In the first part of this study on Psalm 24, we noticed that David draws attention to several aspects of the character of the Lord God: his sovereign role as Creator, his righteousness, and the glory of his presence, especially in connection with the Ark of the Covenant returning to Jerusalem.
Turning now to the final section of the Psalm, we encounter a passage that had an initial fulfilment in the return of the Ark and a future fulfilment too. Remember that in our study of Psalm 1 we noted that Jesus pointed to verses from the Psalms that prophetically referred to him. In our day, we stand this side of the ascension of Messiah, whose departure was observed by the Apostles, yet whose entry into heaven was not visible. However, it was foreshadowed by David in the sublime ‘Ye gates’ hymn: “Be lifted up, you everlasting doors [literally ‘everlasting’, not merely poetically, being the very entrance to heaven], and the King of Glory shall come in”.
Interestingly, verse 7 is repeated identically in verse 9, just as verse 8 is in verse 10. In Hebrew culture, repetition is a form of emphasis – a way of saying ‘this is really important’.
And what a King of Glory is he! Moreover, in verse 10 he also bears the title, ‘The Lord of Hosts’. What a reception Jesus must have had as he returned to the glory he once shared with his Father (John 17:5). What an occasion for worship! We should not be surprised if the angels called out, as in Isaiah’s vision, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts” (Isa 6:3).
It is not without significance either that when Samuel records David’s first disastrous attempt to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, he refers to “the Ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the Lord of Hosts” (2 Sam 6:2).
Knowing God by Name
Some time ago I came across a quotation from AW Tozer’s Whatever Happened to Worship?,1 a quotation that is particularly relevant to our day and age:
A person who has sensed what Isaiah sensed will never be able to joke about ‘the Man upstairs’ or, ‘Someone up there who likes me’…I confess that when I hear or read these things I feel a great pain within. My brother or sister, there is something about our God that is different, that is beyond us, that is above us – transcendent.
And now, for advice, listen to Spurgeon:
We are warranted in using all the various names of God, for each has its own beauty and majesty, and we must reverence each by its holy use, as well as by abstaining from taking it in vain. By the Name is meant the revealed character and Word of God; we are not to worship ‘the unknown god’, but we should seek to know the covenant God of Jacob, who has been pleased to reveal his Name and attributes to His people.2
I wonder, what is your favourite name of God? Father, Shepherd, Redeemer? Often they have their Hebrew equivalents in the Old Testament, for example, Avi (‘Father’, e.g. Deut 32:6; 2 Sam 7:14), Yehovah Ra’ah (‘the Lord my Shepherd’, e.g. Ps 23:1; cf Ps 80:1; Jer 31:10), Yehovah HaGoel (‘the Lord my Redeemer’, e.g. Job 19:25; Ps 19:14; Isa 41:14).
But do you know the most frequent compound name of God? It’s this: Yehovah Tsabaoth, the Lord of Hosts. And do you know that you won’t find it once in the NIV?3 That’s in spite of the 270 times it occurs in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the two occasions it’s used in the Greek of the New Testament (Kyrios Sabaoth) – once by Paul (Rom 9:29) and once by James (James 5:4), the brother of Jesus.
The most frequent compound name of God is Yehovah Tsabaoth, the Lord of Hosts.
Encountering the Lord of Hosts
Although this name doesn’t appear in Scripture until Hannah addresses her prayer by it (1 Sam 1:11), the earliest mention of this aspect of God’s character is in the life of Joshua, about 1400 BC, and it is a most amazing revelation. In the first year of Joshua’s leadership following the death of Moses, he encountered the ‘Commander of the Host of the Lord’ (read Joshua 5:13-6:5).
You will notice that Joshua worshipped him (Josh 5:14); hence this Commander was none other than God himself, a pre-incarnational appearance of the Son. Had the encounter been with an angel, Joshua would have been rebuked. Moreover, just as God commanded Moses at the burning bush, Joshua was commanded: “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy” (Josh 5:15). This was surely the Lord of Hosts.
