You May Never Know How

2 Chronicles 20:22-24, ESV

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. 

Judah’s battle strategy was belief and worship. They believed God, and they set out in worship.

And when King Joshaphat and the people of Judah reached the place where the battle had taken place, all they saw were the dead bodies lying around. God had fought for them when they had started to worship, but they would have had no idea how—at least not at this moment.

God had “set an ambush.” 

Was it an unseen angelic ambush? Was it a seen angelic ambush? Was it a mental ambush of confusion? 

No one on earth knows for sure.

All we know is that as they began to sing and praise, God set an ambush against their enemies—much like God sent the angel to fight for Daniel when he began praying and fasting (Daniel 10:12) and like God sent the earthquake to the jail cell of Paul and Silas when they were praying and worshiping (Acts 16:25).

One thing I have learned over the past decade of my life is that God is always working on our behalf and fighting for us—and we may never know how. 

In a way unbeknownst to the armies of Judah, God defeated their enemies ahead of them. All they saw before them was the evidence of his involvement.

So if you don’t yet see the evidence of God’s involvement, keep believing. Keep worshiping. God will dispatch angels and set ambushes to fight the battle—the battle that, remember, is not yours. God’s strategy is at work, and you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).