Psalm 20
Psalms 20:1-9 May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. Selah May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. O Lord, save the king! Answer us when we call!
Throughout history, God has frequently used war as his whip to chastise rebellious nations. Indeed, as we read through the Old Testament, we cannot help but see how frequently God’s people, Israel, were at war. The pages of Hebrew history resonate with the clamor of strife. It is just as true of America; our history reads like one long period of war with, at intervals, only brief periods of peace.
Psalm 20 and 21 are twin warfare proceedings. Psalm 20 is mostly ceremony before a battle, while psalm 21 is mostly ceremony after a battle. In the theocracy of Israel, these were to be considered holy wars with the chain of command being as follows:
1) The Lord is commander-in-chief over the anointed king-general and the theocratic people.
2) The soldiers.
Psalm 20, in anticipation of a military campaign commemorates a three-phased ceremony regularly conducted by the people in the presence of the commander-in-chief on behalf of the king-general.
I. An Offering of Their Prayers (20:1-5)
II. A Confirmation of Their Confidence (20:6-8)
III. A Reaffirmation of Their Dependence (20:9)
Psalm 20 is a prelude to war; it tells how a nation should prepare for war. There comes a time in the history of every nation when, faced with the aggression of others, it must say: “That will be enough. One step more and we will fight.”
We are considering a nation faced with the eminent possibility of war, preparing its heart for what lies ahead. Those who have a problem with the military aspects of some of David’s psalms should remember that David went to war only when the enemy attacked Israel. He did not attack other nations just to gain territory and he was fighting the Lord’s battles (2 Chronicles 20:15).
Jesus teaches in the New Testament that men are to turn the other cheek, to be peacemakers, if possible, rather than go to war. This same Jesus also told his disciples to buy a sword if they did not have one (Luke 22:36) because every human has a God-ordained right to self-defense. Many people have misunderstood this and have adopted a position toward war which is insincere and uncertain. They espouse a philosophy of national peace—peace at any price. They preach appeasement, pacifism, and surrender of the nation to those who would destroy its precious liberties.
The psalm, of course, was concerned with Israel and with one of those wars which became a significant feature of David’s reign. By application, its message can relate to the nation in which we live in a time of world crises when at any moment like it or not, for the sake of its own survival the nation might have to fight. As I compose this study, America is facing threats made by Muslim terrorists, Russia has invaded its former satellites, North Korea seeks nuclear capabilities, and China is an ever-present threat. It’s a dangerous world that we live in.
And America’s future is not one of guaranteed peace. We pursue it, we fight for it, but we cannot always guarantee peace.
PRAY
Father, help us to be peacemakers in our own lives. Help us to live by your Word. Help us to also defend the defenseless and to be protectors of those that are more vulnerable than we.