SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Prayers to God (vs 1-5)
(2). Confidence in God (vs 6-8)
(3). Reliance on God (vs 9)
SERMON CONTENT:
Ill:
• On May 27, the German High Command announced:
• “The British army is encircled and our troops are proceeding to its annihilation”.
The Prime Minister Winston Churchill said:
“I thought, and some good judges agreed with me that perhaps 20,000 or 30,000 men might be re-embarked. The whole root and core and brain of the British army . . . seemed about to perish on the field or be led into captivity.”
• The previous Sunday May 26 1940,
• At the request of His Majesty King George VI,
• Had been set apart and observed as a National Day of Prayer.
• In a stirring broadcast, the King called the people of Britain and the empire;
• To commit their cause to God. The whole nation was at prayer.
• Three miracles then happened:
• Hitler stopped his general advance,
• a storm of extraordinary fury grounded the German Air Force on May 28th,
• a great calm settled over the English Channel for several days.
• Which allowed 338,000 men of the British army to be evacuated from Dunkirk!
• The success against the odds of the evacuation of 338,000 men;
• From the beaches of Dunkirk was widely regarded as a ‘miracle’.
• A ‘national day of prayer’ was called for by the King;
• More than once, in fact at several critical points during the war,
• TRANSITION: Verse 9: Is a call to the nation to pray:
• “Lord, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!”
• This was an Old Testament instruction to dedicate themselves to the Lord.
• (Deuteronomy chapter 20 verses 1-4):
• In doing this they would remember that no matter how big the opposing army might be!
• It was the Lord who would grant them victory;
This psalm is a prayer written by David for such an occasion:
• Most commenters suggest that Psalm 20 and Psalm 21 go together as a pair;
• Psalm 20 is mostly ceremony before a battle.
• Psalm 21 is mostly celebration after a battle.
• This Psalm shows the value that David placed on prayer.
• David knew that prayer was his best weapon when he went into battle.
• And so, David gave the people of Israel who stayed behind a prayer to pray.
• And through this important work of prayer,
• Even those staying behind could share in the victory.
Ill/Joke:
• Sam the local scoundrel shows up at a Church meeting, seeking help.
• He tells the pastor: "I need you to pray for my hearing,"
• The pastor puts his fingers on Sam’s ears and prays and prays and prays.
• When he’s done, he asks Sam, "How’s your hearing now?"
• Sam replies:
• "I don’t know, ‘cause I don’t go to court till next Tuesday."
Ill:
• A more serious illustration regarding prayer from the life of Charles Spurgeon.
• Many years ago five young college students made their way to London;
• They wanted to hear the ‘Prince of preachers’ Charles Haddon Spurgeon preach.
• They arrived early at the Metropolitan Tabernacle,
• And they found the doors were still locked.
• As they waited on the steps of the Church;
• A man approached them and asked them:
• ‘Would you like to see the heating apparatus of this church?’
• That was not what they had come for, but rather than just sit on the steps bored;
• They agreed to go with him.
• The man led them into the building via a side-entrance,
• And down a long flight of stairs, and into a hallway.
• At the end of the hallway he opened a door into a large room;
• The room was filled with seven hundred people on their knees praying.
• ‘That,’ said their guide (who was none other than Spurgeon himself),
• ‘is the heating apparatus of this church’
• TRANSITION:
• King David knew the importance of prayer;
• He knew the importance of a praying nation;
• So he encouraged the people of Israel who stayed behind a prayer to pray.
• So that together those who went to battle;
• And those staying behind could share in the victory.
• All leaders (even the great King David) need the prayers of God’s people.
• Because even the greatest leaders are subject to physical and spiritual trouble.
Quote: (Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms, pg. 272.)
"In all trouble, personal, domestic, or national, prayer is the best resort of high and low.
On earth no man is so afflicted, or forsaken, or beset by the wicked, that God cannot save him, and no man is so great as not to need help from on high."
Ill:
• A tourist came across an old man sitting in a remote village;
• He turned to the old man and said:
• “Excuse me were there any great men born around here?”
