Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 20, the psalm we just sang. Psalm 20, I'll read the psalm, pray, and then we'll look at it in some detail. So Psalm 20, beginning in verse 1, to the chief musician, a Psalm of David. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble.
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion. May He remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah.
May he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose. 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.
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. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord, our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright.
Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call. Amen. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for this beautiful day. We thank You that You have blessed so wonderfully us in Christ Jesus. You've blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Him, and we rejoice in that. We thank You for Your sovereign grace.
We thank You for Your mercy. We thank You for the justifying faith that You gave us. And we ask that as we gather together now at the sound of Your Word, the Holy Spirit would guide and lead us, that You would wash us afresh in the precious blood of the Lamb. And God, we pray for any and all here that may be looking to chariots, those looking to horses, anything outside of the sovereign God for salvation.
We pray that you would be merciful, that today would be the day of salvation, that sinners in this place would call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as we come to Psalm 20, it's connected to Psalms 18, 19, and 21, not just numerically, but thematically. So the close connection between Psalms 18 and 20 and 21, we have references to the king in Psalm 1850, Psalm 29, Psalm 21, 1 and Psalm 21, 7. Also refers to the distress of the king in Psalm 18, 6 and 21. It refers to God as His stronghold in 18, 2 and protector in 21, as well to the Lord sustaining the king in 18, 35 and 22.
As well, the name of the Lord is the emphasis for the psalmist in terms of his confidence, in terms of his trust, in terms of his hope. And you see that in 1849, and then as well in 21, 5, and 7. And then ultimately it speaks to the salvation of the king in 1850 and in 25. And essentially what we have in Psalm 20 is the prayer of God's people and then the confidence of God's people.
So the prayer is verses 1 to 5 and then the confidence in verses 6 to 9. And it's connected specifically to Psalm 21 because what is prayed for in Psalm 20 is rehearsed as having been accomplished in Psalm 21. If you look at Psalm 21, verses 1 to 7, they're reflecting upon the fact that God has heard, God has in fact answered prayer, and God has in fact delivered His King. And so the connections between Psalms 20 and 18, and as well Psalm 20 and 21, very clear.
It's also connected to Psalm 19. Again, not just numerically, but thematically. And I would suggest that structurally, Psalm 20 functions much the way that Psalm 19 does. When we treated the first part of Psalm 19, we noticed there's a didactic emphasis.
In other words, the emphasis on God's general revelation of himself and the created order. There's also prophetic significance behind that shows us something concerning our Lord Jesus. Now, obviously, this prayer is offered up on behalf of King David, the monarch of Old Covenant Israel. So they are praying that David would know victory in battle against his enemies.
That's the didactic emphasis. But the prophetic significance is with reference to true David. It's the church at prayer long before the coming of the Messiah in his first advent with reference to the mission entrusted to him by the Father. In fact, I think C.H.
Spurgeon hits the nail on the head when he summarizes the teaching of Psalm 20 thus. He says, we have before us a national anthem. fitted to be sung at the outbreak of war, when the monarch was girding on his sword for the fight. If David had not been vexed with wars, we might never have been favored with such psalms as this." He then goes on, "'It needs but a moment's reflection to perceive that this hymn of prayer is prophetical of our Lord Jesus. and is the cry of the ancient church on behalf of her Lord as she sees Him in vision enduring a great fight of afflictions on her behalf. So it's a prayer of the people of God for the King of God to be successful in the battles for God.
So we'll notice in chapter 20, or Psalm 20, verses 1 to 5,
The Prayer of the Church
we'll just take up the prayer of the church, and then secondly, the latter part of the Psalm, verses 6 to 9, the confidence of the church. But let's look first at the prayer of the church, and there's two main emphases here. You've got petitions in verses 1 to 4, and then response in verse 5. But in terms of the petitions, notice it's very obvious, may the Lord answer you.
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you. May He send you help from the sanctuary. May He remember all your offerings. May He grant you according to your heart's desire.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions at the end of verse 5. So it's petitions, it's requests, it's invocation. At the occasion of a battle, as the monarch is strapping on his sword, his people are indeed invoking their god such that he comes in power to save and deliver the king and thus save and deliver all of the king's loyal subjects. But those petitions, I think, can be categorized into three subsections.
First, it speaks concerning the presence of trouble. Secondly, the place of help. And then thirdly, the provision of grace. Note first the presence of trouble in verse 1.
