Seeing the Salvation of the Lord
The praises went up and the power came down. Rev. Dr. Lewis expounds the kingdom paradox — great by being servants, exalted by being humbled, conquering by surrendering — and takes the reader up to the watch tower in the wilderness where fear, doubt, and frustration lie fallen and none has escaped.
Out in the wilderness of Tekoa, in an elevated place, where they could see the salvation of the Lord, the ancient chronicler records, "And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten."
There in the Tekoan wilderness, that city nearly a half mile above sea level, they were about to see the salvation of the Lord, they are about to witness the undeniable truth that God is indeed . . .
However, they did not witness this until they began to sing and to praise. The power of God would not be released until they responded in obedience and lifted up their voice in praise. The praises went up and the power came down.
The challenge, therefore, to us in this third millennium church is to praise God in the midst of and despite our circumstances. For indeed, if we want the power and blessings of Heaven to visit us here on planet earth, then like the singers old step out, stand firm and begin to sing and to praise the Lord on high.
For our Heavenly Father is not deliberately or desirously holding back blessings from us simply for the sake of holding them back. He is not a niggardly God. He takes no morbid sense of pleasure at withholding blessing from His children. He operates on principles. His principles are permanent and He will never violate them.
He is not a niggardly God. He takes no morbid sense of pleasure at withholding blessing from His children.
Another aspect of God's principles is that they are diametrically opposite to the earthy and mundane principles of this world's order. By God's principles, we are made great by being servants,
This foolish act on the part of the mass choir, marching out singing the songs of Zion before the combined military might of Ammon, Moab, and the dwellers of Mount Seir released the power of God to act on their behalf. Their praises went up and God's blessings and deliverance came down.
There are some situations that one not only has to pray his way through, but also praise his way through. In the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts, there is a narrative about the apostle Paul and his companion in the ministry, Silas. They were arrested under false charges, beaten with many stripes and cast into the inner prison. Their problem was made worse in that not only were they cast into maximum security, but even there, they were immobilized because according to the record, their feet were made fast in the stocks.
Now, despite their circumstances, in the midst of their midnight situation (the time recorded by Luke, the writer and physician) they prayed and sang praises unto God. And like their ancestors, as their prayers and praises went up, the power of God came down. According to the Gospel of Luke, ". . . suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." (Acts 16:26)
His hand of protection was round about them.
The power of the Lord came in the setting of an ambushment against the enemies of Judah. The Ammonites, the Moabites and the dwellers of mount Seir were about to soon discover that those whom they came to destroy were children of the most high God and that His hand of protection was round about them. They would soon discover that through the ministry of music and the conquering choir that the God of Judah would deliver His people from their hands.
Now we are not privy to the inner workings of exactly how God accomplished this task of ambushment which resulted in Judah's enemies being smitten. There are two schools of thought, in keeping with biblical orthodoxy, that I subscribe to, the first being, the dispatching of an angel who wreck havoc among them, the second being, widespread dissidence and discord among the three nations.
There are many things in life that we are not privy to, or understand the inner workings of, but enjoy the benefit of them. For some it is electricity, others it the combustible engine, for some it is how aspirin work, and still others it is the internet. Yet, we still reap the benefits derived from their being in existence.
Now regarding the deliverance of Judah, suffice it to say, that it happened on this wise, "For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another." (2 Chronicles 20:23) How God's power works is not nearly as important as the fact that God power does indeed work!
When was the last time you experienced a situation that God, through His power, delivered you through and to this day, you have no idea HOW He did it? It is those kinds of situations that elicits from us those Nobody, but You Jesus praises. (See Chapter Four)
Then there are some Nobody but You Jesus praises we ought to render, simply because the Lord has delivered us from great multitudes coming against us of which we were not even aware. In that great and classic hymn of the church Amazing Grace, they are referred to as unseen dangers.
As they sang praises unto God, He was delivering them from the hand of their enemies. As they lifted up their voices in praise and in worship, Jehovah was lifting up His hand of deliverance. There was concord between the hand of the Lord and the ministry of their music. Martin Luther, the sixteenth century reformer and theologian, said of music that, "Next after theology I give to music the highest place and the greatest honor. I would not change what little I know of music for something great. Experience proves that next to the Word of God only music deserves to be extolled as the mistress and governess of the feelings of the human Heart." (Here I Stand, P. 266)
When the people of Judah gathered at the watch tower in the wilderness, they saw dead bodies fallen to the earth and none had escaped. Jehovah had given them victory over their enemies.
Note, where the victory was won, in the wilderness. In the wilderness times of our lives, we can experience the joy of victory. Victories are not always won during those mountaintop occasions in our lives. In fact, they seldom are. It is those seasons of barrenness when our resources are spent, our mental processes are waning, our will is weakening, and our determination is diminishing; it is then we began to experience the victory.
Like Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, we too, can see our fallen enemies from the watch tower in the wilderness. From the watch tower in the wilderness, one can view enemies to his testimony, like fear, doubt, and frustration, now fallen to the earth as dead bodies and none escaped. From the watch tower in the wilderness, you can view behaviors and habits that have been counterproductive to a Christlike testimony, now fallen to the earth as dead bodies and none escaped.
I challenge you, in your meditative period, to climb to the watch tower of your soul and view the valley. You will no doubt, discover that as you have grown in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that there are some enemies of your soul, fallen to the earth as dead bodies, that you were not even aware that you had, some unseen foes, plotting and planning your downfall. And from the watch tower, you now see them as dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
That's the advantage of a watch tower, one can see clearly that which he could not see before. If you have not had a view of the victory, then make your way up to the watch tower and see what wonders God hath wrought. However, that is only part of the triumph. There is indeed more to follow.
