Mensa Otabil - Singing Into Victory (10/06/2025)
Yesterday, we looked at the battle that King Jehoshaphat led the people of Judah into. They were fighting three armies: Moab, Ammon, and Seir, and they went into this battle with singing. So today, we’re going to look at the victory that God gave them in 2 Chronicles 20:22.
Now, when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Seir, who had come out against Judah, and they were defeated. King Jehoshaphat went into battle singing. This is a war of songs, a warfare of praise and worship, and that’s just to tell you that singing, praise, and worship are also part of spiritual warfare. They entered this warfare praising the Lord and singing of His goodness, and the Bible says that as they were singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the people.
An ambush is a favored battle strategy; it was used a lot in the Old Testament days and is still used in battle today. Basically, it means to do something unexpected, to do something surprising. When one army expects a certain move, another move comes from an unexpected source; that’s an ambush. That’s what God did; He did something totally unexpected, so much so that even the people of Judah were not prepared for what happened. They had no idea what happened. God set ambushes.
There are two dimensions to what God did. First, there is a spiritual dimension; this ambush had a spiritual force behind it. There is angelic activity here. You wouldn’t see that angelic activity physically, so if you were there watching that battle, you wouldn’t see much. All you would hear later is that God did it. But how did God do it? He sent angels. We didn’t see angels, but there are angels all around, doing warfare and battle in the name of the Lord on your behalf. So though we don’t see a spiritual ambush, it has been set for you by the Lord.
But this supernatural activity had another expression in the natural dimension, and this is what you would have seen. There is spiritually what God does and physically what people saw. What they saw was that the people of Moab and Ammon, who were traditional allies anyway, went against the people of Syria. For some reason, maybe it was a strategy problem, insecurity, or mistrust, something went on, and the people of Ammon and Moab turned against Syria, fought against them, and destroyed them.
That’s the first thing: two armies against one. After they dealt with Syria, the people of Ammon and Moab, for whatever problem it was-whether it was leadership issues or something personal-started fighting one another. They fought so bitterly to the last man that the Bible says no one escaped. What a war! This was something that was supposed to bury Judah, but they ended up burying the enemy. This is something that was supposed to destroy Judah, but they witnessed the enemy destroying themselves right in front of them in the valley. They ended up calling the valley the Valley of Berachah, the valley of God’s blessing and favor. The place of their burial became the place of their blessing because, as they sang, the Lord set ambushes on their behalf. There are things happening in the realm of the spirit that God is doing for you right now, which will manifest in the natural.
After the battle, it took Judah three days to collect all the spoils, the booty, the good things, and return home to Jerusalem. God will bring you to the battle, but all you will see is His hand at work, and all you will do is carry spoils home. May the Lord give you victory in every battle you are faced with, in Jesus' name.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you work in both the spiritual and natural realms. I praise you for your mighty works in my life, in Jesus' name. Amen.» It’s good to praise the Lord and to worship Him. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.