STAND FIRM AND REJOICE OVER GOD’S SAVING POWER
Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned joyfullyH8057 to Jerusalem, for the LORD had made them rejoiceH8055 over their enemies. So they entered Jerusalem and went into the house of the LORD with harps, lyres, and trumpets.
2 Chronicles 20:27-28
The people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir had formed a huge army to do battle against King Jehoshaphat and Judah. King Jehoshaphat called the people together to fast and pray and seek the Lord’s help in the situation. They admitted to the Lord that they were powerless to battle this army on their own and needed His divine intervention. The Spirit of the Lord came upon a prophet named Jahaziel, and he assured Jehoshaphat and the people that God would fight for them. They just needed to show up for the battle and stand their ground. While the army of Judah marched toward the battlefield with the men in the lead singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His loving devotion endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21b), God created in-fighting among the attacking armies. They had turned on each other before the army of Jehoshaphat even got to the battlefield. “When the men of Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked for the vast army, but there were only corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped” (2 Chronicles 20:24). It took the men of Judah three days to pick up all the plunder! Therefore, King Jehoshaphat led the men of Judah and Jerusalem joyfully and triumphantly back into Jerusalem. They rejoiced over God’s defeat of their enemies and heralded their entry into the city and God’s temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets.
We’ve read accounts of the Lord intervening on behalf of Ukraine, trapping Russian tanks in mud, causing the invading troops to get lost, etc. The Lord still works mightily when His people seek Him with their whole hearts. We may not be fighting a physical, human army, but the Lord goes to battle against the principalities and powers of our enemy, Satan, on a regular basis. Once we have donned the armor of the Lord (Ephesians 6:10-18), Paul urges us to “stand firm.” God furnishes us with His armor, but the battle still belongs to Him. Spiritual warfare can never be done in our own strength. We must always seek the Lord and go forth to face each day in the power of His might.
Father, as we put on the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet shot with the gospel, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation carrying the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God in our hearts, help us to bathe each day in prayer seeking You and trusting You to fight our battles and lay out the enemy before we even reach the battlefield.