be found. 

Then, start praising the Lord. Praise your way out of that valley of despair, or that pit of discouragement that you have fallen into. Praise, and praise, and praise and praise again. Fight those demons of gloom, those demons of depression and God will lift you up. God will reach down and lift you up.

God’s word says, “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.”[14] Humble yourself. Call out to God. Use the weapon of praise. Sing and lift up your voice in thanksgiving and praise. And God promises to lift you up and defeat those armies, those difficulties, those demons of discouragement that are battling you. God’s going to raise you up, just like that popular song says. He will lift you up out of that valley of the shadow of death that you have fallen into and you'll stand on His shoulders.

 Use the weapon of praise. It’s a key weapon. Use it today. Praise is the victory. Sing, shout, praise the Lord. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord,"[15] which is the very last verse of all the psalms and the summary of all the preceding, for He is the victory. 

You may want to follow “The 30 Day Praise Challenge”[16] by Becky Harling and listen to the songs on YouTube she suggests. Learn to give thanks for twenty minutes a day and listen to the songs Becky suggests[17], or ones similar, until they become part and soul of your very being. Praise will change your life for the better. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.

Footnotes:
[1] II Chronicles 20:1
[2] II Chronicles 20:2-3
[3] II Chronicles 20:4-9
[4] II Chronicles 20:10-13
[5] II Chronicles 20:14-19
[6] II Chronicles 20:20-21
[7] Psalm 118:1-4
[8] Psalm 136:1-4
[9] Psalm 136:26
[10] II Chronicles 20:22
[11] II Chronicles 20:23
[12] II Chronicles 20:24-30
[13] Psalm 136:26
[14] James 4:7
[15] Psalm 150:6
[16] https://www.amazon.com/30-Day-Praise-Challenge-Becky-Harling-ebook/dp/B00C62S52U
[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvCDEuANWdI&list=PLXIQnDCwKXFtbmbwcUb8V8R-uGms34ovY