The Presence of Trouble
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. That argues the reality, the existence, and the presence of trouble. Trouble for King David going against the Philistines. Trouble for King David battling the Moabites.
Trouble for King David as he ventured into the warfare in order to save his people from their calamities. It is true for the people of God. None of us are exempt from this reality in our present evil age. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble.
It argues, it assumes, it presupposes that there's going to be days of trouble. Contrary to the health, wealth, and prosperity, no gospel, is the reality that the sheep of Christ suffer. The reality that our Lord promised that in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. God's people are not immune to suffering.
God's people are not immune to affliction. God's people are not immune to trial. God's people undergo at times gross injustice. God's people at times have to suffer grievous things in this present evil age.
So the psalmist understands the reality of trouble. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. It's true for David, it's true obviously for the church, but it's true also for true David. If as I've suggested, the church prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus, and I know dispensationalists would not like me to say that, there's no church until the day of Pentecost.
It's the believing people of God. So I'm using church prior to the day of Pentecost, the believing people of God. Abel is a churchman. Abraham is a churchman.
Isaac and Jacob are churchmen. So that's what I mean by the church prior to the first advent of our Savior as they cry out with reference to his coming as Messiah promised. So notice, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. The church is petitioning Yahweh on behalf of the one that Yahweh is going to send.
Gil says all the days of Christ were days of trouble. He was a brother born for adversity, a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs. He had his own sorrows and he bore the griefs of others. Andrew Bonar, as it were, takes us to the foot of the cross, takes us into Gethsemane and says, this would likely have been our prayer as we understood what the Son of Man was going to undergo.
Bonar says, this psalm is the prayer which the church might be supposed offering up had all the redeemed stood by the cross or in Gethsemane in full consciousness of what was doing there. So the petition is clear. It assumes and presupposes a day of trouble. And then the petition in the midst of that trouble is very simple.
Notice the petition that God would answer us in the day of trouble. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. That's a good petition for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to render up. God, answer me in the day of trouble.
Jesus promised that in this world I will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I've overcome the world. God, understanding that tribulation, understanding that affliction, understanding those trials, God, I pray that you would answer me. And not only answer, but the petition that God would defend us in that day of trouble. Notice the latter part of verse 1, May the name of the God of Jacob, God of Jacob indicates for us the covenant Lord, the God of promise, the one who has called Abram out of Ur, the Chaldeans, the one who has promised to Abram, I'm going to give you a land, I'm going to give you a seed, I'm going to give you a great blessing.
This God of Jacob suggests even more so the glory of our sovereign head than the word God. Not that God is bad. God is a great name for God. It reveals to us who He is, His perfections.
But this God of Jacob captures that covenant element wherein He is with His people and in a special way. And so the petition that God would defend us in the day of trouble or protect us or set you on high. That's literally what the margin reads. May the name of the God of Jacob set you on high.
What does that mean? It means out of the path of your enemies, out of the way of that affliction, out of the way of that trouble. And when we come to Psalm 21, we learn that that is precisely what God does in terms of his blessed son. What does he do?
He raises him from the dead. The Lord Christ ascends on high. He takes his position of authority at the right hand of God Most High. He is above his enemies.
He is no longer in the muck. He is no longer in the evil. He is no longer in the affliction. He is no longer the man of sorrows as he was in his earthly ministry.
So what they pray for in Psalm 20 is certainly realized in Psalm 21. And so as it were, we get to enter into the mindset of the old covenant church as they're looking forward to the promised one that Yahweh is going to send to save His people from their sins. That's why we just sang a Christmas hymn. That's why we just sang 294.
That's why we sang Luke 1 that was given us in 294. We are in solidarity with those brethren in the old covenant that we're looking forward to the coming one, this champion that would undergo a day of trouble, but he would do such in such a way as to bring salvation to all of his people and then to receive that vindication and that exaltation at the right hand of the majesty on high. So he speaks concerning the presence of trouble.
The Place of Help
Notice in verse two, the place of help. Where's our confidence? Where's our help? Where do we go?
You know, I might offer you help, but I might not have the resources to help you. If you came to me and said, you know, I find myself $1 million in debt, I'd probably say, may the Lord deliver you in the day of trouble, and I will certainly pray for you, but I don't have the wherewithal to deliver you from that particular malady. In other words, when we go to somebody asking for help, we hope that someone has the help available. And that's the focus in verse two.
