- We can learn so much about prayer from this extraordinary Psalm, and what gives David so much confidence that he will be heard.
- On the one hand the equisite beauty and balance of the Psalm thrilled me,
- and on the other hand it has really helped give me confidence in knowing how to pray as I see what the Psalm is doing.
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Goal
To understand Psalm 20 at three levels:
the Artistry,
the Truth it expresses,
and the powerful Message that speaks to our hearts.
Psalm 20
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
- May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! - May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion! - May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices! Selah - May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfil all your plans!
Psalm 20 cont’d
- We’ll shout loudly for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners! - Yahweh will fulfil all your petitions!
- Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed;
- He will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand. - Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God. - They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright. - O Yahweh, save the king!
he will answer us when we call.
Psalm 20
- This is a beautiful Psalm, but what does it mean for you and me?
- Can we take v.4 as a promise?
- May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfil all your plans!
Psalm 20 — Poetry with Power
- Artistry: How the Psalm is woven together
- Truth: What is it saying?
- Message: for us today
1. Artistry: How the Psalm is woven together
- “parallelism” in Hebrew poetry
- symmetry, and that is what we are going to look at now.
- The way this is done is with an idea, leads to another, and another, and then a central climax
- Then it works back through the ideas back to the start
- But something is different now
- Usually a new idea is added in the middle, or often just after the middle
- Then the ending matches the beginning, but solves the problem
Psalm 20
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
- May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!- May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!- May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices! Selah- May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfil all your plans!- We’ll shout loudly for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
- Yahweh will fulfil all your petitions!
- Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed [Messiah];
- he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
- Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God. - They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright. - O Yahweh, save the king!
he will answer us when we call.
2. Truth: What is it saying?
- This starts off as a prayer for those of us in trouble, particularly David the king who has to keep the land safe from danger
- Then it transitions to praying for victory for the Messiah on his mission to destroy all evil;
- Then it ends up with with this incredibly joyful confidence.
- So how does this relate to you and me?
- Here is my answer, very simply:
- If you are a Jesus-follower then you are joined to him.
Ephesians 2
- But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
- even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
- so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
- For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Our Battles and Christ’s
- If you are a Jesus-follower then you are joined to him.
- You are united with him for eternity!
- Your problems are his.
- “As we walk through this painful challenge together, Jesus, please may we have victory”
3. Message: for us today
The desires of whose heart?
- May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfil all your plans!
- Is this an open promise that God will give us whatever our hearts desire?
- It is the heart’s desire of Jesus… for us
- So what is Jesus’ heart’s desire—he poured it out to the Father in John 17
John 17
- …keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
- …that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
- …keep them from the evil one.
- …that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17
- The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
- I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
- These are the desires of Jesus for us!
- What could be better than truly feeling the love of the Father as intensely as he loved his own son! Wow!
- And to have protection from every attack of Satan.
- There are many other desires Jesus has for us which I could list
- A particular one is that we have fruitful lives
- Like branches attached to the vine, bringing forth amazing fruit
- I would day that Jesus’s desires for us actually exceed what we would dare desire for ourselves!
- So how can I pray this Psalm in a time of trouble?
Praying Psalm 20
- I am sick, or worried about being sick
- Financial crisis
- Someone is hurting me (could be home or workplace)
- I feel dissatisfied with my life
- I am deeply lonely
- I feel hopeless in my life and get anxious when I think about it
- In each case I am turning my problem into God’s problem
A. I am sick, or worried about being sick
- Lord, this is your body, I belong to you.
- This sickness is in the way of me serving you and being about your business
- That makes it your problem as well as mine, so please lift it off me so we can continue with your mission for my life
- If my sickness is somehow bringing you glory, please show me how so I can have peace
B. Financial crisis
- Lord, my life is your life, and my needs are yours.
- I am your servant, living my life for you, so my needs are actually your needs!
- Please provide for this pathway that we are walking together on, or show me another pathway for us to walk
C. Someone is hurting me (could be home or workplace)
- Lord I belong to you, I am your treasured possession, and someone is damaging your property
- Take action Lord and protect me, because I am yours
- You prayed in John 17 that your people would be kept from the Evil One, and this is him right now
- You have a mission for my life, and it is under attack. Defend me Lord for your sake!
D. I feel dissatisfied with my life
- Lord you have saved me for a purpose. You tell us that all of us have some role to play in your kingdom
- You are my King, so please lead me as a king should and show me my role
E. I am deeply lonely
- Lord, you have said it is not good for us to be alone
- This deep isolation is holding me back from serving you how I should
- This is your problem as well as mine Lord, so please rescue me!
F. I feel hopeless in my life and get anxious when I think about it
- Lord you came to bring hope, victory over darkness
- But there is darkness and hopelessness in my heart
- Lord, this is your battle as well as mine—as long as the darkness is there, you are not being victorious
- So please come as a king and win this battle because it is yours!
Praying Psalm 20
- I am sick, or worried about being sick
- Financial crisis
- Someone is hurting me (could be home or workplace)
- I feel dissatisfied with my life
- I am deeply lonely
- I feel hopeless in my life and get anxious when I think about it
- Finally I want to call you to an act of your will to make a decision here
- The Psalm ends, speaking about the most powerful military technology
- e.g.
