LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Saturday 20th November 2021
SINGING INTO VICTORY
Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 2 Chronicles 20:22
King Jehoshaphat went to war singing the praises of the Lord and declaring His mercies. As the people of Judah approached the battleground, the Lord stepped in to fight for His people. Judah did not fight.
1. The Lord set ambushes against the people. An ambush is a favourite battle strategy. It has a surprise element to it. An ambush takes place when an opponent in war attacks unexpectedly. If the Lord set an ambush, it means that the Lord did something totally unexpected, so much so that even the people of Judah had no idea how it happened.
2. The supernatural dimension. In all likelihood, this battle involved angelic activity. This was the unseen part of the skirmish. If you were a spectator on the battlefield that day, you would not have seen this aspect of the combat. Though unseen, what the Lord did supernaturally was the most important factor that brought victory to Judah.
3. The natural dimension. This is what anyone observing the battlefield would have seen. First, they would have seen the armies of Moab and Ammon attacking and slaughtering the soldiers from Seir. Probably a misunderstanding arose because of some remote cause – insecurity, distrust, cheating or a false accusation.
After joining in destroying the soldiers of Sier, the Moabites and the Ammonites turned on each other. They were so angry with each other that they fought to the last man. They ended up totally destroying each other.
The same God who led Jehoshaphat into battle also leads us into battle. As you praise the name of the Lord, He will set ambushes on your behalf.
It took the army of Judah three days to gather the spoils of the three armies that had fallen on the battlefield. Judah devoted the fourth day to worship, in praise of God’s victory. They named the place of their victory the Valley of Beracah – meaning blessing. The valley that should have been Judah’s place of destruction became the place of their blessing.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you work in both the spiritual and natural realms. I praise you for your mighty works in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30
1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.
2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
6 and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,
9 `If disaster comes upon us–sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine–we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.`
10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir–whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them–
11 here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.
12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.
14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 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, in the midst of the assembly.
15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: `Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God`s.
16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!` Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.
20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day.
27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
28 So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.
29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.
NKJV