When Praise Singers Lead the Battle
Picture this: you’re facing the most overwhelming challenge of your life. The enemy is vast, your resources are limited, and you have no idea what to do. Most of us would start making lists, checking bank accounts, and calling friends for advice. But what if I told you there’s a better way – a way that puts praise singers at the front of your battle instead of worry at the center of your strategy?
This isn’t some feel-good theology. This is the historical account of King Jehoshaphat, whose response to crisis created a legacy that echoed through generations and points us directly to how we can make an eternal impact in God’s Kingdom today.
The Prayer That Changed Everything
The story begins in 2 Chronicles 20, and it’s burned into my memory from a worship tape I listened to over and over as a young adult. I can’t even remember the name of the tape or the artist, but the image of Jehoshaphat putting praise singers at the front of his army has never left me.
Here’s what happened: “After this, the Moabites and the Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to fight against Jehoshaphat. People came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast number from beyond the Dead Sea and from Edom has come to fight against you. They are already in Hazazon-tamar’ (that is, En-gedi). Jehoshaphat was afraid and he resolved to seek the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:1-3).
Right there – that’s the character trait we all need. When Jehoshaphat was afraid, he resolved to seek the Lord. That should be our first response every single time we’re not sure what’s happening, when we’re afraid, when something’s going on. Resolve to seek the Lord.
But here’s what makes this story even more powerful. Jehoshaphat’s prayer wasn’t just something he made up on the spot. He was drawing from elements of another prayer that had been prayed in that very same place many years before by King Solomon.
The Foundation of Legacy: Solomon’s Temple Prayer
Before we see how God answered Jehoshaphat, we need to understand the foundation he was building on. When Solomon dedicated the temple in 2 Chronicles 6, he prayed a comprehensive prayer that covered every possible scenario the people might face.
Solomon prayed: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, keeping his gracious covenant with your servant who walked before you with their whole heart… When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city you have chosen and the temple that I have built for your name, may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause” (2 Chronicles 6:14, 34-35).
Solomon even prayed about exile and return: “When they sin against you—for there’s no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy and their captors deport them to a distant or nearby country, and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,’ and when they return to you with their whole mind and heart in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive and when they pray in the direction of the land that you gave their ancestors and the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your name, may you hear their prayer and petitions in heaven, your dwelling place, and uphold their cause” (2 Chronicles 6:36-39).
This wasn’t just a prayer – it was a prophetic declaration that would sustain God’s people through centuries of trials.
The Heart Behind the Kingdom: David’s Legacy
But Solomon’s temple and prayer weren’t really the starting point either. We have to go back to David. The Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart. He looked at his palace and said, “I built this great palace, and the ark of the Lord is in a tent. I want to build something great for the Lord.”
God told David through Nathan the prophet that he wouldn’t be the one to build the temple, but his son would. However, God made David an incredible promise: “He wanted to make a house for me. I’m going to make a house out of him.”
David made an impact on the kingdom of Israel that would last for many, many years. Even when there were bad kings and good kings, even when God eventually sent Nebuchadnezzar to take them into exile, David’s influence remained. And here’s the amazing part – when the Persians conquered Babylon, Cyrus the Great made a declaration allowing the people to return and rebuild the temple. That prayer Solomon prayed was being answered generations later.
Psalm 145:4 captures this perfectly: “One generation will declare your works to the next and proclaim your mighty acts.”
Present Reality: The Kingdom Is Among You
Fast forward to the New Testament, and an angel comes to Mary with this declaration about Jesus: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). The line was never broken.
When Jesus began His ministry, He brought a revolutionary understanding of the Kingdom. In Luke 17:20-21, “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come, he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable. No one will say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For you see, the kingdom of God is among you.'”
People were waiting for a political messiah to kick Rome out and restore Israel’s earthly glory. But Jesus was saying something profound: the Kingdom is not observable in the way you think, but it’s here. It’s already among you. We’re already living in the Kingdom of God.
Future Hope: The Kingdom Yet to Come
But Jesus also spoke of the Kingdom as future. At the Last Supper, He said, “This is my blood that establishes the covenant, poured out for many. I assure you: I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:24-25).
The Kingdom is present and future. Just like God told David there would always be someone on the throne, Jesus established a Kingdom that exists now in spiritual reality but will be fully realized in the future.
Paul understood this tension. In Acts 19:8-9, we see him “engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things of the kingdom of God. But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day.”
Your Kingdom Impact Today
Here’s my question for you: How are you impacting the Kingdom of God? David impacted the kingdom of Israel for generations. Jesus impacts the Kingdom for eternity. Jehoshaphat was able to live and trust God because of David’s impact. Paul spread the word and touched lives because of Jesus’ impact.
You have been granted the knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom. When Jesus spoke in parables, people might understand or not understand. But you have the Holy Spirit. You can read the Bible, and He speaks to you and helps you.
We all have various skills and abilities. Not everybody is a pastor or missionary or worship leader. The majority of us live our lives out in the world. And that’s exactly where God wants us to make Kingdom impact.
God has given you specific skills and abilities. How are you using those to impact the Kingdom of God? I’m not talking about standing on a corner with a sign (though if God tells you to do that, go do it). I’m talking about being out there, rubbing elbows in the world, being friends to people, knowing people, being able to speak into their lives, listening to what God is telling you and being able to share with them, praying with them, crying with them, helping them.
Faith Takeaways: Making Your Impact Count
1. When afraid, resolve to seek the Lord first. Like Jehoshaphat, make this your automatic response to crisis rather than scrambling for human solutions.
2. Pray for Kingdom opportunities daily. Start each morning with this prayer: “God, give me an opportunity today to further Your Kingdom, whatever that might be.”
3. Look with spiritual eyes. God might have you exactly where you’re supposed to be. You just need to see it with the spiritual perspective the Holy Spirit provides.
4. Remember the power of your legacy. Your Kingdom impact doesn’t end with you – it influences the next generation and beyond.
The greatest example is Jesus on the cross. He’s dying, breathing His last, bleeding out, tortured and in pain. And the thief says, “Jesus, remember me when you get to your place.” Jesus responds, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). Even dying on a cross, Jesus was still impacting the Kingdom of God.
We’re not Jesus, but we can impact the Kingdom. We can make a difference in the little things we do. But it comes from a heart that wants to do it – a heart and desire to impact the Kingdom of God.
The Time Is Now
I’m telling you, the time is short. The world is crazy. People need hope more than ever. People need the Lord more than ever. And we can make a big difference out there. Yes, it’s tough. Yes, we deal with our own junk. But we can still make an impact for the Kingdom of God.
You can impact the Kingdom being chained up in a prison, just like Peter and Paul. You can be in dire straits yourself and still make a difference. It means looking at things from a different perspective. God might have already lined up things for you exactly where you’re supposed to be and how you’re supposed to impact. You just need to see it.
David made an impact on the kingdom for many years. What Jesus did has impacted the world for over two thousand years since His death and resurrection. We get to be part of that because we are His sons and daughters. Just like Jehoshaphat was in the lineage of David, we are in the line of Jesus through adoption.
What kind of Kingdom impact will you make today? The starting place is simple: give your life completely to Jesus, then ask Him daily how He wants to use you. Your Kingdom legacy begins with that next conversation, that next act of kindness, that next moment you choose to reflect Christ to a world desperate for hope.