Hymn of Heaven: A 12 Day Devotional With Phil WickhamSample

Welcome to the Hymn of Heaven 12-day devotional series. Each daily reading coincides with a different song from my album,Hymn of Heaven. These songs were written to inspire worship in listeners' hearts, and I pray this series does the same as you read along. Huge thanks to my friend and pastor, Benji Horning, for helping me bring these thoughts to life. We wrote each of these devotionals as a springboard into worship. So after each reading, feel free to pull the song up and listen/sing to it throughout the day as you carry the truth of scripture in your hearts. We pray you are blessed!

Battle Belongs

Passage: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30

There is a powerful story in the Old Testament of King Jehoshaphat being faced with an overwhelming and vicious army coming toward him and the people of God. In desperation, he gathered his kingdom, called for a fast, and they cried out to the Lord. When God spoke through a prophet, what He promised was shocking. “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you” (2 Chron. 20:17). In obedience, the army of Judah approached the battle line—but not with weapons and warriors. They met the enemy with worship! “And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed” (2 Chron. 20:22).

What God did for Judah was miraculous, but it was not a solitary event. Every human being faces the radical war of sin and death. Despite our greatest efforts of morality, religion, or performance, we are helpless against so great an enemy. Yet God’s promise to His people still stands to this day. It came to its ultimate fulfillment when Jesus—looking at our desperation and pointing to the grave—told us that we will not have to fight this battle, but to stand firm in Him and to watch as He brings deliverance and salvation through His death and resurrection! Amen!

What is our role in this victory? Similar to Jehoshaphat and his people, our only response is to worship, give thanks, and give our lives over in thankful surrender to the one who holds our victory for eternity. It has been incredible to see people using “Battle Belongs” as their weapon of worship in the face of the battle.

Here are a couple ways we can live today differently because of the victory we have in Jesus:

1. Recognize areas in your life that you are still trying to strive by your own strength, and take a minute in prayer to surrender those to the Lord.

2. Give thanks to God through worship, even if your circumstances still feel overwhelming. Remember the cross, remember the resurrection, and remember the victory we are invited into.