Elah valley, the site of David’s fight with Goliath. Photo: David LongworthWhen the young David faced Goliath, who taunted him, his response was, “I come to you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1 Sam 18:45).
This military imagery is picked up again in the time of Elisha the prophet, when the King of Syria sent a great army with horses and chariots to remove him from aiding the defence of Israel. You can read how the eyes of Elisha’s young servant were opened to see that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots all around Elisha” to protect him (2 Kings 6:8-22).
Another glimpse of this aspect of God’s character is found in the days of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, shortly before his death in 850 BC, when he consulted the Prophet Micaiah about joining a military alliance with Ahab, King of Israel, to fight the Syrians. This is how Micaiah spoke of the vision God gave in answer: “I saw the Lord, sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven around him”. The Hebrew behind the word ‘host’ is tsaba (plural, tsabaoth), meaning ‘army’.
Heavenly and Earthly Armies
Ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, with reconstruction in background. See Photo Credits. Lest we think this Name applies only to heavenly armies, let’s go again to the Book of Isaiah. Fairly early in his ministry (probably in the 740s BC), Isaiah was given a ‘burden’ about Babylon in a vision (see Isaiah 13-14). Both heavenly and earthly forces are predicted to bring about the fall of Babylon.
In Isaiah 13:3-5, God says “I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones…The Lord of Hosts musters the army for battle. They come from a far country, from the end of Heaven…”. Then he says, “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them…and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms…will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” (Isa 13:17-19).
As the Medes were hardly ‘sanctified’, it appears that God used heavenly forces (his own sanctified ones) to stir them for battle against Babylon. This prophecy was fulfilled in 539 BC. There can be no doubt but that the Lord of Hosts is awesomely sovereign in heaven and on earth.
There can be no doubt but that the Lord of Hosts is awesomely sovereign in heaven and on earth.
Reverence and Awe
When we come to the prophecy of Malachi, written in the mid-5th Century BC, the opening verses are arresting: “‘Where is the respect due to me?’ says the Lord of Hosts unto you, O priests…that despise my Name” (Mal 1:6). In the second chapter we hear God’s stern warning: “‘If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my Name,’ says the Lord of Hosts, ‘I will send a curse upon you’” (v2). The lesson is clear: without repentance and obedience, judgment will fall. Despising the Name of God is no light matter!
Much later, when James was writing to Jewish believers of the diaspora, he pointed out that, as a result of some of them oppressing the poor in their pursuit of wealth and luxury, the cries of the defrauded had “reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth” (James 5:1-6). The warning couldn’t have been clearer; in fact, in verse 9 James says, “Behold! The Judge is standing at the door!”
My friends, let us not be like the priests of Malachi’s day. Let us serve the Lord of Hosts with reverence and awe, assured that he is still the One who fights for his people: the Lord, strong and mighty in battle, the One whose angels encamp around those who fear him.
Let us always remember, as Zechariah recorded of a revelation from God himself, “This is the word of the Lord…Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts” (Zech 4:6). May he pour out his Spirit on us all in these, our days! Let’s remember, too, as wickedness increases, the revelation given to Malachi: “Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and…all who do wickedly will be stubble…says the Lord of hosts…but to you who fear my name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings” (Mal 4:1-2).
A day will come, perhaps very soon, when at his return we shall be caught up to meet him in the air and will enter heaven with him. Once again, the 'Ye gates' cry may well ring out, the question repeated, “Who is this King of Glory?” And the reply will be, “The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glory!”
Notes
1 Written in the early 1960s, but first published in 1985. Re-issued in 2012 by Wingspread Publishers, USA.
2 CH, Spurgeon, 1885. The Treasury of David, Vols 1&2 (1990, Hendrickson Publishers). Ps 70; exposition of v5, with Ps 20; exposition of v1.
3 Instead, the translators chose ‘the Lord Almighty’ – true, but much less specific.
