The phrase that commends Joash is also the phrase that qualifies him, and the qualification deserves a long, honest look. Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Not all the years he reigned. All the years Jehoiada instructed him. The integrity of this king was inseparable from the presence of his mentor. Remove Jehoiada and you remove the scaffolding that was holding the building upright.

Sending singers ahead of soldiers is not a military strategy, that is faith on another level. When Jehoshaphat positioned the worshippers at the front of the army, he was not being naive about the nature of warfare. He was making a declaration about the nature of the victory: this battle belongs to God, and what belongs to God should be preceded by His praise. The singers were not the warmup act before the real action. They were the advance unit of a different kind of force entirely.

It is one of the most disarmingly honest prayers in all of scripture, and it came from a king. A vast alliance of three nations had mobilised against Jehoshaphat. The intelligence report was overwhelming: a great multitude is coming against you. The military calculus was clear. Judah was outnumbered, outresourced, and facing a coalition that had never been assembled against them before. Any leader in that situation would have been justified in reaching for every strategic tool available. Jehoshaphat reached for none of them first. He proclaimed a fast throughout Judah and stood before the assembly and prayed.