From Praying the Names of God Week Thirteen, Day Five
The Name
The Lord of Hosts is a title that emphasizes God's rule over every other power in the material and spiritual universe. When Scripture speaks of "the host of heaven," it is usually speaking of celestial bodies, though the phrase can also refer to angelic beings. The word "host" can also refer to human beings and to nature itself. When you pray to Yahweh Tsebaoth, you are praying to a God so magnificent that all creation serves his purposes.
Key Scripture
But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand." (1 Samuel 17:45-46 NRSV)
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Friday
PROMISES ASSOCIATED WITH GOD'S NAME
What are you afraid of? Your children straying? Your marriage breaking up? Are you afraid of loneliness, sickness, financial trouble, failure, accidents, old age, death? Perhaps you worry that you will never find a life partner. Or maybe you are afraid God doesn't love you, that he can't forgive you, that he finds the essential you unacceptable. To be human is to be vulnerable, to be aware of limitations, weaknesses, and defects that may lead to our undoing. What's more, Satan plays on these weaknesses, accusing us day and night. In the spiritual struggle in which all of us are engaged, we need to stop giving him sway by listening to his lies. We need instead to accept the clear evidence of God's love for us, remembering always that the battle belongs to the Lord.
Promises in Scripture
"Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth."
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46:10-11 NRSV)
O LORD of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you. (Psalm 84:12 NRSV)
Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 1:3 NRSV)
Then those who revered the LORD spoke with one another.The LORD took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the LORD and thought on his name.They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. (Malachi 3:16-17 NRSV)
Continued Prayer and Praise
Remember that no one can thwart the plans of the Lord of Hosts. (Isaiah 14:24-27)
Pray for restoration. (Psalm 80:19)
Let all creation praise the Lord of Hosts. (Psalm 148)
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Meet your spiritual ancestors as they really were: Less Than Perfect: Broken Men and Women of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them.