Again, petitions, may he send you help and may he strengthen you. But note specifically this place of help in verse two. May he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion. This idea of sanctuary, I think argues God's special presence among his people.
Theology proper teaches us, well, God is immense. God is, as well, omnipresent. There's no place where God isn't. You can't shimmy up to Mount Shem this afternoon and be in a place where there is no God.
Psalm 139, even if I go down to Sheol, thou art there. Yes, God is immense. God is omnipresent. God is everywhere.
But I think this idea of sanctuary suggests to us His intimacy and His nearness with His people. The place is significant here. It's not this transcendent God so far removed that He has no truck with His people. No.
May He send you help from the sanctuary. And then notice it says, "...and strengthen you out of Zion." Again, God owns comprehensively everything that is. Zion speaks to his special rule. It speaks to his power specifically relative to the people under his protection, those loyal subjects, those whom he has promised to save and those he has promised to defend.
I think it suggests something of what we find in Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. It says, and he, God the Father, put all things under his, Christ's feet, and gave him, Christ, to be head over all things. He's got comprehensive sovereignty over all things, all authority, and heaven and all the earth has been given to me. But with specific focus on the church in Ephesians 1.
Over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Christ has universal sovereignty with a particular focus on the church. And the same emphasis, I think, is what's going on in verse 2. May He send you help from the sanctuary, that place of intimacy wherein God has truck with His people.
And may He strengthen you out of Zion, that churchly term. That specific reference to the gathered people of God as they watch their monarch, David, lead them into the field of battle, as they watch their monarch, Christ, go to the cross on their behalf. May it be the case that God grants you these things from this place of help. He has the power, He has the authority, He has the intimacy, and He has, as it were, the heart to do these things for the benefit and the blessing of His people.
And then notice the specific petition. Again, verse 2, may He send you help from the sanctuary. That's what we need. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble.
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion. You see it in its original context. I would certainly like to pray this if I would have been one of David's subjects back in the old covenant.
Yeah, Lord help him. Yeah, Lord, strengthen him. We don't enter into battles to lose. You'd never pray for your king, you know, weaken him.
Make sure he doesn't get a good night of rest. Make sure he's, you know, nutrient deficient. Make sure he's got a bit of a limp. Make sure he's got, you know, missing an eye.
No, no, strengthen him. He's got to go into battle, and the battle, yes, is for Him. Yes, it's ultimately for the glory of God. There's a degree of self-interest there.
We want Him to beat Philistines so Philistines don't beat us. We want Him to knock the teeth out of Edomites because we don't particularly want our teeth knocked out by Edomites. So, Lord, visit Him, strengthen Him, help Him. Of course, on that side of the cross, may this man of sorrows bear up.
May this man acquainted with grief not be overcome. May this one who knows such distress not shrink back. May this one who's given the task of Yahweh to save his people from their sins, may he go to the uttermost and to the lengths necessary in order to accomplish that particular task. These are petitions that are legit for the people of God.
Answer, defend, send help, strengthen. And then that brings us
The Provision of Grace
thirdly in this subsection in terms of petitions of the church to the provision of grace in verses three and four. Notice, may he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice, say Allah. May he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose. I would suggest the emphasis here is on the acceptance of God in verse three and the provision of God in verse four.
Note the acceptance of God. May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Go back with me to the old covenant. What do you think kings did as they prepared for battle?
Well, you've already said they girt themselves with their sword. Yeah. Did they have any religious obligations? Sure they did.
Priests offer up some sacrifices. Priests burn some lambs. We're going into battle against Philistines and Edomites, and we need God's help. We need God's provision.
We need His acceptance. Now brethren, they didn't do this to buy God off. Well, we've offered the requisite sacrifices, so therefore we can expect victory on the field of battle. No, I think Ash gets it right.
In terms of these offerings and burnt sacrifice, in an Old Covenant context, it indicates the trustful dependence of the king on the covenant promises of God, such as might be offered before going out to a battle. They are not a payment to induce God to act, but the expression of faith. You get the difference, right? It's a different thing if I bring a lamb, cut its throat, hand it to the priest and say, you know, now that you've done that, or now that the priest has disposed of it through burning, then I'm necessarily going to be blessed.
That's mercenary. That's trying to buy God off. It's a different story when this is an expression of faith. I believe in the one who has called me for this particular purpose.