• Without looking up the old man replied:
• “No, all men round here are born ordinary”
• TRANSITION: David might have been a great leader, a great soldier;
• But he never forgot he was an ordinary man with an extra ordinary God;
• Therefore he realised the importance of the prayers of God’s people.
• David was a man of God:
• Who lead the nation in prayer i.e. this and many other Psalms.
• And who practiced his faith publicly i.e. ‘offered sacrifices’
• The Psalm can be divided under three headings:
• I want to call the first heading: Prayers to God (for the King).
(1). Prayers to God (vs 1-5)
“May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
3 May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
5 May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests”.
• Did you notice that this prayer of David is actually in the form of a benediction;
• Rather than speaking directly to God;
• The one who is praying;
• Is actually speaking to the one who is being prayed for!
• And asking God's blessing upon them.
Ill:
• There are in the Bible more famous examples of this type of prayer/benediction:
• Perhaps the most well-known is found in the book of Numbers chapter 6 verses 22-27.
22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons,
“This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 ‘“‘The LORD bless you
and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD turn his face towards you
and give you peace.’”
• So in this type of prayer/benediction;
• Rather than speaking directly to God;
• The one who is praying;
• Is actually speaking to the one who is being prayed for!
• And asking God's blessing upon them.
Note:
• The first five verses of this Psalm are a prayer for Israel’s king;
• Strictly speaking they are words not directed to God, but to the king himself.
• Yet they are prayers even though their form is unusual;
• Since the people clearly want God to deliver, protect, and bless their monarch;
• And they will gladly pray these words for these things.
• The key word in this section is the term ‘May’;
• It is used six times in these five verses;
• And it emphasises six fervent desires of the people.
• Let’s look at them:
No 1: (vs 1a): "May the LORD answer you when you are in distress."
• This is prayed from a human point of view.
• Because the Lord answers all of our prayers.
• He may not answer them how we like or at the time we want;
• But he always hears and answers our prayers,
• Even if the answer is “wait” or even “no!”
• An equivalent prayer could be:
• "May the Lord's answer to your prayer be clear to you."
No 2: (vs 1b): "May the name of the God of Jacob protect you."
• For the Jewish people, God’s "name" was not merely his title or identification;
• The name also embodied his character and attributes.
• So, by saying, "May the name of the God of Jacob protect you,"
• David is asking for the full force of God's power and might,
• The whole measure of God's justice, and the entire depth of God's love.
• To be with David.
• As God was with Jacob may he also be with you!
• The appeal of the name "the God of Jacob" is also significant;
• And should give us all hope and comfort.
• Because we know that Jacob was a schemer who ceaselessly wrestled with God.
• Yet despite Jacob's sins, God had mercy on him, blessed him and answered his prayers.
• If God answered Jacob's prayers, he will certainly answer ours!
• The fact that God answers our prayers is NOT based on our faithfulness to him,
• But on His faithfulness to us his children!
No 3: (vs 2): "May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion."
• The expressions "sanctuary" and "Zion" refer to the dwelling place of God,
• So David is asking that help would come to them directly from God.
• After all:
• Can anyone be defeated when he has his help is coming directly from almighty God?
No 4: (vs 3): "May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings."
• David wrote this Psalm;
• At a time when atonement came through blood sacrifices and burnt offerings.
• And this phrase of the Psalm is a reminder of David’s commitment to seek forgiveness.
• It is a reminder that David took his obligations to God seriously.
• For us as Christians:
• We do not have to pray this line of the prayer,
• Because we are ‘in Christ’ and all our dealings with God are based on this fact;
• Therefore God "remembers" and "accepts" Christ's sacrifice for our sins.
No 5: (vs 4): "May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed."
• Note: Implicit in the request:
• That God give you the "desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed";
• Is that your desires and plans reflect God's will for your life.
Ill:
• Imagine you are in a boat and you are approaching the river bank,
• You throw a rope and hook to the bank and pull.
• Question: Do you pull the river bank to you?
• Or do you pull yourself towards the bank?
• Prayer is not pulling God to my will,
• But the aligning of my will to the will of God.
• For prayer to be effective and bring victory,
• Surrender to God’s will and co-operation with God’s will is essential.
• May God give you the "desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed";
• Is a prayer that your desires and plans reflect God's will for your life.
