A Year of the Lord of Hosts-2

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

            This year will be the year of the Lord of hosts. When we the say that the Lord of hosts is with us, we mean that we are not alone. We have an army of God right beside us. We the children of God will never be afraid of anything that comes against us. We have the Lord of hosts to battle it out for us this year. The Lord of hosts is giving us the divine strength to conquer all the issues in our lives.

The Lord of Hosts is with us

            As a part of today’s meditation we are mediating on the two important things that we receive when we are led by the Lord of hosts.

Succeed

II Chronicles 13:12 “And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.”

            In this chapter we see about King Abijah and how he was given into a situation where enemies come against him. Though he was given into this dangerous circumstance, he had the Lord of hosts to battle it out for him. Even in our lives, we the children of God will face many fatal situations where people gang up against us. This should not be something that we need to worry about. When the Lord of hosts is with us, we will succeed. He will be as a guiding captain and rescue us in the time of distress. The word captain is interpreted as Rosh in Hebrew, which means the movement of the head. The Lord of hosts will be like a captain in our lives and he will give us his commandments. We should not worry about anything in our lives. All we need to have is the faith that the Lord of hosts is with us and he will let us succeed against all odds in our lives.

Trust in God- We read in II Chronicles 13:12 “And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.” This passage is the result of Abijah’s faith on the Lord of hosts. In II Chronicles 13:11 ‘And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.’ Even in our lives, we should be like Abijah who invested all his trust on the Lord of hosts. And Abijah spend more time in the presence of the Lord. The trust that he had on the Lord God saved him from the battle. When we put our trusts on the Lord God, we will never be put to shame. All our desires and requests will prosper and succeed. We read in Psalms 118:8 ‘It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.’ Therefore, let us all submit ourselves in the presence of the Lord by putting our trusts on him.

Things will change

II Chronicles 13:16 “And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.”

            This year will be the year where the Lord of hosts will battle it out for his children. We read in Exodus 14:14 ‘The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.’ There is a victory that is ready for us. We the children of God will receive it and will stand as a testimony for it. In II Chronicles 32:1-2 ‘After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem’ We see when Sennacherib comes against the children of God, they observe a feast. Sennacherib had no genuine reason for the battle yet he comes against the children of God. The situation of Hezekiah was very vulnerable and he was facing many oppositions. But the Lord of hosts had prepared a victory for Hezekiah and his people. This we read in II Chronicles 32:8 ‘With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.’ This passage records the faithful confession of Hezekiah at the time of danger.

In II Chronicles 32:11 “Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” Here Sennacherib intimidates the people under the influence of Satan. In II Chronicles 32:19 ‘And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.’ We see they provoked the name of the Lord God. Even in this situation, King Hezekiah and King Isaiah prayed together without giving up. We read in II Chronicles 32:20-21 ‘And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.’ The prayer changed the situation upside down. The Lord of hosts honored their prayers and comes for the rescue. The people who spoke ill about the name of the Lord were ashamed with dead faces. This is the mighty work of the Lord Almighty that protects and battles for the children of God. Therefore, let us pray that the Lord of hosts should be with us to guide and guard us in our lives. Amen.