I want to offer up sacrifices. I want to praise him. I want to worship him. I want to glorify and adore him.
Now, it doesn't take much to move from verse three to a new covenant setting. If this is prophetically significant of our Lord Jesus Christ, might this not be a good prayer on behalf of the old covenant church? May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Well, of course, because Christ's offerings, Christ's sacrifice is uniquely calculated to bring glory to God and to bring blessing and good to us.
May He be pleased with your priestly ministry. May He be pleased with your work on our behalf. May He be pleased with your active obedience, always doing what the Father gave Him to do. May He be pleased with your passive obedience as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And I dare say, not only from Psalm 21, but from everywhere else, that God was in fact well-pleased. And as the psalmist says, may he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice, we most certainly see that to be the case. How does Paul encourage the church in Ephesus to love one another? He says, walk in love.
Because the commandments of God tell you that, and if you don't, the thunderbolts from on high are going to zap you down. That's a legit motive. We should love each other because the thunderbolts from on high might zap us down if we don't. just as Christ walked, just as Christ gave Himself for us, and as the apostle says, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. When the psalmist prays, may he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice, when he prays prophetically, when he prays on behalf of the church, he's looking forward to that event wherein the Son of God takes on our humanity, lives in our place, dies in our place, and is raised again for us.
And he's praying, make it effectual, make it good, sustain him, help him, defend him, protect him, guide him, direct him such that he's able to accomplish this. It's a beautiful thing. It's a wonderful thing. But then as well, he moves on to the provision.
Notice in verse four, may he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose or your counsel. I think this expresses, yes, for David, Sure, if you ask David on a Thursday morning when he was going to meet Edomites and Philistines out on the field of battle, what's your heart's desire, David? That I kill a bunch of Philistines and Edomites, right? Don't look puzzled at me.
He's a king fighting for the glory of God, defending his people. I hope that the Lord helps, that the Lord answers, that the Lord protects, that the Lord lifts me up above my enemies such that when I swing my sword, I dash them to pieces. I want to dance in their blood, Psalm 58. That's pretty offensive.
Well, take it up with the Holy Spirit. When you ask David, what is your heart's desire? What is it that would fulfill all your purpose or all your counsel? Again, lots of dead Philistines and Edomites.
What if we ask the Lord Jesus? Does the New Testament tell us what his heart's desire was? Does it tell us what his purpose or his counsel was? Oh, absolutely.
My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If anyone thirsts, let him come and drink.
We don't have to wonder or scratch our heads in terms of new covenant application to verse 4. May He grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose. Why did the Son of God take on our human nature? To live for us? to die for us and to be raised again for us.
It's a legit and consistent prayer on behalf of the church prior to the first coming to pray, may He grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose. You've got it answered, as I said, in 21, 2. Notice, you have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. That's amplified all throughout 21, 1 to 7.
It's basically looking back and rehearsing on the fact that the things we've prayed have been answered. The things we prayed prior to the first coming are answered at the first coming. I take 21, 8 to 13 to speak to his second coming and that final triumph wherein specifically he dashes down those who trust in chariots or trust in chariots and horses. Because as 27 says or 28 says, they had bowed down and fallen.
In other words, 21, 8 to 13, sort of amplifies that misery and calamity for all those who reject and resist this blessed King that God sent. Ash again on verse 4, he longs that he will make the Father known, and he will. He desires that His disciples will be protected and given union in Him, and they will. He prays for those who crucify Him that they will be forgiven, and they will.
He prays to govern the world with justice, and He will. Every plan of Christ will be fulfilled. If you ask David, what do you want today on the day of battle? Victory.
You ask Jesus, what do you want today on the day of battle? Victory. You ask the church how they prayed before his first advent, what are they going to say? May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble.
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion. May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. May he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose.
Petition, petition, petition, petition. We see the problem, or rather the presence of trouble. We see the place of help. And then notice the provision of grace here in verses three to four.
That's the petitions.
The Church's Response of Joy
What's the response of the church in verse five? In other words, what are they anticipating our response is going to be when you answer these petitions to strengthen Him, to defend Him, to help Him, to guide Him, to direct Him, to fulfill the desires of His heart? What will be our response in verse 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." There'll be an expression of joy at the salvation of God. That's reflexive gratitude based on what God provides. Guilt, grace, gratitude, that's absolutely what happens. We're guilty, vile, helpless, we, spotless Lamb of God was He, full atonement, can it be?
