A song of praise and a decision to trust brought the victory

By Dean Collins

Sometimes it takes a worship leader to win a war. Probably more often than we think. So when facing your next battle or challenge, you might need to listen to some worship music to get your heart and mind in the correct posture to hear God. Or better yet, offer your voice to God in praise and listen for his response.

Attacking a problem

In 2 Kings 3 we read how God used an unnamed musician to unlock the word of God for the prophet Elisha and change a desperate situation for three kings.

Israel’s king was in a hostile situation. We know he did what was evil in God’s eyes, but the writer of 2 Kings tells us he was not like his father and mother, Ahab and Jezebel. This king, Jehoram, at least got rid of the pillar of Baal. But as a political leader, he kept his constituents happy by continuing to allow and even encourage the worship of other idols.

King Ahab had levied a tax on the king of Moab. It was pretty steep, and the king of Moab was tired of paying it; so he rebelled against the king of Israel and went to war to end the taxation. The evil king of Israel, Jehoram, reached out to King Jehoshaphat who was the godly king of Judah. Jehoram looked past the civil unrest of the once unified kingdom that had long been divided and asked Jehoshaphat for his help, specifically if Judah would fight with Israel against Moab. The king said yes and suggested the best strategy was to attack from the south through the desert instead of through the more direct northern path. Since they were headed through Edom, they pulled in that leader to strengthen their forces.

In a mess

The three kings quickly found themselves in a mess. There in the desert, troops were exhausted and thirsty. The king of Israel questioned whether the king of Judah had chosen to do everyone in with his pitiful strategy. Jehoshaphat asked whether there was a prophet of God nearby they could ask for help. A servant spoke up and offered Elisha’s name. So the three kings asked for Elisha’s help.

Elisha basically asked the king of Israel why he thought he would help and asked why he didn't just ask the same prophets of Baal or some other god as his godless parents had done. The King of Israel said he believed the Lord had brought the three kings together and that’s why they were now asking Elisha to go before the Lord on their behalf.

How many times have we found ourselves in a mess and tried all of our solutions and gone to every system or person we knew, trying to solve what only God can do? When we find ourselves in moments like this, our best decision is to do what Elisha did. Call for some worship to get our hearts and minds in tune with God. Elisha did that, and God responded.

How many times have we found ourselves in a mess and tried every solution to solve what only God can do?

Elisha’s response, I’m sure, sounded like crazy talk to the kings and more so to the troops. God was indeed going to send water, and lots of it, so everyone needed to grab a shovel and start digging trenches to hold the water. Imagine giving that instruction to tired and thirsty employees!

Both those who believed in the Lord and those who did not were in great need. An enemy was out to kill them. They were out of water, tired and afraid. They could not solve their problem or rescue themselves. God’s answer through the prophet Elisha was that he would get them everything they needed. Water was on the way, though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Military victory was promised,  though the soldiers felt too weak to obey instructions to do something that sounded ridiculous: dig holes in the desert so God could fill them.

Only God

In other words, plan for the future even in your hour of desperation. Trust in the Lord of Heaven and earth to do what only he can do. Hear the word of the Lord to the kings:

“‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord.”

According to God, getting water to the desert and victory to the kings was not at all difficult. But the truth is that when we are living in one of these moments it is very hard to imagine how, what, and when God will act. What we must do is rely on him and follow whatever path he puts forward, no matter how crazy it may seem. Our odds with God are significantly greater than our odds and solutions without him.

The next morning the enemy army of Moab looked out toward Edom and thought they saw pools of blood and that the three kings had gotten into a fight and killed themselves! What the king of Moab saw was the reflection of the water God had provided for the three kings, their soldiers, and their cattle. When Moab’s army arrived to clean up the spoils, they were greeted by the strong armies God had fortified. Things turned out exactly as Elisha had prophesied.

Surrender and follow

You may not be sitting in a desert dying of thirst, but I’m guessing one day that is exactly how you will feel. I have lived through a number of situations like this,  and I’m still digging ditches even as I pray and write this morning. What we must do is surrender to God’s voice and follow where he leads. He will accomplish his purpose, and it probably won’t look like anything we planned or had in mind. If we could interview some of the soldiers in the desert I bet we would hear the same.

I suspect our next step should be to find a worship leader and ask them to play you a song of praise.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭3 ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Scott Webb: https://www.pexels.com/

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