Psalm 20: 1 – 9
Forgot where you parked
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion; 3 May He remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah 4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your purpose. 5 We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer 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 have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright. 9 Save, LORD! May the King answer us when we call.
The big football game that you finally were able to go to has ended. You leave the stadium out with a flood of fans and realize you have no idea where your car is parked. Has this ever happened to you? This is not a good feeling. This is what nightmares are made for. In large, crowded parking lots it can be difficult to remember exactly where your car is at. Locating your car doesn't need to be a stressful task, and here are some helpful strategies for making sure you don't forget where you parked.
First of all, you need to not let your emotions crowd out your thinking. Retrace your steps mentally to help you remember where you parked. Think back to when you drove into the parking lot—do you remember which side you drove towards? How far did you have to walk from your car to the door of the building? Trying to recreate your route to the building will help you remember where the car is parked.
If you came out of a different door than the one you entered through, try to navigate back to that door first so that you're more likely to remember your route.
Try to remember any identifying marks. Consider whether you saw anything specific or unique before or after you parked that will help you remember the spot. Were you near a section of trees? Maybe you were close to a fence, street, or light poll. Try to picture the parking spot in your mind.
If you parked in a parking deck, try to remember the color of the deck, or how many flights of stairs you walked up or down.
Use a phone to call an attendant for help, if applicable. If you truly have no idea where your car is parked and think you need assistance, many parking lots have signs posted with a number to call for help. Just dial the number on the sign and an attendant will be able to use technology (usually using your license plate number) to help you locate your car.
Press your car's panic button. If you have a remote key fob that sets off your alarm or horn, try pressing it to locate the sound of your car alarm. Be prepared to turn your alarm off again promptly. (Remember that if you're not within range, your alarm won't be set off.)
Park your car near an identifying landmark. If you have a choice of where to park, choose a spot near something distinctive. If you park near a vibrant sign, large tree, or tall lamppost, you'll be much more likely to remember where you've parked when you return. The landmark that you pick should be seen from far away so that you'll notice it as soon as you begin looking for your car.
Many places such as sport complexes and theme parks often already have landmarks (signs, pillars, lights, etc.) with numbers, letters, or pictures on them in the parking lot to help you remember where you've parked.
Many parking structures mark floors, rows, and spaces. If you have cues like these, note them, especially if you will be spending a long time inside.
Take a photo or video of where you parked. Using your cellphone's camera to take a picture or video of where you parked is an easy and efficient way of remembering where your car is located. It's an instant reminder, and you can delete the photo or video when it's no longer needed.
Make sure to include identifying landmarks next to your car in the picture as well, especially if you are in an unfamiliar place.
Use the old fashion method by writing down notes reminding you of where you parked. If you have a scrap piece of paper and a pen with you, jot down notes to remind yourself where you've parked. Writing down the landmarks surrounding your car will ensure that you don't forget where it is.
Take a moment to write down your license plate number (if you don't already have it memorized), just in case.
Tell yourself where you've parked out loud. Verbally reminding yourself where your car is can help your brain remember where you've parked. Putting it into words will remind you and any passengers to be conscious of your location.
Saying something like, "I am now parking halfway down the row directly under the sign for the beauty parlor" will make you more likely to remember where you've parked.
If some people walk by while you are talking to yourself about where you parked, just smile at them and say, ‘We are Penn State’. (Not recommended if you are not at Penn State)
In today’s scripture our Precious Holy Spirit mentions this type of identification. He uses the way to know where you can find your way home to your tent is to look for your tribal banner. For example, if you were from the tribe of Judah, your banner would be that of a lion. Locate that banner and you are on your way back home.
This short Psalm is a cry that God will faithfully respond to His own in the day of trouble. Such a day of trouble has apparently come, and the appeal is threefold, firstly for YHWH to act in response to the past faithfulness of His people, secondly, because of YHWH’s own trustworthiness as their covenant God, and thirdly and finally because He Is their King.
It may be that we are to see it as in the form of prayer and response. First the leading intercessor makes his declaratory petition (verses 1-4). Then the people respond (5, followed by further response (6-8 and concluding with a final plea for deliverance (9).
