Today we have the privilege of working through Psalm 20. This psalm is a little different from most that we've studied so far. The only one sort of like it, up to this point, is Psalm 2.
This is a song that would've sung by the congregation-- by Israel-- for its Davidic king. Picture yourself, as Israelites. Your king is passing by, maybe on his way to war, and as he goes, you sing a song to him, and to God. It's an encouragement. It's a way to strengthen him. It's a way to send him out, in a way that he deserves.
Let's just read through it. And I'm not going to try to apply it, at all, until the end. We will read this as Israelites, wearing their sandals. (Hebrew numbering throughout; sorry)
(1) Of/for the director. Of/for David.
The psalm's heading tells us that it's "of," or "for," the director, and "of," or "for," David. This heading doesn't mean David wrote it. And, in fact, this psalm probably wasn't written by David. It's not something that he could sing. It's something we Israelites would sing. What we are going to see, is that "we" Israelites sing it, for our king. This is a song for our mouths, from our perspective. Not for David's.
What "of/for" David means, is that it belongs to his collection. Someone would've written this song for him, and it was a good enough song, that it made it into David's collection.
And it is a good song. For sure. You could call it "inspired," even. :)
Let's read from verse 2-6. As we read, picture yourself singing this to King David, or Solomon, or Josiah.
Someone like that:
(2) May Yahweh answer you on the day of distress,
may the name/Name of the God/Elohim of Jacob protect you.
(3) May He send help to you from the sanctuary,
while from Zion may He support/uphold you.
(4) May he acknowledge all your offerings,
while your burnt offerings may He consider fat. Selah.
(5) May He give you in accordance with your heart/desire,
while every plan/purpose of yours, may He fulfill.
(6) Let us/may we shout with joy at/in your salvation,
while in the name/Name of our God may we set up banners.
May He fulfill all your requests.
What exactly are we Israelites doing for our king here? We are singing to him, a prayer to God on his behalf. What do we want God to do for our king?
When our king needs help, and cries out to God, we want God to answer.
We want God's name to protect our king. One king over Judah-- Josiah-- died a tragic, early death in battle. That's what we don't want to see. Our king needs to live.
We want God to offer help from his sanctuary-- from Jerusalem.
When our king offers sacrifices, we want God to acknowledge them. We want God to treat our king like Abel, and not like Cain. When our king offers sacrifices, we want God to pay attention to them. We want him to enjoy the way they smell, the way he enjoyed Noah's sacrifice (Genesis 8:20-21). We want his relationship with God to be a healthy, strong one.
When our king makes a plan, we want God to make that plan happen. Whatever our king sets his mind to, we want God to accomplish on his behalf (Psalm 37:4).
We want God to save our king.
We want to set up banners, in new places, in the name of God, through our king. We want to take new territory. We want to plant God's flag, in new cities. We want to be victorious.
And every time our king opens his mouth, asking for anything, we want God to say "yes."
And so, as our king maybe marches off to war, or maybe has a little parade as he walks/rides to the temple to sacrifice to God, we sing this song to him. We are behind our king, entirely. We want nothing but the best for him. We want God, to give him nothing but God's best.
Verse 7:
(7) Therefore, I know that Yahweh saves his anointed one.
He shall answer him from his holy/consecrated heavens, with the power of the salvation of his right hand.
What does the "therefore" at the start of verse 7 mean?
All we Israelites have done so far, basically, is ask God to bless our king. We've been praying, this whole time, that God would lavish our king with love, and help, and grace.
And when we've been praying, we've been praying in faith. We know that God loves our king. Our king, is God's anointed one. We know that God wants to bless our king. We know that God is willing to give our king anything, and everything (Psalm 2:8). We know that what we are asking for, is God's will for our king.
And if we ask for anything in accordance with God's will/desire, God says "yes" (1 John 5:14). Right?
So when we catch our breath, before singing verse 7, we know, God has said "yes." We have confidence that God heard, that He answered, that He has done it.
Therefore, we know that God saves his anointed one. Our king will be fine, because we asked. And we know that God is powerful. Our God, is the God who has a strong right hand, who rescues his people-- and his king-- from their enemies. And our God has heard our voice.
There's one other notable thing in this verse. Where does Yahweh answer from? In verse 3, we read that God's help comes "from Zion"-- from Jerusalem, from the temple itself.
Here, the psalmist says that God answers the king from the heavens.
