Lord God of Armies

Psalm 59 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Rescue me from my enemies, my God;
^[Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.
² Rescue me from those who practice injustice,
And save me from men of bloodshed.
³ For behold, they have set an ambush for my life;
^[Fierce men attack me,
Not for my wrongdoing nor for my sin, Lord,
⁴ For no guilt of mine, they run and take their stand against me.
Stir Yourself to help me, and see!
⁵ You, Lord God of armies, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the nations;
Do not be gracious to any who deal treacherously in wrongdoing. Selah
⁶ They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And prowl around the city.
⁷ Behold, they gush forth with their mouths;
Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, “Who hears?”
⁸ But You, Lord, laugh at them;
You scoff at all the nations.

⁹ Because of his strength I will watch for You,
For God is my refuge.
¹⁰ My God in His faithfulness will meet me;
God will let me look triumphantly upon my enemies.
¹¹ Do not kill them, or my people will forget;
^[ Scatter them by Your power and bring them down,
Lord, our shield.
¹² On account of the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
May they even be caught in their pride,
And on account of curses and lies which they tell.
¹³ Destroy them in wrath, destroy them so that they will no longer exist;
So that people may know that God rules in Jacob,
To the ends of the earth. Selah
¹⁴ They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And prowl around the city.
¹⁵ They wander about for food
And murmur if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶ But as for me, I will sing of Your strength;
Yes, I will joyfully sing of Your faithfulness in the morning,
For You have been my refuge
And a place of refuge on the day of my distress.
¹⁷ My strength, I will sing praises to You;
For God is my refuge, the God who shows me favor.

We tend to characterize God as a God of peace. The psalmist says: Rescue me from my enemies, my God; Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me. Rescue me from those who practice injustice, And save me from men of bloodshed. For behold, they have set an ambush for my life; Fierce men attack me, Not for my wrongdoing nor for my sin, Lord, For no guilt of mine, they run and take their stand against me. Stir Yourself to help me, and see! You, Lord God of armies, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be gracious to any who deal treacherously in wrongdoing.  Yahweh Sabaoth, Lord of the Host or God of the Armies is one of the most used names of God in scripture. He is a God of peace to those who are with Him. Romans 16:20 says: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.  He is omnipotent and will crush those who oppose Him and us. When Jesus was arrested, in Matthew 26:52-54 Jesus said:  “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”  He is the Lord or the Captain of the Host of heaven, no one or nothing can stand against Him. Romans 8:31 rightly says: If God is for us, who is against us?

The psalmist says:  Do not be gracious to any who deal treacherously in wrongdoing. They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And prowl around the city. Behold, they gush forth with their mouths; Swords are in their lips, For, they say, “Who hears?” But You, Lord, laugh at them; You scoff at all the nations. Because of his strength I will watch for You, For God is my refuge. My God in His faithfulness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my enemies. Do not kill them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power and bring them down, Lord, our shield. On account of the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips, May they even be caught in their pride, And on account of curses and lies which they tell. Destroy them in wrath, destroy them so that they will no longer exist; So that people may know that God rules in Jacob, To the ends of the earth. We though are called by Jesus, the Lord of the Host, to a different response to our enemies. In Matthew 5:44 He says: “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”   Again in Luke 6:27-28 He says:  “I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who are abusive to you.”  That is after all what Jesus Himself did. Rather than calling on the armies of heaven to come against them, on the cross, He said: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) In the same way, we should pray God’s mercy and grace on our enemies, rather than His wrath. Romans 12:9-21 says: Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep…  Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  If we allow ourselves to fall to the level of those who persecute and curse us, we are overcome by the very evil we seek to overcome. God will have vengeance. He will repay evil. But as for us we are to be at peace with all people. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of our faith is that we are to detest what is evil, while loving, blessing and praying for those who do evil. Again though, isn’t that what Jesus did. God so loved the world, that Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice to redeem us from the evil that God hates. The only way we can truly overcome evil is through the cross.

Jesus is the Lord and Savior for all the world. But, He will return again not to sacrifice Himself for sin, but rather as the Lord of the Host, the God of the armies of heaven, to seek judgment and vengeance against evil. Revelation 19:11-16 says:  I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and  clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

But as for me, I will sing of Your strength; Yes, I will joyfully sing of Your faithfulness in the morning, For You have been my refuge And a place of refuge on the day of my distress. My strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my refuge, the God who shows me favor.  Amen.