2 Chronicles 20:21-22
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.” 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.
2 Chronicles 20:15-23 15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. 20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.” 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. 23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they [e]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
When you are facing an intense spiritual battle or massive giant (i.e. financial, marital, relationship and health problems; or depression, fear, anxiety and low self esteem etc.), it can be very difficult to praise the LORD with a loud voice. I know how challenging it can be to sing or lift up the Name of the LORD through adverse circumstances. However praise and worship is a powerful tool God has given us, not only to glorify His name, but to give us victory over the enemy and breakthrough in our lives! When we praise and worship, fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the problems we face become smaller and God becomes bigger in our hearts and minds.
There are so many biblical examples of how praise and worship brought about breakthrough for God's people, giving them divine strategy to defeat their enemies. One such strategy can be found in 2 Kings 3 when Moab rebelled against Israel and Israel went through the wilderness of Edom in order to confront Moab. For seven days they were unable to find water, which meant disaster for the army. After seeking advice from a few false prophets, the Kings of Israel and Judah sought out the advice of the true prophet, Elisha. Elisha could have sought the LORD and given the prophesy as he had done on previous occasions, but he didn't. He asked for a musician to play for him in order to hear from God. As the musician started to play the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha and he prophesied the diving strategy Israel needed to defeat Moab.
Another example can be found in Joshua 6 when the Israelite's had to walk around the wall of Jericho once a day for six days in silence, while seven priests blew trumpets of rams horns. On the seventh day, the people of Israel were instructed to walk around the city seven times in like manner except that on the seventh time around, they had to shout with a loud shout. As the trumpets blew and the Israelite's shouted, the walls of Jericho came crashing down. When you look into the various Hebrew words linked to praise and worship its amazing what each word denotes and how God uses it to instruct His people (i.e. “Shabach” can be used in the instance above and encourages us to praise God with a loud voice).
When King Saul was tormented by an evil spirit, his attendants suggested that they find a skillful harpist to play for the king, believing that as the musician played, the evil spirit would depart from Saul and he would be refreshed. David, son of Jesse, was chosen for this particular task and it happened that as David played the evil spirit left king Saul and he felt refreshed and well. (1 Samuel 16:14-23). God allowed for David's gifting and anointing to be used for the deliverance of a person distressed by an evil spirit. We can be used in the same way if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through our gifts as David did (Isaiah 10:27).
Our final example can be found in Acts 16:25-26. Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned and instead of sleeping, licking their wounds or crying in defeat, they were singing and praying at midnight. Many of us can barely stay up till midnight to praise and worship on a good day, when all is well and we feel on top of the world, yet these godly men continued to glorify God through a very difficult situation and it caused God to respond in a mighty supernatural way. Their selfless act and faith in God opened all the doors in the prison and loosed all the prisoners chains.
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
If you feel like you are facing spiritual opposition or bound in some sort of "prison" or another, then follow the examples prescribed above. The enemy would want nothing more than for you to continue looking at how bad your situation is, instead of remembering the awesome power of God and His ability to deliver and help you. So lift up your voice, fix your eyes on Jesus and just continue to sing, shout, dance, praise, give thanks until you receive the breakthrough. Sometimes it will take all your strength, determination and will power to persist until you see God move, but I can guarantee that as you continue to praise and worship while you wait, your faith will increase and your strength will be renewed. Hold on! God will give you the victory in the areas you are believing and trusting Him for.
God bless you!
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