Hallelujah, what a Savior! We're guilty. By God's grace, we come. We receive grace.
Actually, it's grace, and then we come, and more grace, and more grace, and more grace, and more grace. What's the response of the people of God? Gratitude, thank you, blessed be the name of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. The heart moved by God's grace, can't but help praise God.
And that's what these guys or these brethren are anticipating. We will rejoice in your salvation. And in the name of our God, we will set up our banners. Why do you think they rejoice in the salvation that God gives to Messiah.
Because Messiah's salvation, Messiah's help, Messiah's strength and protection, Messiah's vindication means the blessing of the church. In other words, if we participate with Messiah in the days of trouble, then we participate with Messiah when salvation comes. We participate in the blessings and the benefits that he secures, having been benefited by his work on our behalf. So it's Thursday night, David's coming back from the field of battle, dripping with blood, but thankfully not his own, Philistine and Edomite blood.
What are we going to do? You know, David, I can't believe you didn't clean up before you came to... Oh, praise God! He's victorious!
Our enemies are shattered all over the battlefield. You wouldn't help but be happy and full of gratitude and joy and thanksgiving. Our king, our monarch, our deliverer, our protector, our defender, he has done what we have prayed that God would enable him to do. Well, thus it is with our blessed Savior.
We will rejoice in your salvation. David Dixon says, whosoever partakes with Christ's subjects in trouble shall share with them also in the joy of their deliverance. Wherefore it is said, we will rejoice in thy salvation. You participate with him in the troubled day?
You participate with him at the feast, celebrating victory at the end of the troubled day. Augustine puts it thus, we will exult in that death, we will exult in that death will in no wise hurt thee. For so thou will also show that it cannot hurt us either. You couldn't best David?
You're not gonna best us either. You couldn't best true David? You're not gonna best us either. You couldn't fall him permanently?
You're not gonna fall us permanently. Oh yes, there'll be some stumblings along the way. Oh yes, there will be some wanderings along the way. Oh yes, we'll have to contend with that pig of a being that roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Oh yeah, there's gonna be molestation to be sure. There's gonna be difficulties and troublesomeness, but we'll eventually say, death, where is your sting? grave, where is thy victory?" Or as Paul says, who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?
Don't ever even entertain it. Christ has died and He's risen. In fact, Paul in that bit says, if God is for us, who can be against us? You see, the joy and the gratitude and the thanksgiving that flow here in verse 5 is consistent with the salvation wrought.
When the Son of God passes through the waters of baptism, goes out into the wilderness to be tempted and tried by the devil, when He eventually ends up on the cross, when He's placed in the tomb, when He's raised again, when He ascends on high, when He's enthroned at the right hand of the Father, it is paradigmatic for us. There's going to be waters of difficulty. There's going to be wildernesses at times. There's going to be sorrows and heartaches and sufferings.
There may even be martyrdom in your future. But you know what? By grace, you are saving, savingly united to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that one who passed through the tomb to the throne sets the pattern for all of his people.
How could they not but rejoice? And I love the language in verse five. And in the name of our God, we will set up our banners. You know, in a military situation, you've got the pole with the banner, a standard, a flag, it identifies who you're identified with.
We'll set up our banners, not as a testimony to what we've accomplished, not to our prowess on the battlefield, but we will set up our banners to the name of the Lord God. We will proclaim victory in His name. We will take the benefits and the fruits in His name. We will celebrate not our name, but His name.
You see, this is triumph. This is victory. This is the anticipation on the part of the Old Covenant Church, looking and waiting and wanting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at the incarnation, the assumption of our human nature, the life, the death, the resurrection, so that He could bring many sons to glory, having suffered and died on their behalf." This is God's blessing and purpose. And this section ends summarizing what has gone before it.
Verse 5b, May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. I love that connection. And we'll see it in just a moment as we move to verses 6 to 9. The confidence that we have in our God to do certain things does not mitigate the necessity to pray.
You hear that at times. Oh, you're a Calvinist. You're Reformed. It's like it tastes bad coming out of their mouth.
It's like saying, you know, I don't know, whatever bad thing you don't like to—vomit. I don't think there's a nice way to say vomit. It just never connotes anything pleasing whatsoever. It's kind of how people say, you're a Calvinist.
