2 Chronicles 20:22
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

2 Chronicles 20:22

New King James Version (NKJV)

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.

The whole 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles tells a story of a king whose name was Jehoshaphat and he was told that three different armies were coming against him. These armies were a multitude of people who wanted to destroy the Israelites. In this chapter Jehoshaphat reminded God that at one time the Israelites had an opportunity to invade and conquer these people but God would not give the Israelites permission to do so. After hearing this devastating news, Jehoshaphat got on his face as did the people and they all sought after the Lord about what they should do. Jehoshaphat was afraid and recognized his limitations as he admitted to God that they had no power to defeat this multitude. He then confessed that he didn't know what to do about this situation, but his eyes were on God. God sent a prophet to instruct the Israelites to go out against these people and the Lord would be with them. Jehoshaphat and the people worshipped the Lord and early in the morning the Israelites went out to meet their enemy, not knowing what they would encounter.

As the Israelites moved out to meet their enemy, some were appointed to sing praises to the Lord as they proceeded on. That is when the atmosphere changed and the power of God moved in such a way that ambushed and defeated their enemy.

As they worshipped to the Lord, it revealed their hearts as being hearts that trusted and believed God and knew that He would protect them and do the impossible. Instead of worrying or fearing, they focused on praising God for His intervention and guidance. As they kept their mind and hearts on God, He did amazing things and delivered them out of the hands of their enemy. It is so easy for us to be blinded by our own agendas and then get upset when things don't work out in the time we think they should or in the way we think they should.

God is asking us to use this same principal of worship to change our atmosphere and invite the presence and power of God into our situations. By worshipping the Lord we are putting Him in a place of reverence. It is in this atmosphere we let go of our fears and agendas and take up a posture of confidence and peace.

My challenge to you is to worship God with song when you are in a struggle or in fear or just waiting for an answer. Praise His name just because He is.

God bless

Marni 

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lamb-rightThe purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.