Worship Before Victory

Inspiring Worship consists of three parts

1. What the people bring
   
2. Praise
   
3. Teaching
   

One place where all of these things come together in the Bible is 2 Chronicles 20. This is the story of the time that Judea was attacked by "a great multitude" of Moabites, Ammorites and their allies the people of Mount Seir.

Good King Jehoshaphat called for an assembly to "seek the LORD" (v3,4) where he prayed a really wonderful prayer that starts with praise for the Lord God and ends with the words (v 12) "For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." That is the prayer and praise part of worship.

Then the prophet Jahaziel does some teaching and says things like "Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's"(v15) and "Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you...Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them for the Lord is with you."(v17)

More worship and praise came as Jehoshaphat and the people bowed low "worshipping the Lord" while the the Levites "stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high"(v18,19)

The next day they rose early and went out towards the invading army and king Jehoshaphat did some teaching "Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established, believe His prophets , and you shall prosper."(v20) Then he appointed singers to go ahead of the army singing "Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever." (v21)

The next verse is pretty clear "Now when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah and they were defeated.

It is a good story, worth the ten minutes it takes to read.

I wondered if you noticed something?... The story is long on praise and teaching but short on what the people bring and yet the Lord was obviously with them. (which is the definition of Inspiring Worship). So what did the people bring?

There are three thing I saw in the story

1. They all came to "seek the Lord"
   
2. Their "eyes were upon God".
   
3. They positioned themselves to see God's salvation
   

To sum up: If you want to enjoy an inspiring worship service then you need to come:

1. Hungering for God
   
2. Trusting in God
   
3. Expecting to see God's salvation
   

Not only will you realise God's presence but you may solve a few of the problems you face as well.

And by the way, can you think of any other instances where worship to God preceded victory?

Try:

• 1 Samuel 17:45-51 - David and Goliath
  
• Daniel 2:16-31 - Daniel and the dream
  
• Daniel 3:13-26 - The fiery furnace
  
• John 17:4 and 19:28-30 - Christ's life and salvation through His death
  
• Acts 2:46-47 - Church praise then growth
  
• Pr Aaron told us about the worship scenes of Revelation the other week, have a look at them and see what follows each one.
  

Can you think of any more?