You can see it flowing out. You're reformed. What do they object with? If God's absolutely sovereign, why pray?
You know what I say? Because God is absolutely sovereign, that's the foundation for prayer. What we know is true of God does not remove that blessed privilege we have to ask it from Him. Why would we think that?
Well, I know God's gonna deliver, I know he's gonna do what he does, and that's just the way it's gonna be, so it doesn't really matter if I pray. I'm glad the old covenant church didn't think that way. I'm glad the new covenant church doesn't think that way. I'm glad it's just an anomaly in the minds of weirdos that look like Calvinism and reform.
But at times, practically, has it settled into your own soul? Well, God's absolutely sovereign, so what does it matter if I pray about this? Ask David under the inspiration of the Spirit as he's penning Psalm 20. Do you think God's absolutely sovereign?
Well, no, it's, you know, the court's still, you know, in session. I don't know. Of course he understood God's comprehensive, absolute, unrivaled, powerful sovereignty governing all his creatures and all their actions. Of course, that's a settled thing.
It's the foundation for our approach through Christ to the throne of grace. I'd want to throw it on its other side. If God's not sovereign, why would you pray? Well, prayer changes things.
Brethren, I gotta say, I certainly don't want my prayer to be able to change God. That would be a horrifying thought. Imagine creature, sinful creature, Having the potential, having the ability to so work in prayer that God decides tomorrow, you know, that was a pretty earnest prayer. I think I'm gonna just alter the course of my providence because, you know, Jim came to me.
It's a horrifying thought. So ask the person that denies comprehensive, unrivaled, unparalleled, powerful sovereignty, why would you pray? What? Where's the motivation to pray?
You think this is just a random ball floating through the sky and hopefully you can grab God when He's on the pass by and get Him to act or affect a certain thing according to your will? Praise God that he's revealed his will to us such that we can pray in accordance with it.
The Confidence of the Church
Then notice the confidence of the church in verses six to nine. Here we have the confidence expressed in verse six, a contrast in verses seven and eight, and then a conclusion in verse nine. Notice the confidence 6A, now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. Yeah, David was a Christ, David was a Messiah.
David was an anointed one. But as David pens the Psalms, David seems to understand there's a Messiah, a Christ, an anointed one that transcends his station as the earthly monarch in Old Covenant Israel. Psalm 2, why do the nations rage and the people plot of vain things? They set themselves against who?
Against Yahweh and against his Christ. Who's that Christ? The only begotten son of Yahweh, Psalm 2. That one that takes his place on the throne, who has universal empire, universal sovereignty, universal power.
David was always localized. David writes the Psalms conscious that there's somebody that he as prophet is pointing to. There is somebody that he as man, king, is typical of. Notice in 1850 how David ends that psalm.
Great deliverance he gives to his king and shows mercy to his anointed. To David and his descendants forevermore. Whatever God has done favorably in terms of David as monarch over Israel in the Old Covenant, this is a promise that extends generations evermore. Why?
Because it is fixated on and it is terminated on the Son of His love, the true anointed. The one that the Psalter celebrates is coming to save His people from their sins. The one that the prophets celebrate is coming to save His people from their sins. So the salvation of David, certainly in play, the Messiah of God, the salvation of true David and his resurrection, his ascension, his exaltation, his session now at the right hand of God Almighty.
It's a beautiful thing. Now I know. See, there's that confidence. He knows something of God.
He knows something of God's plan. He knows something of God's purpose. Doesn't mitigate the petitions in verses one to five. but it provides the right context for him to pray the petitions in verses one to five. So verse six, now I know that the Lord saves his anointed.
He will answer him from his holy heaven, just as was prayed in verse two. May he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion with the saving strength of his right hand, just as was prayed at the end of verse two and strengthen you out of Zion. The Lord God Most High is going to make good on all of His promises, they are yea and amen, in our blessed Savior, in our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. So He makes this assertion concerning His confidence.
Now I know that the Lord saves His Christ. He will answer Him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Christ is raised from the dead. Christ is enthroned at the right hand of the majesty on high.
All of this demonstrates what the psalmist is confident is going to happen. He will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
Trusting Chariots Versus the Name of God
Now notice the contrast in verses seven and eight. He's gonna pick on the nations now. I know that sounds mean, that's mean. You know, the guy's going out to shed blood.
