As The King Goes, We Go (Psalm 20) Series

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.