The Lord of Hosts

22 FEBRUARY

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Psalm 46:7

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Matthew 26: 47-56

In this verse we are taught how we should apply to our own use the things which Scriptures record about the infinite power of God. We will be able to do this when we believe we are counted among those whom God has embraced with His fatherly love and whom He cherishes. The psalmist here alludes to the adoption by which Israel was separated from the common condition of all the other nations of the earth. Apart from this, the description of the power of God would only inspire us with dread. 

Confident boasting, then, arises from the fact that God has chosen us for His peculiar people to show forth His power in preserving and defending us. The prophet, after celebrating the power of God by calling him the LORD of hosts, or "the God of armies," immediately adds another epithet, the God of Jacob, by which he confirms the covenant God made of old with Abraham, that his posterity to whom the inheritance of the promised grace belongs, should not doubt that God also favors them.

So that our faith may rest truly and firmly in God, we must take into consideration two parts of His character: His immeasurable power, by which He is able to subdue the entire world, and His fatherly love, which He has manifested in His Word. When these two attributes of God join together, nothing can hinder us from believing that we can defy all the enemies who may rise up against us.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: If we want to draw any comfort from knowing that God is the LORD of hosts, we must make sure that we are on His side. This is the most crucial issue of all. Then all our hope can be in the one who is both all-powerful and loving.

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke