Psalm 20

 

¹May 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.

In this psalm, the poet asks that the Lord always grand our prayers. God will answer us when we’re in trouble and send us help for it. He will also grant our heart’s desires. And, for that, we rejoice in Him. I like the image in the line, “And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!” I love ancient battles. Sometimes it’s hard for us to imagine how important the standards were to people who carried them into battle. To the Romans, their eagle that they carried into battle was not to be lost at any cost, and if it was, they went to great lengths to get it back. As much as I disliked that movie, The Eagle, they got that part right. Remember in our discussion of Psalm 11when the Romans didn’t wait for Caesar’s order and went out into a dangerous situation? Well, Caesar praises the eagle-bearer because he fought bravely, and knowing that he was going to be killed, threw the eagle into the camp’s entrenchment to get it away from the enemies. It’s the reason we have color guards, too. Standards are the symbol of the thing we are fighting for, that we care about the most, that we give our all for. God has already given everything for us, is giving everything for us. It shouldn’t be hard for us to  uphold Him as our banner.

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed

I know sometimes people and churches get hung up on who these “anointed” are, but I think it is clear that the Bible means those who serve Him. David was anointed, literally, as a symbol that he would become king. But, it happened before Saul was dead, before David was even getting close to being king. The anointing was a symbol that David was going to follow God’s commandments, as opposed to Saul, who had stopped following God (which, of course is the reason he needed a replacement). It’s not just about kings, it’s about all of us believing in God and following his plans for us. After all, we’ve seen in previous psalms that God always saves anyone who trusts in Him, so I think it’s safe to say that they are the anointed.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God*

Again the image of God as a military leader shows up. While some people trust in their own strength or in the strength of numbers, we trust in our general, God, because he saves us: “Save, Lord!”

 

*I sat here reading this line over and over wondering why it was so familiar to me. Then I realized that it was a Sappho poem in my head. She wrote, “Οἰ μὲν ἰππήων στρότον, οἰ δὲ πέσδων, οἰ δὲ νάων φαῖσ’ ἐπὶ γᾶν μέλαιναν ἔμμεναι κάλλιστον, ἐγὼ δὲ κῆν’ ὄττω τις ἔραται,” which means, “Some say that an army of horsemen, others an army of foot soldiers, and others a fleet of ships is the most beautiful thing upon the black earth, but I say that it is whatever thing one loves.” Sappho goes on to talk about pretty people, but wouldn’t it be great if we applied this same principle. The strength of people, no matter how big or impressive, is nothing compared to God, whom we love best.