You got to expect a little trash talk. If you're upset by the trash talk, why don't you see David on the battlefield? You long for trash talk. I just think we have this concept that the way David secured the kingdom was, you know, meeting in Switzerland and drinking coffee and chatting.
No. He took his sword out and he swung it at people with great vengeance, prayerfully, zealously, and earnestly. And you know, once in a while he'd strike those people and they were close enough that, you know, there'd be some splatter. We're so polished in the 21st century.
We're so conditioned by air conditioning, we can't even imagine the thought that land was gained through bloodshed and conquest, yeah, for 20 centuries. Before that, for however many centuries, David, victorious. And David picks on the enemies of the Lord. Notice in verse 7, some they trust in chariots and some in horses.
We looked at this in a bit of detail on Wednesday night in our Bible study. Deuteronomy chapter 17, principles governing monarchy and old covenant Israel are outlined in verses 14 to 20. And you know what the old covenant king in Israel was prohibited from? Multiplying horses, multiplying wives, and multiplying wealth.
Doesn't mean no horses, no wife, and no wealth. It means be careful of your priority, be careful of your allegiances, Be careful that you're not trusting in the multiplicity of your horses, or the political alliances that your marriage to many wives has forged. And don't think you've beaten Philistines and Edomites on the day of battle because of the greater amount of gold and silver that you have. Again, the prohibition is not.
No horses, no wife, and no money. You've got to eat gruel, live in a hovel, and just have a miserable existence if you're the king of old covenant Israel. That's not it. It's a misplaced trust.
What happens to a king when he's got the biggest army, when he's got the strongest alliances, and when he's got the most money? Does he give all praise and glory to God? Thank you? No. because of my superior military capability, because of my political alliances forged by these many marriages, because the amount of money I have.
It's a patting on the back in terms of his own sufficiency. This is completely contradictory to what the Old Covenant Church is praying with reference to Messiah. This is completely contrary to what the Old Covenant Church was praying with reference to David. So we see some trust in chariots and some in horses, but here's the priority, here's the allegiance, here's the confession, here's the bottom line.
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. It wasn't our military. It wasn't our alliances. And it wasn't our money.
When David successfully cut down, followed by his armies, of course, Philistines and Edomites, Israel didn't sit around and pat themselves on the back and say, man, are we ever great. So good that we have such a huge army. Wasn't this the lesson that Gideon needed to learn? You got too many people.
Get rid of them. Go. Sorry, beat it. You thought you were going to battle today?
Go play basketball. Get out. What's the point? I don't want you to think for a moment, Gideon, that when you stomp the Midianites into oblivion, that it was contingent upon your big army.
Again, have an army. The horse is prepared for the day of battle, Proverbs 21, 31. Don't be indolent. Don't be negligent.
Don't be lazy. Don't lay on the couch and say, the Lord's going to deliver me. No, the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord. Perhaps that's in Paul's mind in 1 Corinthians 3.
One sows. One waters, but God gives the increase. So we don't argue, well, God's gonna give the increase, so it doesn't matter if we sow or water. No, he gives the increase through the means of sowing and watering.
He gives the victory through the preparation of the horse. But when you've got the victory, don't praise the horse. That just seems so pretty self-evident. So some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God And this different allegiance of verse seven shows a different outcome in verse eight.
They, the trustors in chariots and horses, they have bowed down and fallen. You go out on the field of battle to a people prayerful, a people dependent, a people owned by the sovereign God of heaven and earth, you're not gonna win. You're, you know, the crack, you're seal team six of the Philistines. We got this.
These guys are going down. And we got superior horses. We got, you know, chariots of iron. Our chariot wheels have more blood of our enemies on them than any other chariot wheels.
You got that attitude? and you're taking on the Most High? Very simple. They had bowed down and fallen. We're the enemies of Yahweh today.
Bowed down and fallen. David, how was it out there? It was great. They're all bowed down and fallen.
Well, what do you mean, David? You know exactly what he meant. They're bowed down and fallen. They were beat.
They were trampled. They were slaughtered.
Call to Trust Christ Alone
See, that's the folly of trusting in horses and chariots. But for those in Christ, we have risen and stand upright. See the contrast? If you're not a Christian here this morning, you really need to pay attention to what he's saying here.
Well, I don't trust in horses and chariots. That'd be crazy. Do you trust in yourself? Do you trust in the religion of somebody else?
