“Some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea’…And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah” (2 Chron. 20:2,3).

The king and the people took the wise course of gathering together “to ask help of the Lord.” The prayer of Jehoshaphat was a prayer of faith and contained within itself the beginning of victory: ‘”Are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?’” (2 Chron. 20:6). The one who can begin this prayer in the hour of need with such a recognition of God’s power, has victory already on his side.

Then Jehoshaphat concluded: “Ewe have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; not do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (verse 12). Since the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (16:9), it becomes those in need to trust Him alone.

Now, what was the result? The prophet of the Lord came and said, “’Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s…And 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’…He appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army” (20: 15, 20,21).

Surely this was a strange way to go out to battle! But what was the result? Few armies have been rewarded by such a signal victory. “When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people…who had come against Judah; and they were defeated…The Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies” (verses 22, 27).

Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, pp. 78,81