The runner arrived, breathless.* Sweat was pouring off his brow.
“They’re almost here!” He panted.
“Who?” the king questioned, rising up off his throne.
“The enemy. Three armies. They can’t be numbered.”
The king’s enemies were on his doorstep. Yet this time, he didn’t alert his military commanders. He didn’t mobilize his army.
Together with his people, he worshiped.
And he prayed, urgently:
“God, You have to do something! Are You not the God who is in Heaven? In Your own hands you grasp both strength and power. We are powerless to face this vast horde that has come against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
And as the battle drew near, the king didn’t gather his best defensive strategists. He didn’t send out a reconnaissance force. The vanguard he chose was from the tribe of Levi.
The worshipers.
In Biblical times, the Lord set apart an entire tribe of His people solely for worship. Their duty was to guide their kinsmen into the purpose for which they were made: to know and to love the One who knew and loved them first.
The people of Levi were never weaklings. In fact, they were a tribe known for a strength of character which, when completely surrendered to God, quickened His people back to their heavenly Father. The Levites were to apply both physical and spiritual strength to bring glory to God.
The day before King Jehoshaphat’s battle (see 2 Chronicles 20 for the full story), the Lord chose a man to deliver His battle speech: Jahaziel son of Zechariah, from the tribe of Levi.
“Listen, my brothers!” Jahaziel cried. “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to you:
‘Do not be afraid! Do not be discouraged because of this vast invasion. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
…March down against them tomorrow. But know this: you will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. And the Lord will be with you.’”
What if Jahaziel had never spoken? The Israelites might have waited, trembling, for their city to be besieged.
Yet Father used His Levite – His worshiper – to call the people out of fear and confusion. To urge them to be strong. To help them to remember who they were, and Who was on their side.
As the story goes, the minute the Levites began to sing and praise, the Lord threw their enemy into confusion. And three armies were completely self-routed that day. “So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped” (2 Chronicles 20:24).
The battle rages on. Worshipers, arise.
*Story fashioned from accounts in 2 Chronicles 20
