Originally published Sunday, 10 August 2014.
After talking it over with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed a choir for God; dressed in holy robes, they were to march ahead of the troops, singing, Give thanks to God, His love never quits. 2 Chronicles 20:21 (MSG)
Sometimes I wake up in the night and I feel afraid.
It has been like this since my childhood.
I would wake in fear that a family member had died. (I’m pretty sure that having a mother and brother who were frequently in-and-out of hospital in my childhood did nothing to help this fear die.)
My parents taught me to sing when I woke in the night and felt afraid. They taught me simple praise and worship songs,
He is the king of kings.
He is the Lord of Lords.
His name is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Oh! He is the king.
The more times a song contained the name of Jesus the more I loved it.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
sweetest name I know.
Fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go.
My parents even put a tune to the scripture I pray when I am afraid:
God’s not given me a spirit of fear
But a spirit of love and of power
And a sound mind
To live each day and glorify his name.
I would whisper these songs into the dark of the night and the fear, which filled my heart, would slink away.
In the last few years, there were times when Xylon had a fever while having chemo where I would lie still next to him stilling myself so I could hear his breathing, so I could assure myself he was okay.
And then I would find myself singing. Worshipping God.
Holley Gerth says, “Worship is an act of war against the enemy of our hearts.” (tweet this)
I love that it moves worship from just being nice sounding songs to being a weapon.
There is a story in the bible about the time that Jehoshaphat went to war using worship as his weapon.
He was leading a group of people who were very afraid about the army they were about to go up against.
So what does he do? Jehoshaphat calls a meeting and he prays. And then he chooses a choir for God to march ahead of the troops and sing,
Give thanks to God, His love never quits.
2 Chronicles 20 says, that as they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent ambushes and the armies that were against Jehoshaphat turned on each other and killed each other. By the time they came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
What a picture of worship as war.
Singing seems such a silly thing to do when you’re fighting a battle. But worship is more singing.
Worship is inviting the God-of-the-Angel-armies to fight for us.
As I sing I am fighting the enemy of my heart, and inviting God to fill me with love, power and a sound mind.
As I worship I remind myself that the battles in my life are God’s to fight. (tweet this)
Ponder: Have you ever thought of using worship to fight fear?
Prayer: Lord, teach me how to use worship to fight fear.
{Other places I’ve been writing lately}
Beautyforashes.co.za | Three Ways to Find God in Everyday Life
iBelieve.com | Complain Less, Live More
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- This was orginally published on my site in June 2014 to read more devotionals like this go to ilovedevotionals.com
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