Chapter 5 stages a dialectic between two accounts of how the power of God is released and the biblical account that resolves them.
Thesis: God's power is released in response to human strength, strategy, and effort. Under this reading, Judah's victory is the reward for its planning.
Antithesis: God's power is released capriciously, unrelated to human posture. Under this reading, the singing in verse 21 is decorative, not causal.
Synthesis (Lewis's pastoral resolution): God's power is released as the covenant response to the praise of a people who have already relinquished the battle. 'When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments' (v. 22). The verbs are simultaneous. Praise is not the cause of the power; it is the covenant sign that the power has been released.
The Hebrew of v. 22 is temporal, not merely sequential: 'in the time that they began.' The ambush and the anthem occupy the same moment. Heaven and earth are singing the same measure.
The three enemies destroy one another (vv. 22–23). Alliances forged against the covenant people cannot outlast their own internal contradictions. What Judah did not have to fight, the coalition did to itself.
The 'watch tower in the wilderness' (v. 24) is a real geographic feature and a rich pastoral metaphor. From the elevated vantage of retrospective grace, the field is full of fallen enemies and none has escaped.
Paul and Silas in Philippi (Acts 16) are the New Testament companion. Midnight praise in the inner prison triggers an earthquake that unlocks every cell. The pattern is stable across both Testaments.
'When they began to sing . . . the Lord set ambushments.' Praise and power occupy the same moment. The believer does not sing to earn the power; the believer sings because the power has been released.
Greatness by servanthood, exaltation by humility, conquest by surrender. The economy of the kingdom is the inversion of the economy of the world.
Alliances forged against the covenant people cannot outlast their own contradictions. What God does not permit you to fight, the enemies of God often do to themselves.
The victory in this text is in the wilderness, not on the mountaintop. Barrenness is not the absence of victory; it is often the address of it.
Retrospective grace produces elevated vision. From the watch tower, you can see what was invisible from the valley: none has escaped.
The 'watch tower in the wilderness' (Hebrew mitspeh) refers to an elevated observation point where lookouts could see approaching armies from miles away. In this text, the tower's function is reversed: instead of scanning for oncoming threat, Judah scans a field of fallen enemies.
Ambushment (Hebrew arab) implies stealth and surprise — the Lord's tactic against a coalition that had planned its own surprise attack.
Coalitions of Moab, Ammon, and the Edomite/Meunite contingent had historically been fragile. Chronicler readers would have known the pattern: these three had turned on one another before.
Paul and Silas in Acts 16 is Luke's deliberate echo of 2 Chronicles 20 for the post-Pentecost church.
For pastors: preach the simultaneity of praise and power. Congregations trained to sing only after the deliverance never learn that the deliverance was released while they were singing.
For leaders: expect the kingdom paradox. The move that feels like descent is often the move that produces ascent.
For counselors: watch for self-destroying coalitions. Not every enemy needs a response; some are dismantling themselves while the counselee learns to praise.
For discipleship: teach the wilderness-victory pattern before the wilderness arrives. The saint who expects victory only on the mountaintop will miss it in the valley.
For prayer ministries: build a rhythm of retrospective grace. Regularly climb the watch tower and count the fallen.
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How did Jehovah respond to the singing and praises of His people?
Discuss the schools of thought how the ambushment in verse 22 may have occurred?
List at least one thing in life that you enjoy the benefits of, but do not know how it works.
Discuss the significance of wilderness periods and times of barrenness.
What is a watch tower? What can be seen from it?
Where in your life has praise and power occurred simultaneously? Where has the timing surprised you?
Which kingdom paradox — greatness by servanthood, exaltation by humility, or conquest by surrender — is God pressing on you right now?
Name a coalition that seemed arrayed against you but ultimately dismantled itself. What did you learn?
Recount a wilderness victory in your life. What made it invisible to you at the time?
Climb the watch tower. What can you see in retrospect that you could not see in the valley?
Heavenly Father, Again we are grateful for your wonderful works and your loving arms of protection. We are grateful for our wilderness experiences and seasons of barrenness. For without them we would miss the wonder of seeing the salvation of the Lord. We marvel at Thy might. We have seen Thy mighty hand of deliverance. For truly, Father you are a Battle Axe in time of war, a Sword, a Shield, a Buckler, but most of all, You are our Conquering King. In the majestic Name of Jesus we pray. AMEN.
Preach the simultaneity of praise and power. Do not teach your people to wait for evidence before they worship.
Model the kingdom paradox in leadership decisions. Choose the servant move publicly.
Build watch tower rhythms into your team's calendar — quarterly retrospectives of what God has done.
Teach discernment about self-destroying coalitions. Not every enemy warrants a strategy.
In worship ministry, cultivate praise that does not depend on the visible circumstance.
In pastoral care, walk grieving members up the watch tower — retrospective grace is a legitimate ministry.
In small groups, occasionally structure sessions around 'what did God do that I did not see at the time?'
In counseling, name the kingdom paradox by name. Members drowning in the world's economy need vocabulary for the other one.
Write one moment when praise and power occurred simultaneously in your life. Describe both sides.
Where is God calling you into a kingdom paradox this week? What is the descent that will produce the ascent?
Name a coalition arrayed against you. What are its internal contradictions?
Recount a wilderness victory. Why was it invisible at the time?
Climb the watch tower today. Write what you see.