Psalms 103:21: “Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.”

I was always taught that the host of heaven are angels. So if we were to translate the word melekin the previous verse as angels then who makes up the host. I know many will point to the fact that the previous verse referred to the angels who excelled in strength so these must be the weaker angels. It is chilling to think that with my luck my guardian angel was pulled from that pool of angels and not the ones who excel in strength.

 

Note it does not say heavenly host, just host. We assume this is the heavenly host because where else would you find a host. Well, let’s take a look at this word in the Hebrew and see. The word used is tsaba’. This is the word that is used for an army going forth to war. We do not have to consider this host as supernatural angelic beings. In fact, would it not make more sense to apply this to the Hebrew army as it march off to war. Surely King David would be commanding his men to praise the Lord as they go off to war. We are a nation that does not like to mix religion with government but I bet you that the majority of our soldiers, before they go off to fight a battle, say some sort of prayer to God. Any soldier who has the slightest belief in God is going to make an appeal to God before entering a battle where they could get seriously wounded or killed. King David would certainly not have to order his men to pray before battle, that is a foregone conclusion.

 

But note the verse is not saying to pray but to bless or praise the Lord all ye who go off to battle. I don’t think I would have much problem getting soldiers to pray to God before a battle but to bless Him and praise Him? There I would most likely have to issue a command. But, come on, there is a time and place for everything and just before you do battle does not seem like the proper time to have a praise and worship service.

 

Yet how did Joshua fight the battle of Jericho? In Joshua 6 we find that Joshua engaged in battle with a shout of praise to God. Joshua 6:16: “And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.” Gideon engaged the enemy with a shout of praise, “The sword of the Lord and Gideon.” In II Chronicles 20 Jehoshaphat defeated the four kings with a choir singing praise to God. So, yeah, it makes all kinds of sense to praise God before a battle.

 

I watched a documentary which showed the Israeli army preparing to go off to battle. They all took their helmets off as the rabbi blessed them before going to battle. Yet everyone of them still had their head covered with their skull cap. The helmet reminded them that they were going to war so they took that off before God. But the skull cap reminded them that they were always in the presence of God and all that they did they did unto God and they would continually praise Him. Once the rabbi finished his blessing the soldiers put their helmets on over their skull cap. They still wore their skull cap when they went into battle. Not because they thought it would protect them from harm, it wasn’t some luck charm to ward off the evil bullets. It was a reminder that they were in the presence of God and what they were about to do they would do as unto God and go our praising God.

 

Every day we go out to battle. We are that tsaba’ that hostor army going to battle. We face spiritual battles, battles of everyday conflicts at work or in relationships. When you get that email that the boss wants to see you about an important matter you pray, “God help me.” But do you bless the Lord? Do you go to your battles with a word of praise on your lips. Somehow I just don’t believe David is wasting all this time in Psalms 103 telling us that the angels are praising God. I can assume that once more what do I care if the angels are praising God or not. What spiritual benefit do I get from reading about angels praising God. That is why I don’t believe these are reference to angels but to us in our various capacities as leaders, rulers, ministers, preachers, teachers etc. We are the ones who need to be reminded to praise God, not the angels, they don’t need some earthly king telling them to praise God.

 

So in this verse I see King David commanding us all, we who every day go off to do battle at our jobs, our finances, our health or our relationships. A day rarely passes that we do not engage in some sort of battle, if not earthly we definitely engage in spiritual battles every day. Perhaps we should follow the example of Joshua, Gideon, Jehoshaphat, King David and the modern Israeli army, all of fit that ancient definition of tsaba’ host or an army preparing for battleand we are commanded to engage the enemy with not an “Oh God help me!” but with praise on our lips, a blessing to God in our breath and a song of worship in our hearts.

 

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