Do you trust in anything other than Jesus Christ alone and the salvation that he offers, that he promises to those who come to him? You may be a horse and chariot truster without even knowing it. You're not in Christ. What are you going to do on the Day of Judgment?
You're not in Christ, what are you gonna do should you die today? You're not in Christ, what are you gonna do when you stand before the Most High? Well, I, I, I, I, exactly. You know what those who rise do?
They say, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. What about horses and chariots? Why would I want horses and chariots?
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Why would I want my dirty, filthy, rotten, wicked works? Why would I want the false religious systems out there?
Why would I want or think that there's some salvation to be had in anything other than the one who's actually called savior? It's kind of his job. It's his function. It's his offices.
It's his role. It's his purpose. Don't be a truster in horses and chariots, be a truster in Jesus. I love the contrast.
They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright. That's the day of judgment. We're not standing upright. We're not risen there in our own strength.
We're not there as, you know, patters on the back. I'm so much wiser than my fellows. We're there because we're clothed in His righteousness. We're there because we're cleansed in His blood.
We're there because by the grace of God, we didn't trust horses, we didn't trust chariots, but rather we trusted in the name of the Lord our God. We have learned all too well what the new covenant tells us and the old as well all throughout. Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You are going to meet this God one day.
You know, sometimes you present this material to people, they say, well, I'm not a believer. Do you think that adjusts the entirety of reality? Oh, well, you're not a believer. So I guess there's not a day of judgment?
I guess for you? There'll be an exit gate on that day? I don't know how that is a logical explanation or a logical refutation of the reality that we will all stand before the presence of God to give an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or bad. But I'm an atheist.
Oh, well, you know, atheists have their own place. You'll be fine there. Nowhere does the Bible ever assert such folly. The Bible is absolutely positively clear there is a day of judgment coming.
There will be those who've trusted in a whole host of things other than Christ, and they're going to bow down and fall. The others, by God's grace, through the salvation wrought by His Son, they're going to rise They're going to stand. So if you think that just because I've never really been exposed to these concepts and I've never really thought about them, yeah, I mean, what do we expect? Like, you know, the government access agents?
What's your problem? Oh yeah, I need a new license. Okay, take your picture, give me your money and go stand. Is that our concept of the day of judgment?
You know, there's a line for believers who've by God's grace, rested in Jesus. And there's a line for every, you know, atheist. Oh, you didn't believe. Okay, we got a room over there for you.
You'll be safe there for all eternity. Just a brief reflection on that. It just shows or underscores the following. You're either in Christ or you're not.
He who believes the Son has everlasting life. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but, but what? There's a room over there in the wings for you. No, but the wrath of God abides on him, John 3, 36.
What's Jesus say? If you're not with me, there's a room over there. No, if you're not with me, you're against me. What do we learn from Psalm 20 in terms of being for Jesus, rising and standing?
What do we learn in terms of not being with Jesus, bowing down and falling?
The Psalm's Closing Petition
And the psalm ends where it began, save Lord. Save, Lord. Such earnestness, such an expression, because the days of trouble necessitate this kind of cry, this kind of prayer, and this kind of intercession. Save, Lord, may the King answer us when we call.
Yahweh, Father, may the King, Jesus, answer us when we call. Joel 2, 32, Acts 2, Romans 10, whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's a beautiful petition and one I encourage everybody here that's not a Christian to invoke. Cry to God, save Lord.
May the King answer us when we call. Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. The last great day of the feast, he said, if anyone thirsts, let him come. Whosoever believeth on him shall be saved.
So if you're not a Christian, I would encourage you to think through this text, to think through the reality, to understand the contrast. You may be with the trusters of horses and chariots. Go to those who trust in the sound, glorious, awesome, wonderful name of Jesus Christ and raise His banners. Celebrate His victory.
Understand His blessings and know the joy of the Lord, chiefly in the forgiveness and cleansing from all your sin and in the reception of a righteousness by which you'll be able to enter into the presence of God.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for Psalm 20. We pray that you would be pleased to root this into our own hearts, into our own minds and psyche. Help us to pray these things confidently, knowing, as Psalm 21 assures us, that you have heard, that you have stationed your Son at your right hand, that He is there for us in the days of trouble, and that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
I pray for your blessing upon each and every one in this local body. Again, we pray for Sean and Emily. Give them safe travel. Give them a blessed time in that new house, new place.
Pray that they would be able to glorify, honor, and praise you in another local church, and just continue to watch over their family. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.