2 Chronicles 20:20
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Spoken as Judah went out early toward the wilderness of Tekoa to face a great invading multitude when they had no strength and did not know what to do, the call was to trust God in order to stand firm and to trust His spokesmen in order to succeed. Having counseled with the people, the king sent singers ahead of the army to celebrate God's holiness and lasting mercy as if the promised victory were already won. When the people began to sing and praise, the Lord Himself overthrew their enemies so they did not have to fight, and they returned to Jerusalem days later with songs and spoil. To believe in God is to rely on Him for stability and security, and to believe His prophets is to receive and obey the warning and encouragement He sends through His servants as the way to prosper and stand in the truth. The battle therefore belongs to God and not to His people, so deliverance comes by looking to Him, standing still to see His salvation, and praising Him instead of speaking doubt, discouragement, murmuring, and unbelief.
Jehoshaphat's Battlefield Call
The call was spoken by Jehoshaphat to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem as they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa to meet the enemy. A great multitude was encamped against them, they had no might of their own, and they did not know what to do. To believe in the Lord their God would make them established, secure and stable, and to believe His prophets would make them prosper and succeed. Their advance toward battle was therefore marked by confidence in God's promised victory.
After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed singers to go out ahead of the army. They praised the beauty of holiness and the enduring, everlasting mercy of the Lord. In this singular battle song against the enemy they proclaimed the victory God had promised before it was won, as praise for victory already assured.
As the people began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments and the enemies were smitten. Judah did not have to fight, for faith was followed by praise and by God's deliverance. The people returned to Jerusalem four days later singing praise for the victory they had won and carrying the spoils of their enemies.
Belief That Establishes Prospers
To believe in the Lord God is to trust in Him, and that trust establishes His people and makes them secure and stable. To believe His prophets is to trust them for prosperity and success. That believing means receiving His light and His messages of warning and encouragement through His servants, and heeding prophetic instruction as the means of standing firm in the truth.
The battle belongs to God and not to the person, and God will lead the future of one who will be led. Deliverance comes by setting oneself, standing still, seeing the salvation of the Lord, depending on God and praising Him.
Believing means constant exercise of faith and trust whatever dark feelings are present, looking away from self to Christ as the only helper and resting in His promises. Such believing makes Christ precious and brings everlasting life, because God gave Jesus as Sin-bearer so that those who receive Him are beloved and presented perfect in His merits before God. The same believing brings peace in Christ amid tribulation in the world, with proportionate grace and strength for every small and great trial. It brings power according to need from the risen Saviour who ever lives to give grace, and victory over Satan's temptations because Christ has purchased redemption and overcome the world.
Courage Praise and Faithfulness
These words are encouragement for the present time, to be joined with earnest seeking of the Lord and united prayer when brought into strait places where warfare oppresses God's people. As Judah gathered from all their cities to ask help of the Lord, so now His people are to seek Him together in trouble, and the whole chapter gives light and courage for such seeking. It gives no encouragement to unbelief that refuses God's message for His people.
Believing is to praise the Lord for His enduring mercy and the beauty of holiness instead of talking darkness, doubt, discouragement, and unbelief. It is to put away murmuring, complaining, and criticism, and to stop refusing the messages of warning and encouragement God sends through His servants. Jehoshaphat's appointing of singers to praise God before the army was a singular battle song against the enemy, and the same praise now meets opposition and falsehood and error of every kind with thanksgiving.
Such praising revives hope and courage and faith. It strengthens the hands of valiant soldiers standing in defense of truth amid opposition, falsehood, and error. With less doleful recitation of discouragement and much more praise there is less discouragement and many more victories.
The call speaks directly to believers in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark who need much larger faith. It means putting away sullen unbelief and talk of doubt, murmuring, and complaining, humbling the soul before God, and refusing to weaken the faith of others. The least expression of doubt is a sown seed, and talking unbelief produces plenty of unbelief. Those who have the precious light of truth are to give lying reports no lodging in the mind, to turn from deceptive influences to actual personal contact with Christ for uplifting and reviving influence, for murmuring against the Lord is murmuring against His servants and those who cherish darkness gather darkness about their souls.
Probationary time is not to be spent in weeping and sitting in sackcloth but in praising God. In times of trial and sacrifice, trusting God and His prophets means rejecting unbelief, remembering God's care and past blessings, and trusting God's promises and prophetic messages rather than giving way to discouragement. It means remaining faithful to His work and His servants without failing or becoming discouraged.
Believing means talking faith and being representatives of Christ to others. This is done in love rather than hatred and variance, in the atmosphere where life and truth dwell, by thinking His thoughts and doing His acts and expressing His feelings. Then the innermost soul is drawn out after Christ and lays hold of Him and becomes possessed of the Spirit of Christ by the working of His Holy Spirit, and then works in Christ.