Honoring God in the midst of trouble causes us to go from frightened to courageous
2 Chronicles 20:14-30
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye 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.
16 To morrow 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.
17 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; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.
18 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.
19 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.
20 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.
21 And when he 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 endureth for ever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 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.
24 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.
25 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.
26 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.
27 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.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.
29 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.
30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
Believers oftentimes think of praise as a byproduct of good fortune, but praise is appropriate in any circumstance. Honoring God in the midst of trouble causes the human heart to undergo a dramatic change—from frightened to courageous. We cannot truly claim to understand the power of praise until we have experienced this transformation for ourselves.
When messengers came with warnings of an advancing army, King Jehoshaphat became fearful (2 Chronicles 20:3). But as he recalled the Lord’s sovereignty and past faithfulness, he remembered that God provides solutions to seemingly hopeless situations.
The divine solution seemed strange and rather unnerving: “You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf” (2 Chronicles 20:17). But in the next instant, the king and his people were on their faces worshipping the Lord. Praise magnifies God’s presence, making His followers more aware of Him standing with them.
The Israelites knew their Protector was in their midst; they trusted He had a plan because praise had reminded them that this was always true of God. Celebrating the Lord bolsters faith. Jehoshaphat’s heart traveled a spectrum from fearful to helpless to courageous (2 Chronicles 20:3, 2 Chronicles 20:12, 2 Chronicles 20:20).
The Lord intervened personally and miraculously for the Israelites. He will do the same for you. The next time you face a troubling situation, choose praise instead of self-pity. God will release His power in your life, giving you courage and filling your heart with joy.
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