We've talked before about how God puts "his name" in the temple (1 Kings 8). People can pray to "the name," and "the name" helps them. At the same time, God is in the heavens.
I don't really want to try to explain all of it this morning (again), but just see that God's help comes from heaven, and God's help comes from the temple. Maybe, the idea is that the temple is an outpost in God's kingdom
(Goldingay, Psalms 1-41, 304).
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on "therefore":
Van der Merwe, C. H. J., Naudé, J. A., & Kroeze, J. H. (2017). A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar (Second Edition, pp. 452–453). Bloomsbury; Bloomsbury T&T Clark: An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
BHRG 40.21.1:
(1) ?????? and ???????? as discourse markers (very frequent)
After a short (#a–b) or long exposition (#c–d) of a situation x, ???????? (or sometimes ??????) is used to point to the implications of x for the here and now of a speaker or addressee. It is not uncommon for the exposition to be marked by means of ??? or ?????? (#a–b).
Typically the grounds of an action to be taken are introduced (#a–d). Sometimes it is the grounds of a question (#e) or an assertion (#f).
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This brings us to verse 8-9. These verses describe two types of people, and two ways of living. Which group are "we"? How are "we" characterized?:
(8) Some, in chariots,
while some, in horses,
while we (in) the Name/name of Yahweh our God, we mention/profess.
(9) They collapse,
and they fall,
while we shall rise,
and we shall stand firm.
"We" Israelites know that our strength doesn't come from our military. We are not a nation that takes a military census. We are not a nation that counts our aircraft carriers, and F-35s, and tanks. The numbers don't matter.
We evaluate our strength, on the basis of God's strength. We will rise. We will stand firm, because God fights for his king, and God fights for us.
And the nations all around us, who trust in horses, and chariots? We know they are trusting in something false, and deceptive. God is really good at defeating horses and chariots in battle. God can pop their wheels off, and bog them down in the mud. God can make them sitting ducks, for when He dumps oceans of water on them and drowns them. Yahweh is a far better Warrior, than a charioteer. We Israelites, praying this prayer, singing this song, have learned from the Exodus. We will not be deceived. And because we will not deceived, we will not fall.
Our psalm ends in verse 10 with two last (paralleled) requests:
(10) O Yahweh, save the king.
May He answer us on the day we call.
Picture your king, again, walking through the gates of Jerusalem, his army behind him. You know that battles can be scary, chaotic things. You know that anything can happen. You love your king; you know he's God's anointed one. But the confidence you have in this, doesn't mean you don't pray. And, maybe, that you don't find yourself worrying a little for him.
And so you end, with one final request. God, save the king. God, answer us when we call on you. This is a prayer, we want very badly for God to hear. This is not one, that we can afford to have God ignore.
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When we take off sandals, and look around this room, what do we do with Psalm 20?
I think we can take this psalm in three directions.
First, let's reread verses 8-9:
(8) Some, in chariots,
while some, in horses,
while we (in) the Name/name of Yahweh our God, we mention/profess.
(9) They collapse,
and they fall,
while we shall rise,
and we shall stand firm.
One of the dangers of living in the U.S. as Christians, is that it's easy for us to take comfort and refuge in our military. We go to bed at night, not worried about Canada or Mexico massing troops on the border. We don't find ourselves praying, asking God to protect his people from the Canadian horde.
We know we have soldiers, and military bases, across the globe. We know that no one will dare touch us, yet.
And so maybe we find ourselves talking a lot about our own chariots and horses. We take comfort in our cruise missiles, and nukes. We think we stand firm, because we as a nation, are all-powerful.
But what the Bible says, is that whether or not we rise or fall as a nation, is up to God. He is the one who raises kings up, and removes them (Daniel 2:21). He is the one who topples superpowers.
Every superpower that ever existed, has always thought it was invincible. You looked at each of them, in their time-- Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, the U.K., America. Each of them looked invulnerable, until suddenly, one day, they didn't.
What do we learn from this? What do we learn from Psalm 20? It's not the U.S., that keeps you safe at night. It's God.
We rise, and we stand, because we are God's people. And even if we get persecuted, or slaughtered, at the end of day, we are victorious in Christ.
The second thing we could pull from this psalm, has to do with leadership.
Now, we don't have kings in this church. No one reigns over us. But we do have leaders. If we take this psalm, and think about our pastors, and elders, what does it teach us?
