The Lord instructed the army of Judah to march out the next morning to a particular place in the desert where the enemy army would be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz. Then He said to "stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you". In obedience to His words, the next morning King Jehoshaphat leads the army to the location the Lord specified.
"Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, 'Listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in His prophets and you will be successful.' After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: 'Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.'" (2 Chronicles 20:20-21)
Jehoshaphat puts singers at the head of the army, not the men who are most accurate with bows and arrows. This is because he believes the word of the Lord. Before moving out to meet the enemy army the king apparently asks for volunteers to be on the praise team at the head of the army, for the author tells us he consulted the people and appointed men to sing to the Lord. These men believe the Lord's promise that Judah will not have to fight the battle; otherwise we would not find unarmed singers willing to march where they will be the first to be seen (and shot at) by the enemy soldiers. The king, the singers, and the army of Judah are stepping out in faith.
It's easier to step out in faith when we're singing praises to the Lord. Yesterday I voiced my opinion that David likely composed many of his songs to the Lord in order to strengthen his faith in times when he wasn't feeling particularly bold and confident. In fact, as we read through the psalms it sometimes sounds as if David is panic-stricken. Singing the praises of the Lord helped David to focus his thoughts on the Lord and not on his problems. David didn't always know the next step to take and he couldn't always picture how the Lord was going to work his problems out but he knew that singing to the Lord calmed his panicked thoughts. He knew that singing to the Lord helped him to remember that the Lord had a plan even when he didn't know what the Lord's plan was.
It's easy for us to sing the Lord's praises when things are going exactly the way we want them to go---and it's important to give thanks to the Lord for our blessings---but I'd like to suggest that it's just as important to sing the Lord's praises when things are not going the way we want them to go. There are a couple of praise songs that have helped me get through the last two months and I've been singing along with them even though I haven't always felt like singing because these songs remind me that the Lord will always be faithful to me and that He never changes. (These two songs, by the way, are "Great Is Your Faithfulness" by Maverick City Music and "Same God" by Elevation Worship, if you'd like to look them up and listen to them.)
The army of Judah marches forward in praise to see what the Lord is going to do. "As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men of Mount Seir, they helped to destroy one another." (2 Chronicles 20:22-23) We don't know exactly what these "ambushes" were; the word used in the original language simply means "to lurk, to lie in wait" and it gives us no clue as to the exact nature of what happened here. The way the text is worded it sounds as if when the enemy army reached a certain point the Moabites and Ammonites were overcome by a delusion that their allies the Meunites (the men from Mount Seir) were soldiers of Judah. After slaughtering the Meunite soldiers the Moabites and Ammonites looked upon each other as enemies and began striking each other down until no one was left.
"When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value---more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berekah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berekah to this day." (2 Chronicles 20:24-26) The word "berekah" means "praise". The people of Judah praised the Lord in advance of their victory and now they praise Him in thanks for their victory.
"Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets." (2 Chronicles 20:27-28) The people of Judah did nothing to provoke the attack of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites. So the Lord not only defeated this army on their behalf but He also prospered the people of Judah by giving them so much enemy plunder that it took them three days to retrieve all of it. The people of Judah are better off than they were before their enemies came against them.
This is what can happen in the life of any believer when our enemy the devil makes an attack on us; if we submit ourselves in faith to the Lord, we can come out of the time of hardship in better shape than we were before the hardship. As Jacob's son Joseph said to his brothers who once hated him, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." (Genesis 50:20) As David said to the Lord in his most famous psalm, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." (Psalm 23:5) The enemy may plot against us and he may think he has us defeated, but the Lord is able to not only give us victory but also make us more prosperous than we were before the enemy attacked us.
The nations surrounding Judah will think twice now before attacking the nation. The news about what happened to the soldiers of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites spreads far and wide. "The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side." (2 Chronicles 20:29-30)
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