• God's will for us, of course, is always best.
• And so, in a sense, this is a prayer that God would make His desires our desires.
No 6: (vs 5): “May the LORD grant all your requests."
• This last use of the word ‘May’ in David's prayer,
• Is a statement of faith that the prayer will be answered:
• Notice the words that precede it:
"We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests."
• In this statement of faith the declaration is that God will get the glory for the victory.
• We must not forget, that when God delivers us and answers our prayers:
• The we ought to praise Him and give Him the credit for the victory,
• We must not forget to "lift up our banners in the name of our God."
Ill:
• Following on from my opening illustration regarding the National Prayer Days:
• On VE Day the Prime Minister spoke from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
• He was one who had always been conscious of that over-ruling providence,
• That guiding, guardian hand.
• His Majesty King George VI then stepped quietly to the microphone.
• He said with great emphasis:
• “We give thanks to Almighty God for the victory He has granted us in Europe”.
• TRANSITION: We must not forget, that when God delivers us and answers our prayers:
• The we ought to praise Him and give Him the credit for the victory,
• We must not forget to "lift up our banners in the name of our God."
(2). Confidence in God (vs 6-8).
“Now this I know:
the LORD gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.”
Ill:
• Ron Butterfield, once taught a class of mentally impaired teenagers.
• Looking at his students’ capabilities rather than their limitations,
• Ron got them to play chess, restore furniture and repair electrical appliances.
• Most important, he taught them to believe in themselves.
• Young Bobby soon proved how well he had learned that last lesson.
• One day he brought in a broken toaster to repair.
• He carried the toaster tucked under one arm,
• And a half-loaf of bread under the other.
This segment of the Psalm display confidence!
• Notice that this section is spoken in the first person (singular):
• It may be David the king speaking;
• Or some suggest it may be one of the nation’s priests.
• It expands on David's faith that God will answer the prayer:
• “Now this I know: the Lord gives victory to his anointed.
• He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand”.
• These verses contrast and compare Israel’s trust in God;
• With the confidence the other nations had in their military power.
• Ancient people depend on so many other things to save them.
• In war they trusted in their chariots, horses, numbers of fighting men, weapons etc.
• Yet David affirms in verse 7:
• "Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
• BUT we trust in the name of the LORD our God."
• These things are important says David, but they are never enough!
• So there is a real difference between what the world depends upon,
• And what the child of God depends upon.
• Notice therefore there are two outcomes to those decisions made:
• Those who "…trust in chariots and in horses,
• Verse 8a: "They are brought to their knees”.
• But those who “…trust in the name of the LORD our God."
• Verse 8b: “…rise up and stand firm."
Ill:
• John III Sobieski, king of Poland in the late 17th century,
• Is best remembered as the man who saved central Europe;
• He saved them from the invading armies of Turks in 1683.
• With the Turks at the walls of Vienna,
• Sobieski led a charge that broke the siege.
• His rescue of Vienna is considered one of the decisive battles in European history.
• In announcing his great victory;
• The king paraphrased the famous words of Caesar by saying simply,
• "I came; I saw; God conquered."
• TRANSITION: David would declare the same:
• Victory is found by trusting in God and depending on the power of his right hand.
(3). Reliance on God (vs 9):
• In this last verse David summarises the Psalm
• "LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!"
• This verse may well be the congregations response;
• To the statement of faith they have heard throughout the Psalm.
• So the Psalm ends with the people of God uniting their voices in declaration of;
• God save the king!
• And it is of course the first words of our own national Anthem.
Note:
• Here is an Old Testament verse telling us to pray for our leaders;
• It has a New Testament equivalent found in 1 Timothy chapter 2.
• We are to pray for those in authority!
Ill:
Don’t be like the man who prayed this prayer:
“God bless me and my wife,
My son and his wife,
Us four and no more.
Amen”.
• Our prayers are to be all-inclusive;
• They are to be given for everyone – especially those in authority;
• And not just for family members, close friends, or other Christians.
• So let’s pray for our leaders;
• Let’s pray that God will give to us godly leaders,
• And lets pray God will make us into the kind of people who can produce such leaders!