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
This is another Psalm offered to the organizer of the sacred music, or the choirmaster, and dedicated to David. The prayer is for God to aid the Davidic king, giving him victory against the enemies of God’s people.
1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion;
The leading petitioner appeals for Yahweh Father God to help them (the people) on the day of trouble that has come on them, and to set them in a place of safety and victory. Reference to ‘the God of Jacob’ may recognize that they are like Jacob, the weak and failing side of Jacob/Israel, but at the same time stressing that they are looking to His mercy, precisely because He was the God of Jacob, the weak and failing one who yet proved his strength with God. Or they may be proudly naming their ancestor and reminding God that they are descended from one who was His chosen, and that they are His chosen in him. Either way the appeal is that He will establish them ‘on high’, in the place of honor and victory.
The deliverance is looked for ‘from the sanctuary’, that is from the invisible God acting from Heaven through His throne over the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH in the Holiest of All. They look for strengthening (‘a holding up’) in their endeavors, in all they sought to do, a ‘holding up’ coming out of Mount Zion, the earthly dwelling place of God, on which the Tabernacle or Temple stands.
The assumption is that God will hear and answer their cry because by His own choice He has taken up His dwelling among His people, and because He Is their God Who has elected to make a covenant with them, and their prince is His anointed one (verse 6), His chosen.
3 May He remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
So as the offerings for YHWH’s aid are offered, the petitioner appeals to God to remember all their past offerings which have revealed them as His true covenant people, and to especially note these that are now being offered. The offerings are both an admission of sin, a means of atonement and a token of rededication to God’s covenant. To ‘remember’ them will be to act in response to them
In mind ‘All your offerings’ are the meal offerings (‘gift’) which accompanied sacrifices. Also, the ‘burnt offering’ (‘whole offering’, is wholly consumed by fire) which was wholly offered to YHWH. These two composed the daily morning and evening offering (Exodus 29.38-42; Numbers 28.3-8). But they were also offered at other times as well, and the fact that the meal offerings are plural suggests that this is referring to extra offerings possibly resulting from the crisis.
‘Accept as fat’ means to treat it as acceptable. The fat was an important part of the offering.
4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your purpose.
The speaker’s final petition is that they will receive what they desire from their hearts, and will be prospered in what they have decided to do in order to deal with the problem on hand.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
The people make response by declaring their faith and confidence that He will deliver, thus causing them to triumph, and proclaim that it is in His name that they will set up their banners. It will be in faith, in readiness for their victorious assaults against the enemy with Him on their side, and then, once their faith is rewarded, in revealing the victory after the battle. All would be one in declaring their confidence in YHWH.
The leading petitioner then takes over stating his confident hope that YHWH their God will fulfil all their petitions. This is followed by a confident declaration that God will respond to His anointed prince and give him the strength required for victory.
6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.
This could be the continuation of the words of the leading petitioner, or the words of the High Priest. Either way his confidence is that YHWH will save His anointed (the Davidic Prince), delivering him from his foes by answering from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand (by exerting His strongest power) and giving him victory. ‘Has saved’ is expressing the certainty that it will be so. ‘His anointed’ may mean the people.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
The contrast is then made between them and their opponents, and indeed them and all the world. Whereas others trust in chariots and horses, and in all their other weaponry and worldly resources, God’s people trust in the name of YHWH their God. That is, they believe in what He is as represented by His name. His name, and what He is, will be their battle cry and their boast. They need nothing else. Although they will arm themselves as adequately as they are able, they recognize that without Him they can do nothing. Faith, however, is no excuse for lack of effort.
8 They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.
That they have made a sensible choice comes out in the fact that the chariots and horses will fail their enemies so that they will bow down and fall (seen as already accomplished). While through their confidence in the name of YHWH they know that they themselves will, after the battle, arise and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD! May the King answer us when we call.
The Psalm ends with a firm plea to the covenant King. Let Him save, by answering them when they call.
The general principle behind the Psalm can be applied to all God’s people when they face trouble. They can call on God to help them through His Anointed Who Is with them, and be certain of God’s victory in whatever way He pleases to send it.
