In the Old Testament, there was a king of Judah by the name of Jehoshaphat. Let us read 2 Chronicles 20 to learn about his tone of victory.
At that time, “the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle” (v. 1). At the time of Jehoshaphat, the kingdom of Judah was very weak and helpless in fighting against its enemies. Jehoshaphat was, of course, afraid when he looked at himself. He could do nothing before, and he could do nothing now. When the enemies came again, what could he do? He could do nothing.
Yet he was a man who feared God. He “set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah” (v. 3). He could do nothing except come to God. He prayed to the Lord, “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (v. 12). He acknowledged his helplessness, and his eyes were set upon the Lord. Brothers and sisters, during the past few days, we have repeated the conditions for surrendering many times. They are: (1) to realize that we cannot make it, and (2) to stop trying to make it. We should also believe in God. This was what Jehoshaphat did. He acknowledged this by saying that he did not have the strength to withstand the enemy and did not know what to do. He could only look to the Lord.
God sent a prophet to him immediately, and said to him, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (v. 15). The battle is the Lord’s! Victory or failure has nothing to do with us. Temper, pride, doubt, unclean thoughts, greed, and all kinds of sins have nothing to do with us. The battle is not ours, but God’s. God has said, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle” (v. 17). God demands only that we stand still. He wants us to put down our hands and leave everything up to Him. We need only to stand still and “see the salvation of the Lord” (v. 17). Brothers and sisters, we are not the ones who are fighting; we are the spectators. Whenever we stop boasting in victory, we fail. We do not have to be afraid before God, because He is the One who will battle for us.
Jehoshaphat did one thing more. He not only stood still and watched the battle, but he also fell down on his face to worship God when he heard the word of the prophet! All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem also fell before the Lord and worshipped Him. Others were joining hands to attack them, but what were they doing on their part? They asked a group of Levites to stand up to praise the Lord. They were “in holy array” (v. 21, ASV), and they went before the army to praise Jehovah. Were they crazy? They were not afraid of rocks and arrows; they were singing praises to God. This is the tone of victory. They had the tone of victory because they knew that Jehovah had given them the victory and that the enemies were already defeated. They knew that they had already won the battle. Some believe that when temptations come, they should struggle and withstand them. But God said, “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” (v. 22). Whenever songs of praises are sung to the Lord, the enemies are defeated.
What was the result? “And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped” (v. 24). Either God does not give the victory at all, or He gives a victory in which no one escapes. If it were up to us, we might leave five or six persons behind. But God did not leave one. The words “when they began” in verse 22 are very meaningful. As the people were beginning to sing, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and children of Mount Seir. Brothers and sisters, God can work only when we begin to praise. Whenever we begin to praise, God begins to work.
Brothers and sisters, I know that we are faced with many temptations, and I know that we have many trials. There may be physical weaknesses, adverse circumstances, or various difficulties at work. We may say, “What should I do? How can I overcome?” Brothers and sisters, we know that we should overcome, but our tone is wrong. When temptations come, we should say, “Hallelujah!” When trials come, we should say, “Hallelujah!” When we see difficulties come, we should say, “Hallelujah!” Once we shout, “Hallelujah,” the enemies will be defeated. Whenever we praise, our God will begin to work. Once we begin to sing, He begins to work.
Brothers and sisters, it is not enough to acknowledge that we cannot make it, and it is not enough to believe that God can make it. We have to shout from our heart, “Hallelujah! Thank You, God, because I am under trials. Thank You, God, because I cannot make it. Thank You, God, because the victory is mine.” Jehoshaphat continued to sing because he believed that he had overcome. In the eyes of Jehoshaphat, everyone was already a dead corpse. Consequently, he could go on and sing. He was not afraid of the rocks, because he considered his enemies as already being dead. When they went up to the watchtower and looked, there were only dead bodies fallen to the earth.