Psalm 91:7-8; 2 Chronicles 20:1-30

King Jehoshaphat was in a tight spot. The vast armies of Moab and Ammon were quickly approaching Jerusalem, leaving destruction in their wake. The enemy was far more numerous than his own standing army, and there was no time to mobilize all the country. Messengers could maybe get the message through to the men of Judah, but it took much more time than they had to arm a country. There was only one thing he could do.

“Send for all the messengers, and assemble the scribes before me.” And so it was done. 

“Here is my proclamation: Every man and his house shall fast and pray to the Lord for deliverance from the hands of the Moabites and the Ammonites, until the Lord answers and saves us from our enemies.”

The scribes copied the message over and over again until each messenger had left Jerusalem with his scroll. By the end of the day, all Judah would be fasting.

And Judah did fast. Every man stood before the Lord with his household, praying for deliverance from the enemies of the Lord.

This is the prayer that Jehoshaphat and his people cried to the Lord: 

“O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in Heaven? And rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Thine hand, is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand Thee? Art not Thou our God which didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And they that have dwelt herein have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying, ‘If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Thy presence, (for Thy name is in this house,) and cry unto Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help.’ And now, behold the children of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir, whom Thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but turn from them and destroy them not: behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit! Oh 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.”

And as they stood before the Lord, He came to one of the sons of Asaph, a musician named Jahaziel, and spoke to Judah through him.

“Thus saith the Lord unto you: Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude: the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, go ye down against them; they will come up by the cliff of Ziz: ye shall find them at the end of the brook, by the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.”

Jehoshephat and the whole congregation of Judah fell on their faces before the Lord, worshipping Him in thanksgiving, and the Kohathites stood up and praised aloud the God of Israel.

Early the next morning, Judah went forth to meet the enemy as God had directed. As they went, Jehoshaphat reminded his people to believe in the Lord and His prophets. All the singers and musicians had come prepared for the imminent victory. 

Jehoshaphat, seeing this, spoke to them that they should praise aloud the Lord even then, before the victory, praise the Lord for the beauty of holiness: and they went out before the army, singing, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.”

When they began to praise and sing, the Lord sent ambushments of His making against the enemy: and when Judah came to the place, the whole mighty host was fallen dead, and not a single man of Judah was injured in the battle, for God Himself fought for His people.

Recently I found out that the 91st Psalm has another name: The Soldier’s Psalm. I heard the account of one Chaplain Hardie Higgens, that he, trusting God’s word, gave each of his soldiers a card with Psalm 91 written on it, and they would read and pray it every time they went into battle. And by the end of the war, none of the soldiers with the card had even gotten injured. Several of them even said that it seemed like they were in a tunnel, and all the bullets could not penetrate it. Another time, enemy soldiers shot a grenade at one of their vehicles. It glanced off the headlights and skidded along the road until it was twenty yards away from them before it finally exploded. 

So what does the psalm say that these men could come out safe on the other side of such a bloody war? Many thousands of good men died in that war, fighting for what they thought was right. What power is it that could bend space and change the trajectories of so many missiles at once and save a whole troop of soldiers from even an injury, much less a single death?

Let’s read Psalm 91: 7-8.

‘A thousand shall fall at thy side,
A myriad at thy right hand:
It will not come near thee,
Thou shalt see with thine eyes
The reward of the wicked.’

Surely a thousand did fall by their side. They saw the destruction the war brought. But when they hid their souls in the secret place of the Most High and believed in His ability to shield them, He rewarded their faith and showed His power in tangible ways– to the extent of saving them their lives.

Because when they saw the difference in full, undivided faith and the general lack thereof, they could see that ‘Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He Is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.’ 

Whatever it is that you’re fighting, whatever battle you’re fighting, God can handle– yea, wants to handle– and if you first acknowledge His power, then run to Him and believe that He will, and ask Him to take command, He will fight for you– and you can go forth singing of the victory now while you’re in that tunnel with the bullets and arrows glancing off the top and sides: There’s no need to fear; the battle is God’s to win, and He’s already won.

I’ll see you along the Way!