2 Chron. 20:15-17, 21-23, and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.”
21 When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 22 When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. 23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
The people of Judah were in the midst of a real crisis. They were facing three armies that were much bigger, and more powerful than they were. As they sought the Lord, Jehoshaphat prayed, “We are powerless against this great multitude, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” You can read above what God’s response was to Jehoshaphat and the people. Basically God said, “The battle is mine; you just need to, by faith, go face the situation and watch me do what I do.”
I want you to notice how their confidence in a God given victory sounded like, before the victory was ever realized in the natural, and how that faith released God to spring into promised action. In verses 21 and 22 it says when they began to give thanks, and, as they were praising God, the Lord set ambushes against the enemy. In anticipation of a God-given victory they simply begin to praise God even before they had yet to see the victory realized in anyway in the natural. Their faith in the promised God given victory, even before they knew what it would look like, released God in His faithfulness. Them praising God in advance, contrary to everything they could see or feel, released the promised divine activity into their situation. It’s as if God was waiting for them to have faith in advance, to then declare, “It’s time for me to act.”
I learned a little poem decades ago that is full of spiritual truth. “Faith, mighty faith the promise sees, and looks at that alone; laughs at impossibilities, and cries ‘It shall be done.’”