Psalms 20:1-9 KJV To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; [2] Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; [3] Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. [4] Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. [5] We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. [6] Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. [7] Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. [8] They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. [9] Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
I. INTRODUCTION—THE CIRCULAR PATTERN OF THIS GROUPING OF PSALMS
-In Psalm 19, it was brought to our attention that Psalm 15-24 are a group of psalms that seem to have worship as their theme. Psalm 15 and Psalm 24 are very similar in their presentations and both of them focus heavily on the characteristics of what a true worshipper looks like.
-Psalm 19 served as the center of these psalms and it exalted creation but it exalted the Word of God at an even higher level than the creation. If Psalm 19 shows us anything, it shows us the magnitude, the greatness, and the value of the Word. All of our worship is very much affected by our view of the Scriptures. If there is a high view of the Word, there will be a high view of God. There are those that we meet in life who have an incredibly high view of God and they obtained that because they know the Word.
-All of these psalms have a great impact on our worship:
• Psalms 15 and 24—The Character of the Worshipper
• Psalm 17—The Cry of the Worshipper
• Psalm 18—The Deliverance of the Worshipper
• Psalm 19—The Word of the Worshipper
• Psalm 20—The Battle of the Worshipper
• Psalm 21—The Victory of the Worshipper
• Psalm 22—The Suffering and Joy of the Worshipper
• Psalm 23—The Shepherd of the Worshipper
-All of these are aspects of the true worshipper.
II. PRAYING THE SCRIPTURES
-This psalm is not only a song; it is also a prayer. I want to remind you again to pray the Scriptures.
Gordon Wenham—The Psalms: they are designed to be prayed.
Robert Murray McCheyne—Turn the Bible into prayer. This is the best way of learning the meaning of the Bible and of learning to pray.
John Piper—For me it is absolutely essential that my prayers be guided by, saturated by, and sustained and controlled by the Word of God.
D. A. Carson—Pray over the Scriptures. Christians just setting out on the path of prayer sometimes pray for everything they can think of, glance at their watches, and discover they have been at it for three or four minutes. This experience sometimes generates feelings of defeat, discouragement, even despair. A great way to begin to overcome this problem is to pray through various biblical passages.
Allan Ross—The theme of this psalm is confidence in praying. It records an intercessory prayer for the king, who was himself praying for deliverance in battle.
-Make it your practice to pray the Bible and you will never again say the same old things about the same old things!
• Go through the passage line by line.
• Speak to God about the matters that are prompted by the Word.
• Mix faith with your words of prayer.
-If you were to pray this battle hymn of the saint, it would be obvious that you would also link up Ephesians 6:10-18 where Paul lists the individual pieces of spiritual armor that we have at our availability.
III. PSALM 20—THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD
William Gurnall—One Almighty is more than all mighties.
-This psalm is not only a song it is also a prayer. In this prayer is a request for a military victory before David goes to battle. Some scholars think that Psalm 20 is closely connected to Psalm 21 and the prayer for the battle is in Psalm 20 and the praise for the victory is in Psalm 21.
-It is also a royal psalm (along with Psalms 2; 18; 20; 21; 45; 72; 89; 101; 110; 132; 144) which means that it portrays the Lord as a sovereign ruler over all the earth. We should take time to take seriously what Jesus had to say:
John 5:39 KJV Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
-Therefore we can see Jesus in Psalm 20 as He fights for those who call on his name.
A. The Petitions for the King—Psalm 20:1-5
Psalms 20:1-5 KJV To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; [2] Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; [3] Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. [4] Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. [5] We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
-Notice what David is praying for in these first five verses:
• God’s Protection
• God’s Power
• God’s Prosperity
1. For God’s Protection—v. 1
“The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble” could also be rendered, “The Lord hear thee in the day of battle.” The application for this entire psalm could certainly be for any saint who is in a day of trouble.
-David cries out for God’s protection. “I know this battle belongs to the Lord but I need His protection on me while He is securing that victory.”
-One of the reasons that David was praying for help in the battle is because wars and battles in the Bible show there were some terrible consequences that accompanied them:
• Famine—Isa. 51:19; Jer. 14:15; Lam. 5:10
• Pestilence—Jer. 27:13; 28:8 (Referring to the sense of destruction that came with war.)
• Cruelty—Jer. 18:21; Lam. 5:11-14
• Devastation—Isa. 1:7
• Very Lengthy—2 Sam. 3:1
-While all of these are matters of the ancient world in warfare, there are many places in Scripture where it is declared to us that the believer is in a spiritual war and that we battle spiritual enemies:
• Compared to a battle with our own death—Eccl. 8:8
• With the enemies of our salvation—Rom. 7:28; 2 Cor. 10:3; Eph. 6:12; 1 Tim. 1:18
• The battle between the Antichrist and the church—Rev. 11:7; 13:4, 7
• The malignity (spite, meanness, hostility) of the wicked—Psa. 55:21
-We need the Lord’s protection in this battle that we are facing!
2. For God’s Power—v. 2
-David’s cry for protection in the battle is for the Lord to uphold him, support him, and sustain the king and his army.