"As our leaders go, so we go."
We North Dakotans tend to view our leaders with suspicion, and negativity. And this is true, both politically, and within the church. We tend to pick church leaders apart over little things. We tend to not give them the honor, and respect, that they deserve (1 Thessalonians 5:12). We tend to make life a little difficult for them, so that the end result is that leading us is something done with more grief than joy (Hebrews 13:17).
Part of why this happens, I think, is that "we" don't pray for our leaders enough, or the right way. We would never think to take Psalm 20, and pray it for our pastors, and elders.
"God, may you answer them when they pray. May you say "yes," to every petition. May you fulfill their every plan for Jamestown. May you give them the desires of their hearts. May you protect them from their enemies. May you use your strong right hand, to deliver them from the evil one, and evil people."
I think if you prayed that prayer for them, every day, you'd find your own heart would soften, and change.
Eventually, you'd find that you'd view them, the way that God views them. And, at the end of the day, you'd be far better off. It's better for you if your leaders serve you with joy. It's better if they don't feel hen-pecked, and snake-bit, every Sunday morning. If they have joy, you will probably have joy.
It's like in a marriage. Men, if the wife is happy, you're happy. If she's not... the house will get smaller, and smaller.
Right? You need your wife to be happy. And it works the same way with church. If your church leaders are happy, you're happy. If they are joyful, they will give you joy. Your partnership with them, will be marked by joy.
So pray for them.
So that's a second, perfectly acceptable to read, and apply, this psalm. Psalms by nature are flexible. There's not one right way to read them, or use them.
There's a third angle to read this psalm from. And this has to do with Jesus. Jesus is supremely God's anointed one. He is the Davidic king, forever, in a way that no other Israelite king was. And he is our king.
Now, if it's true, that as our king goes, so we go, what does that mean?
Our king is not someone we need to pray for. We don't need to worry for him, when he goes off to battle. We know that his fights, aren't going to end tragically for him. And the one moment that looked tragic-- his death on the cross-- was actually the moment of his exaltation, and his greatest victory.
We know we don't need to ask God to listen, when Jesus prays. God always listens to Jesus (John 11:42). Jesus is our great high priest, with total, and complete, access to the Father (Hebrews 4:14-16). God listens to him, and God does, whatever Jesus asks.
The closest we come to echoing this psalm, in connection with Jesus, is when we pray the Lord's prayer. We know that God's will is not always done on earth. It's always done in heaven. Heaven looks exactly how God wants it to. Earth? Not so much. And so we pray that God's desire for earth, would come into fruition. That his plans for people, would see fruit.
We also pray that God's kingdom would come-- in power, now. We want to see banners raised for Jesus across Jamestown, across ND, across the world. We want new territory taken. Not geographically, exactly. It's about people, and not places, at the end of the day. We want to see people freed from Satan, and Sin, and sickness. We want to destroy the works of the devil. And we want to welcome newcomers into God's amazing kingdom.
That's our prayer. That's our plan. That's our goal. And when we pray for these things, and seek these things, we know that we aren't dumping this off on God, and acting like He's the only one with a role here. When we pray for these things, we are asking God to partner with us, in doing these things through us. We fight with our king, to accomplish this.
"As our king goes, so we go."
If this is true, we go as winners. We go as warriors. As victors. As conquerors. Our king is truly God's anointed one, and we are happy to serve him.
Translation:
(1) Of/for the director. Of/for David.
(2) May Yahweh answer you on the day of distress,
may the name/Name of the God/Elohim of Jacob protect you.
(3) May He send help to you from the sanctuary,
while from Zion may He support/uphold you.
(4) May he acknowledge all your offerings,
while your burnt offerings may He consider fat. Selah.
(5) May He give you in accordance with your heart/desire,
while every plan/purpose of yours, may He fulfill.
(6) Let us/may we shout with joy at/in your salvation,
while in the name/Name of our God may we set up banners.
May He fulfill all your requests.
(7) Therefore, I know that Yahweh saves his anointed one.
He shall answer him from his holy/consecrated heavens, with the power of the salvation of his right hand.
(8) Some, in chariots,
while some, in horses,
while we (in) the Name/name of Yahweh our God, we mention/profess.
(9) They collapse,
and they fall,
while we shall rise,
and we shall stand firm.
(10) O Yahweh, save the king.
May He answer us on the day we call.
