Praise The Lord!

Psalm 34:1-3 “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.  O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” (KJV)

For you to turn the tide in your favour, the seventh thing you do is Thank God In Advance. 2 Chronicles 20:21 “…Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise 

him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” (NIV, emphasis added). What is going on here? They were going for battle and Jehoshaphat said wait, wait, wait! The elite soldiers, the snipers, the infantry, the tanks are not going to go ahead. Instead, we are going to send the choir ahead. That is what Jehoshaphat did. He appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him because God said, “You will not have to fight in this battle.” Very smart King.

God did not tell Jehoshaphat what to do. God did not tell him to put singers ahead of the fighting men. He just figured out that they are better off praising God all the way into battle. And so, he placed the singers out ahead of the army. Jehoshaphat put the choir in front, then the soldiers behind saying we are going to thank God in advance for the victory. Are you going to thank God? Yes, you should pray but spend focused time thanking God in advance for the turning point that will happen in your favour. 

If you have watched any of those medieval war movies, then you can picture this. Instead of the infantry marching ahead in battle formation with the horsemen behind. You have the musicians and the choir singing. That is crazy. It just does not make sense. But that was what was going on here. The question to you is, when are you going to start thanking God for that situation? When are you going to start thanking God? When? What is it going to be? 

We see three clear results from what Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah and Jerusalem did. The first thing that happened was that they had a Resounding Victory. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you will have a resounding victory. As you raise your voice and thank God in advance, you will have a resounding victory in the Mighty Name of Jesus. 2 Chronicles 20:22 “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” (NIV, emphasis added). 

Prayer (song): For the Lord is good, for the Lord is good. (x2) For the Lord is good and His mercy endureth forever (and ever). For the Lord is good and His love endureth forever. Amen!