My Weapon is a Melody!

Raising a Hallelujah!

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

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

Our battle is the Lord’s [2 Chronicles 20:29; God fights the against the enemies of Israel, the church, His children].

A Song as a Weapon

I realized that the times I felt the presence of the LORD, was when I was the closest to the Father—It almost always involved worship. Whether worshiping in a formal church service, in my car or prayer closet, or just singing the songs that I have for Him in my heart—worship 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 we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against 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 to us to defeat the evil one is a melody. 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—my weapon is a melody. I raise a Hallelujah—heavens comes to fight for me!”

In 2 Chronicles 20 we read about 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 of the LORD and said, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 2 Chronicles 20:21.

The worshipers went 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 in its use the greater our victory!

In my 51 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 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 desires goodness for us.

The Melody of Worship confounds the enemy.

King Jehoshaphat was engaged in a war against the Moabites and the Ammonites. The strategy God gave the king was to engage the praise team and Judah’s worshipers in a warring atmosphere of radical worship.   There were two requirements the LORD gave Jehoshaphat in determing 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 cause them to turn against each other. “When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mourt Seir…so they were routed” 2 Chronicles 20:22.

Our Victory…A Song and Holy Attire

In lifting 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 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 worshipers into battle before he commissioned the army of Judah, that God would win the day for the nation. As they began to praise Him, He set ambushes against their enemies. [The ambushes: the blood, the cross, the resurrection, all sealed in the Holy Spirit].

Our battles are not temporal as many would like us to believe. We concentrate on generational curses, hereditary sin, and physical affliction as the cause of our life struggles, but the truth is that affliction is a spiritual battle and has 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 destroyed [v22-23].

I noticed something very important about this passage of Scripture in 2 Chronicles 20. Looking a 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 is having a wilderness experience. This passage 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.

Just as Jehoshaphat was instructed to place the worshipers and the praise team before the LORD in holy attire, should we enter into the LORD’s presence with an attitude of praise [no matter the situation] and HOLY ATTIRE! The holy attire and array of His glory is His covering upon us. [It is the presence of the Holy Spirit].

Our covering is the blood of Jesus. We can approach our enemies with holy attire of the blood of Jesus Christ while worshiping His Holy name and fully expect God to cause our enemies to turn upon one another and be destroyed. No longer will our enemies vex us in our daily circumstances when this has taken place. The LORD through praise has given us the victory!

The Spoils belong to the Righteous

After the battle had been won and the enemies of Judah were destroyed, the nation of Judah began to collect the spoils that were left behind by the Amorites and the Moabites. Their spoils included goods, garments, and other valuable things. In Proverbs 13:22 the LORD tells us of His plan for us in our walk with Him, “And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.”

For Christians the spoils are the unfulfilled prophetic words given to us, the broken families restored, the sickness removed and our affliction taken away. It is the continual presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

It took Judah three days to gather all the spoils. They gathered them in a place called the Valley of Blessing [Beracah]. The valley of blessing is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ triumphant march into Jerusalem [Mt. 21:1-11]. As He entered, they were all shouting “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD, Hosanna, in the highest.” Matt. 21:9.

The Judeans of Jehoshaphat’s reign left the battlefield in the same way the LORD instructed them to approach it, with praise and worship.  “They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of the LORD” 2 Chronicles 20:28. A triumphant entry! As Jesus did in Jerusalem.

In our victory, as in Judah’s with Jehoshaphat, God unleashes myriads of angels into the battle until the enemy is defeated. You are in the company of an angelic force that in a single blow can destroy cities, nations, and armies.