Praying Psalm 20 (Part One) Series

He protects us in the sense that he doesn't allow it to be worse than it was. In the story of Job he allowed Satan to only go so far. We need to be thankful for God's protection over us. Without it, many of us wouldn't be here.

Maybe you know someone who is prone to making dangerously bad decisions that put them in precarious situations. Maybe you know someone who's depressed and suicidal. Maybe you know someone whose health is in bad shape. We pray God's protection over them.

We ask for God's wisdom, discernment and comfort to break through and help get them out of whatever risky situations they are currently in or prone to being in. We pray that God would answer us in our distress and protect us. And we pray that for others too.

2) God helps and supports.

Psalm 20:2, "May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion."

The focus words we have in this verse are help and support. But not just any help and support-help from the sanctuary and support from Zion. What does that mean? In the OT the place of worship was the tabernacle or the temple. In it they had Most Holy Place, where God would be. On the ark of the covenant there was a cover called the atonement cover or mercy seat. The sanctuary would've been seen as the place where God was sought, where you would seek atonement and mercy.

Today, we have a new covenant through Christ. Through him we seek mercy, help and support. And the church isn't the only place where that happens, our sanctuary can be wherever we go to connect with God. No matter where we are we can seek God and find help and support.

Although we can connect with God anywhere, that doesn't mean the church is not needed. We meet with God as individuals and collectively-both are necessary. In a church building, the room the service is held in is often called the sanctuary. What happens when the church meets-help and support. When we express our hurts and needs we receive prayer and counsel.

We can receive understanding from God as he speaks to us through the praise and worship time, the meditation and LS messages, the sermon, the Sunday School discussion as well as the fellowship time. I've had many people tell me they were struggling with something and when they came to church or bible study something was said that addressed the very thing they were dealing with.

God can speak and minister to us from anywhere but there's something to be said about how God works when his people are in corporate worship together. When we get in our sanctuary, supernatural things happen.

Psalm 73 is a psalm of Asaph. He was having trouble accepting the prosperity of the wicked. I'm sure we've all been there before, right? Wondering why those who don't serve God seem to be living happy, carefree lives. And because he was going through suffering, he even considered it worthless that he had kept his heart pure. Then, he gained some help, support and understanding when he entered the sanctuary.