Jehoshaphat’s Story – Praise

After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

2 Chronicles 20:21

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We are continuing in Jehoshaphat’s story. Last week we talked about the men of Judah putting on armor before heading towards a battle. And we also talked about how we too should put on our spiritual armor each day.

Jehoshaphat’s story shows us that praise is an important part of our walk with God – whether we are facing something difficult or not.

At this point in the story, Jehoshaphat and his army are marching to face the battle ahead of them. Picturing this, I imagine a quiet group, as each person entertained fears in their minds. Although God gave them a word of encouragement, did they still wonder how things would turn out? Did they still worry?

In verse 21, we see that instead they are praising the Lord! What an amazing scene. This is an exquisite example of placing trust and faith in God Almighty. They did not allow their worries to take over. Instead, they praised God as they marched towards a potential battle.

We should praise the Lord for all that He is. Even if He did nothing for us, He is worthy of our praise. But the fact is that the Lord has done so much for us. What Jesus did on the cross deserves our praise. And God blesses us each and every day. These blessings should also inspire praise.

I know that life can be hard sometimes. But we can still be intentional about looking around for the blessings in our lives. We can always find something to praise God for.

In our own lives, it might seem easier to praise God when everything is going well. However, in this scene with Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah, God hadn’t actually done anything yet. He did give the people a word of encouragement. But the people have not yet seen how this battle would end. They are praising God in advance. They are trusting and believing that He will see them through.

This is so powerful to me. Too often we clench our fists around our fears and worries. We can’t seem to let them go. But if we hand our fears and worries over to God, and instead hold onto praise, this will bring peace and joy to our hearts.

The Power of Praise

There is an amazing story of praise found in Acts 16:16-40 that I always enjoy reading. Paul and Silas were in Philippi, spreading the Good News about Jesus. Yet suddenly one day, they were wrongly accused of causing trouble.

Luke, the author of the book of Acts, wrote in verses 16-18, “We were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.’ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her.”

The owners of this slave were not pleased because she was a source of income for them, and now the well had run dry. So they dragged Paul and Silas to the authorities and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” (verses 20-21)

As a result, Paul and Silas were severely beaten and locked in prison. In this situation, many of us would feel frustrated and discouraged, to say the least. But some astonishing things unfold as this story continues. It says in verses 25-26, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

First, how incredible it is that Paul and Silas were singing hymns in this situation. We can imagine they were both experiencing physical pain due to the flogging they’d received earlier. And we would assume they were also in emotional pain, due to their circumstances. But instead of allowing this to bring them down, they sang praises to the Lord.

I also love that “the other prisoners were listening to them” as they prayed and sang. Perhaps in the midst of despair, Paul and Silas managed to bring a bit of hope and encouragement to the lost and suffering inmates.

Next we read that there was a great earthquake. Not only did it rock the prison, not only did the prison doors open, but the chains on the prisoners came free as well. This had to be God.

But the story doesn’t end there. When the jailor realized what happened, he assumed the prisoners had all escaped. This would mean punishment for him, so his first thought was to kill himself. Paul quickly stopped him by letting him know that all the prisoners were still there. The jailor rushed towards Paul and Silas, asking, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas told the man about Jesus. In the middle of the night, the jailor and his household were saved and baptized. How remarkable it is to read how God turned this situation around.

One thing I especially want us to take away from this story was how Paul and Silas praised the Lord, even in the midst of a difficulty. I think this shows their full trust in God, despite their circumstances. They believed that God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

I wonder – would the earthquake have occurred if they had not praised God? Would the jailor and his family been saved if they had not praised God? Many things could have gone differently in this story. This powerful act of praise helped transform not only outcomes, but hearts as well.

It is important to praise God in the midst of our battles, because the enemy hates our praises and it makes him flee. As Martin Luther put it, “The devil, the originator of sorrowful anxieties and restless troubles, flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God….Music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of men. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful.”

One day not too long ago I was feeling stressed. It had been a while since I turned on my play list on my phone and sang along. On this day I decided I needed a little boost. After a few songs, I felt so much lighter. I thought to myself, I really needed this. It’s funny because I know how much praise helps our hearts. Yet it is still so easy to neglect these little daily practices that help anchor us.

Ways to Praise

How do we praise God? There are many ways we can praise Him. I will use Jehoshaphat’s story to touch on a few of them.

Our English translation limits us when it comes to different words in the Bible. And praise is one of those words. The original Hebrew (which is what the Old Testament was written in) has several words for praise. And they each can portray praise in different forms.

We have been focused on verse 21 for today’s post. But the word praise is used several times in Jehoshaphat’s story. So we will touch on some other verses here as well.

In the NIV translation of verse 21 we see the word praise once. (I have the NIV at the top of this post.) However, in the KJV, we see the word praise twice. The KJV of verse 21 says, “And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

In the original Hebrew, the first time we see praise, it is the word “hālal.” According to Strong’s definition, this can mean to shine, to boast, to rave. We can praise God by boasting and raving about Him.

And the second time we see praise in verse 21, it is the word “yāḏâh.” According to Strong’s, this can mean to revere or worship with extended hands. We can raise our hands during worship. 🙌

Verse 22 we will touch on next week, but it also has the word praise. This verse starts off with, “As they began to sing and praise…”

Here the word praise is the Hebrew word “tᵊhillâ.” According to Strong’s this means a hymn. We can praise God by singing hymns.

Verse 26 is also a verse we will touch on in a future post. It contains the word praise as well. In this verse, the word praise comes from the Hebrew word “bāraḵ” which means to kneel. When we praise God we can kneel in reverence.

These are just a few of the ways we see the word praise in the Old Testament. There are at least three more Hebrew words for praise that are not reflected in Jehoshaphat’s story. If you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend the book Holy Roar: 7 Words That Will Change the Way You Worship by Chris Tomlin and Darren Whitehead. The authors talk about seven Hebrew words (including the ones I touched on here) found in the Old Testament that are used to express praise in different forms. And one of my favorite praise and worship singers, Chris Tomlin, shares a story about one of his songs for each of the words. It’s really an eye-opening and inspiring book.

In Jehoshaphat’s story, I am in awe of the way they praised God while marching towards a battle. I hope no matter what we face in our lives, we too can learn to praise God. Even in the midst of a storm. Praise has the power to transform our circumstances. And praise also miraculously changes our hearts. We can face difficult situations with peace when we make praise a daily practice.

Don’t just take my word for it. I hope you will try adding praise into your day as well.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a praise-filled weekend! 😁

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