-He then allows us to see where he is looking for all of those things to come from. God’s power will come from the sanctuary which is the Tabernacle and from Zion which is the physical location of Jerusalem.
-He realized that his protection was going to come from the house of God in the city of God.
3. For God’s Prosperity—vv. 3-5
-The third matter was to pray for God’s prosperity. The greatest prosperity that any child of God can experience is that which is bound up in our worship, sacrifice, and acknowledgement of Him working in our behalf.
-We must notice how closely that worship is connected to victory in the battle. If the king’s leadership was to be strong in the battle, he had to have a strong spiritual life. The people prayed for the spiritual wellbeing of those in the battle especially the king.
-Do we find ourselves praying for the leaders who are leading the way in the battle?
• That they would not fall to deception.
• That their voices would be strong in their preaching of the Word.
• That they would not become discouraged because of the way.
• That God would give them the wisdom and insight needed to move the church forward.
• That they would have a moral purity and holy integrity about their ministry.
• That the daily grind of ministry would not dishearten them.
-A spiritual leader must have a strong spiritual life to prevail in these days. Pray for pastors, evangelists, youth pastors, missionaries, and organizational officials.
a. To accept David’s sacrifices—v. 3
Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. . .
-The soldiers who were about to go into battle would have been involved with the necessary sacrifices at the Tabernacle that were prescribed by Leviticus 1-7. We find Jesus Christ in all of these offerings as well.
• The burnt offering—1:1-17 (Foreshadows the Cross.)
• The grain offering—2:1-16 (The best grain and without leaven showing the perfection of Christ. The wheat was crushed, ground into fine flour, baked in the oven, and broken to sustain the priests.)
• The peace offering—3:1-17 (Jesus Christ was the perfect peace offering for the redemption of man.)
• The sin offering—4:1-5:13 (Offered up for the unintentional sins that man came into contact with. No sin can hold up to the blood of Jesus Christ.)
• The trespass offering—5:14-6:7 (Righted the wrong of the sinner and cleared his conscience. Nothing like the grace of God clears our conscience.)
-King David would have been involved in these as well. They wanted to go into battle with a righteousness before God.
-We ought to have that same intent in our worship to the Lord and that every battle that we go into, there will be spiritual preparation involved on our part. My commitment to worship is directly related to my own success in battle. . . the commitment of this church to worship is directly related to our success in the spiritual battle.
b. To advance David’s plans—v. 4
-God is more than willing to give a spiritual man the desires of his heart and answer the petitions he will pray. Make your earthly ambitions to be holy aspirations for God’s Kingdom.
-David’s plans were wrapped up in the God’s will:
• Grant thee according to thine own heart
• Fulfill all thy counsel
-Both of those requests have to do with God, to whom they are praying. The prayer is that in connection with this battle they are about to undertake, David is pleading for the Lord grant the things according to His heart and to His counsel not David’s. David has seen enough battles to realize that God’s plan is the best one to follow after.
c. To achieve David’s victory—v. 5
-When God secures the victory, the banners will be raised up for Him. Plant the flags and the banners on the forts, the lands, and the armies of the defeated foe. Get a picture of that in your mind! There will come a day when the Lord is going to plant his banners and flags directly over every enemy stronghold and fort that ever existed in the name of the devil’s cause.
-For those who will pray, I believe that from this passage that we can gather in the fact that we can pray with confidence that the Lord will take care of the battle. Notice verse 5, “the Lord fulfill ALL thy petitions.”
-Some, especially those critics of prayer, would seem to say that they have prayed in the past and the matter did not get a sufficient answer or more likely the one they wanted. Here is where the context of the passage will help us.
-Verse 5 re-echoes the first clause of verse 1 and all of verse 4. The Lord will hear you in the day of trouble. . . The Name of God will defend you. . . and so forth. There are limits on prayer but God sets them in motion as safeguards. If God were to give us everything that we prayed for, it would be detrimental to our soul.
• Help is coming from the sanctuary.
• Strength is coming out of the city of Zion.
• It will be according to the heart and counsel of God.
-But here is where our faith should rise over this matter of prayer, God is working it out for what is best in our behalf. We will only be able to see that on the other side of victory. For some that other side of victory will be when the bonds of this earth has finally slipped free off of their soul.
-Stop wrestling with prayers that you think have not been answered and look to the ones that you know have been answered. God is working out a victory in your behalf! All have been guilty of praying about matters in ignorance that we shudder to think now what might have happened if God would have answered it to our liking.
B. The Prayer of the King—Psalm 20:6-8
Psalms 20:6-8 KJV Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. [7] Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. [8] They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
1. God Saves the King—v. 6
-Look at David’s faith in verse 6, “I know that the Lord saveth his anointed!” David had been anointed three times. First by Samuel, then the people of Judah, and finally the people of Israel (1 Sam. 2:4; 16:13; 2 Sam. 5:3; 1 Sam. 24:6, 10; 26:9, 11, 23; 2 Sam. 1:14).
-We can finally see at this point, verse 6, where David personalizes this psalm. He notes “now I know” and we can see that David is very much a man of war but he is a man of prayer.
