2 Chronicles 20:12 …For we are powerless against this great horde… . We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

I create need for God by refusing to save myself and act in my own understanding. Here, they are more than ready to pronounce their neediness before God. They didn’t start making shields and shoring up their walls. They went to a better line of defense.

They don’t have to fight because it’s not their battle. They aren’t commanded to fight with praise or to go out into battle praising. They are commanded to stand firm in their position and see God’s salvation.

We praise as our response to who God is, not as a weapon of warfare. We’re not to save ourselves. We praise because He is the great God who is our salvation.

We’re to stand firm and hold our position. What’s our position? This “stand firm” word is a way of saying abide, be steadfast, endure. We abide in the love of God. We’re steadfast, trusting in Him. We endure, rejoicing in hope. We can climb up into the strong tower and lie down in peace and sleep because He makes us dwell in safety, even if an army is encamped about us.

We praise at the time of sacrifice, as an offering to the One who has overcome, not as a method of obtaining our own victory.