Trust, singers, ambushes, and spoil reverse the threat

Trust is preached at the wilderness edge, and singers go before the army

They rise early in the morning and go forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they go, Jehoshaphat stands and says, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. When he has consulted with the people, he appoints singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they go out before the army, and say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Worship is placed in front of weapons. Singing does not operate as a battle technique to copy. Believe his prophets here means trust the word just given through Jahaziel, not a blank check on later voices.

The coalition destroys itself; Judah gathers spoil over dead bodies

When they begin to sing and to praise, the LORD sets ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they are smitten. The children of Ammon and Moab stand up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them. When they have made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helps to destroy another. When Judah comes toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they look unto the multitude, and, behold, they are dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escapes.

Jehoshaphat and his people come to take away the spoil, and they find among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they strip off for themselves, more than they can carry away. They are three days in gathering of the spoil, it is so much. On the fourth day they assemble in the valley of Berachah; for there they bless the LORD. The identity of the ambushers and the mechanics of the collapse remain uncertain. Dead bodies names killed human beings, not scenery. Divine interpretation and human violence should not be collapsed into a repeatable formula. The account does not authorize looting, holy war, or the claim that enemies will self-destruct for believers.