My Weapon is a Melody

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns” Revelation 19:6.

For several months the song “Raise a Hallelujah” by Bethel church has been resounding in my spirit and I’ve been listening to it endlessly. There are five words in the song that I’ve been meditating on, “My weapon is a melody.”

A Song as a Weapon

        I realized that the times I most felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, I was the closest to the Father—they almost always involved music. Whether worshipping in a formal church service, in my car or prayer closet, or just singing the songs that I have for Him in my heart—music is always front and center. I realized there is more to worship music than just a song. It is warfare against the evil one. The truth is that we are in a battle, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm” Ephesians 6:12.

        One of the tools that God gave us to defeat the evil one is a melody. Therefore, I will worship Him in “the middle of a storm, louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar, up from the ashes, hope will arise, death is defeated, the King is alive. I raise a Hallelujah—in the presence of my enemies. I raise a Hallelujah—louder than my enemies. I raise a Hallelujah—my weapon is a melody. I raise a Hallelujah—heaven comes to fight for me!” “I raise a Hallelujah!”—Bethel Church

         In 2 Chronicles 20 we read about the King Jehoshaphat of Judah who reigned there 25 years. The sons of Moab, Ammon, and some of the Meunites came with them to wage war against Judah. The Lord gave Jehoshaphat a strategy to defeat the enemies of Israel [He has not changed His strategy even to this day]—raise a melody! “…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 loving-kindness is everlasting”” 2 Chronicles 20:21.

        The worshippers went even before the army of Judah to defeat their enemies. They were singing praises to God and in doing so the Lord set traps for the enemies of Judah. “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” 2 Chronicles 20:22.  This strategy of God is a major weapon in our spiritual armory. The more we engage its use the greater our victory!

        In my 45 years of ministry and pastoral counseling, I still counsel my clients to incorporate worship in their daily prayer life. It is God’s way of giving us power over our circumstances that the enemy has influenced in order to keep us from intimacy with the Father resulting in the taking of our freedom, liberty, peace and joy. The Lord is good and only desire goodness for us.

The Melody of Worship confounds the enemy

I began to expound on the principle of worship as a weapon for our benefit in defeating the enemies of our soul. King Jehoshaphat was engaged in a war against the Moabites and the Ammonites. The strategy God gave to him was to engage the praise team and Judah’s worshippers in a warring atmosphere of radical worship. There were two requirements the Lord gave Jehoshaphat in determining who would lead this battle with honor;

1-They had to already have a song in their heart for the Lord [2 Chronicles 20:21].

2-They must be represented in Holy Attire when going out before the Army of Judah [2 Chronicles 20:21].

When we set out before the enemies of our soul and present a heart of worship before the Lord, God begins to confound the enemy and they are turned against one another. Their defeat becomes our victory and we did not have to raise a sword to do it. God, by His Holy Spirit, intervened and caused them to turn against each other. “When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir…so they were routed” 2 Chronicles 20:22.

Our Victory…A Song and Holy Attire

        In lifting up the name of the Lord, as worship leaders and their teams do, we are making Our Lord the center of focus in our situations. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name…” 1 Chronicles 16:29. Invoking the name of the Lord and ascribing the glory that He is worthy of in our worship tells our enemies that our God is the defender of our souls. We give Him charge over us and our circumstances when this is done.

        Jehoshaphat knew that if he sent his worshippers into battle before he commissioned the army of Judah to do so, that God would win the day for the nation. As they began to praise Him, He set ambushes against their enemies. Our battles are not temporal as many would like us to believe. Our battles are spiritual and have everything to do with the final resting place of our souls. The term ‘ambush’ in 2 Chronicles 20:22 is a plan of attack, a strategy to lie in wait until the enemy is upon you and then take them by surprise to drive them back and repel their purposes against you. It is God’s way of utterly defeating them.

       The angelic host of Our Lord lies in wait when our enemy approaches seeking to cause us harm. It was so with the people of Judah. The Lord had caused the enemies of Judah to turn on one another until each of their armies was utterly destroyed (v22-23).

        I noticed something very important about this passage of Scripture in 2 Chronicles 20. Looking at verse 24, it says that “…Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness…”  As Christians we are in a constant state of judgment when we or someone else in having a wilderness experience. Yet this passage of Scripture teaches us that the wilderness experience that Judah faced was a victory! In fact, the Scripture is clear that they did not have to even lift a sword against their enemies except to worship the name of the Lord.

        Jehoshaphat required by the Lord’s instruction to place worshippers with holy attire before the army of Judah. Our praise to God should never be without an attire of His holiness. 1 Chronicles 16:29 calls it an array of His glory. The holy attire and array of His glory is His covering upon us. Our covering is the blood of Jesus Christ. We can approach our enemies with the holy attire of the blood of Christ while worshipping His Holy name and fully expect God to cause our enemies to turn upon one another and be destroyed. We no longer have to come to expect that our enemies can continue to vex us in our daily circumstances, our life journey, and the salvation of our souls. The Lord through praise has given us the victory!

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe” Proverbs 18:10.