• He is praying before the Tabernacle.
• He is praying prior to the battle.
• He is standing in the congregation with the people leading them in prayer.
• He is a devout man which is seen in his offering up of sacrifices and burnt offerings and sacrifices.
• A nation is blessed by the kind of a leader who will pray in this manner.
-This is a king that knows that God has two sanctuaries. There is the one he can see in Zion (v. 2) and there is another that he cannot see in the holy heaven (v. 6). But David knows something. . . He knows that God hears from heaven when people gather in the one on the earth. Prayer is sent up from the sanctuary below to the one above and God actively intervenes.
Hebrews 10:24-25 KJV And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
1 Corinthians 5:4 KJV In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Acts 1:13-14 KJV And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. [14] These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
-There is something to this matter of a church coming together to worship. . .
Colossians 3:16-17 KJV Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. [17] And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
2. God Secures the Victory—vv. 7-8
-Notice where David encouraged his men and even himself to put their trust. Put your trust in the name of the Lord!
a. Not by man’s resources—vv. 7a, 8a
-One of the most difficult matters in kingdom living is realizing that God’s kingdom is upside down from that of man. Man has a tendency to lean toward physical, tangible items that he can get his hands on. He looks to swords, shields, and armaments that come from the flesh.
-Man wants something that he can use to bludgeon and beat down his enemies. God’s kingdom is far different from that. The Lord’s protection may not always seem real or present because we may continue to cry out, “How long, O Lord?” But our power is not in the resources of man but in the power of the Cross.
• God’s victory over sin.
• God’s victory over death.
• God’s victory over the devil.
-Man’s resources are pointed out in the first phrases of verses 7 and 8. . . Some trust in chariots and some in horses. . . The result: they are brought down and fallen. . .
b. But by His Name—v. 7b, 8b
-But last two phrases of verses 7 and 8 tell us what the faithful do. . . We will remember the name of the Lord our God. . . The result: we are risen and stand upright.
-It is the power of the Name! From such trouble only the Mighty God was able to deliver. The personal name of God, Yahweh, is used in the first half of verse 1 and is paralleled by the “name of the God of Jacob.” That is an allusion to when Jacob was running for his life from Esau. Genesis 35:3 describes the vow of this patriarch: “I will make there (Bethel) and altar unto God, who answered me in the day of distress.”
-The answer, “the God of Jacob” became proverbial for powerful, divine intervention, and so now the people of Israel are looking for a similar deliverance in their day of distress. So now we get to David’s response, “I am going to trust in the Name of the Lord to help me.”
-If the name of a person is connected to that person’s power or importance, then the “name of the Lord” is often considered to be the predominant force in the Old Testament.
-When you look in the psalms, the “name of the Lord” is linked with his attributes:
• Righteousness—89:15
• Faithfulness—89:24
• Salvation—96:2
• Holiness—99:3
• Goodness—100:4
• Mercy—109:21
• Love—119:55
• Truth—138:2
• Glory—148:13
-To fight, or be sent, or pray “in the name of the Lord” meant to do so by faith in his power and authority.
-Lastly, since the “name of the Lord” is associated with his presence at the Ark, it has to be connected with worship:
• It can be praised—Joel 2:26
• It can be loved—Psa. 5:11
• It can be declared—Psa. 22:22
• It can be feared—Mal. 4:2
• It can be waited on—Psa. 52:9
• It can be walked in—Jer. 34:16
-There are also ways that tainted worship can treat the “name of the Lord”:
• It can also be blasphemed—Isa. 52:5
• It can be polluted—Jer. 34:16
• It can be profaned—Ezek. 36:21
-If the name of a person is connected to that person’s power or importance, then the “name of the Lord” is often considered to be the predominant force in the Old Testament but it transitions over into something else in the New Testament!
Acts 4:12 KJV Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Mark 16:15-18 KJV And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. [17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Acts 16:18 KJV And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
Acts 19:12-15 KJV So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. [13] Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. [14] And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. [15] And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
-WE OUGHT TO PRAY. . . IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. . . OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! If the world is going to drag his name through the mud in blasphemous, sinful cursing. . . I am going to lift that Name as high as I possibly can in every single avenue of my life. . . Prayer, worship, singing, studying, preaching. . .
C. The Pleading for the King—Psalm 20:9
Psalms 20:9 KJV Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
1. Save the king—v. 9a
-Save the king has to be understood as a prayer for his victories.
2. Answer our prayers—v. 9b
-Here is what we can see with this psalm. . . It is a prayer all the way through. . . It opens with a request and it ends with a request.
-Don’t be fearful, weary struggling warrior, if you think that your prayers are only needs that are being cried out to the Lord! There will come a time when the battle finally starts to turn in your direction and you will shout with joy, with praise, and with abandon. . . The Lord has prevailed!
-The Lord will save the earthly king, David, and He will hear us when we call out to Him!
IV. CONCLUSION—THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD
-The battle is the Lord’s! Even all of the shaking that is going on in our world today, the Lord has that in his hand as well!
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 KJV Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, [2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. [3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
-The battle belongs to the Lord!
Philip Harrelson
May 27, 2016
