WEEKLY MESSAGE
SUN, 25/10/26 - SAT, 31/10/26
ON THE MESSAGE THIS WEEK: WORSHIP - WORD
KEY VERSE: “SPEAKING TO ONE ANOTHER IN PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS” (EPHESIANS 5:19)
Worship is a powerful weapon, one that can turn the battle in your favour. When King Jehoshaphat faced the combined might of three different armies, he knew he was no match for them. So he turned to God, saying, ‘We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You’ (see 2 Chronicle 20:12).
Here’s how God answered him: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s’ (v. 15). Then God gave him an amazing strategy for victory. He told him to put a choir in front of his army and go into battle singing the praises of God. Can you imagine trying to explain that at the Royal Naval College or Sandhurst? They’d send you to a psychiatrist. But Jehoshaphat did it: ‘He appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army.’ And if that blows your mind, read this: ‘When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated’ (v. 22).
Instead of attacking Judah, the three armies attacked one another. Israel never fired a shot, never took a casualty, and it took them three days to gather the spoils.
The truths of God’s Word have been passed down from generation to generation through preaching, teaching, and publishing. But they have also been passed down through hymns of worship we sing in church. When you sing them, you’re proclaiming the truth of God’s Word and simultaneously ingesting it. You grow spiritually through the Word you hear, the Word you study, the Word you speak, and yes, the Word you sing. Paul writes, ‘Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord’ (see Ephesians 5:18-19).
Jesus didn’t just preach the Word, He sang it too: ‘And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives’ (see Matthew 26:30). Why does the Bible place such emphasis on speaking God’s Word? Because when you read God’s Word aloud you ingest it in two ways - through the eye-gate and the ear-gate. And the same thing happens when you sing God’s Word. The readers of God’s Word shouldn’t look down on the singers of God’s Word, and the singers shouldn’t feel spiritually inferior to the readers. The important thing is to get into God’s Word and get God’s Word into you. Some of us do that best through a sermon, others through personal Bible study, and others through songs that proclaim the life-changing truths of His Word.
So, when you worship, you’re taking in God’s Word. When you’re in a battle you can’t win, begin to praise God and the forces of heaven will come to your aid.
Have a blessed week in Jesus' Name, Amen.
(Article/ extract from ucb,wordfortoday)
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Did you know: There are almost 20 different passages in the Bible where it is mentioned that we are God's people.
Ref: Jeremiah 32:38 / Ezekiel 14:11 / Zechariah 8:8 / 2 Corinthians 6:16 / Hebrews 8:10 / Ezekiel 11:20 / Ezekiel 37:23 / Jeremiah 7:23 / Jeremiah 31:33 / Ezekiel 37:27 / Jeremiah 31:1 / Revelation 21:3 / Exodus 6:7 / Leviticus 26:12 / Jeremiah 11:4 / Jeremiah 30:22 / Ezekiel 36:28.