"The Lord of hosts." The name speaks of camps and armies. "The God of Jacob." Jacob was a plain man, living in tents; the type speaks of home and quiet pursuits. Put the two together, and we have war and peace. Or side by side we have in perfect unity assembled multitudes and a single individual. He is the God alike of the many and the one.
I. There is always a feeling of solemnity in the sight of the unity and the order of great multitudes. It is part of the pleasure which we have in looking up to the stars vast systems of worlds, each one circling in a fixed orbit. It is the awe of the spectacle of the march of a great army. Still more, we have it in the angels, who, though not to the exclusion of the disciplined throngs of nature, are specially the hosts of God's world. And to the full as much we have it in the congregation of saints before the throne. All these are "the hosts of the Lord."
II. The Lord is Jesus. Is He not the Captain of Israel, the Head of the Church, the King of saints? He is the God of Sabaoth. He is our Emmanuel. "The Lord of hosts is with us." His presence is no solitary thing. All that is pure and holy in all worlds follows Him; all that is worth the loving and all that is worth the having is there.
III. Who is "the God of Jacob"? Let Jacob himself tell: "The God who fed me all my life long unto this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil." The God of Jacob is (1) the God of election; (2) the God of birthright and blessing; (3) the God of presence and promise; (4) the God of faithfulness.
IV. "Refuge" it is what we all want, and may soon want sorely. The refuge is God Himself. He is the strong tower into which we run and are safe.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons,7th series, p. 129.