Copy of Psalm Book PDF

Joy For the choir director. A psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in a day of trouble; may the name of Jacob’s God protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion. May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt offering. Selah. May he give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose. Let us shout for joy at your victory and lift the banner in the name of our God. May the LORD fulfill all your requests. Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories from his right hand. Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand firm. LORD, give victory to the king! May he answer us on the day that we call.

Most of us have little personal experience with the nationwide dread that follows a declaration of war, nor the overwhelming joy that comes because of proclaimed victory. Today, we are uniquely blessed to be inexperienced in such risk. However, as significant victories become increasingly distant, we may struggle to truly appreciate the reality of freedom. To experience joy in freedom we must be reminded of the cost and learn to deeply appreciate the victory that has been won on our behalf. The nation of Israel regularly faced enemies that wanted to challenge their freedom. Psalm 20 is a petition for God’s deliverance through His anointed, the king, during a time of trouble. While anticipating God’s salvation, the congregation promises to response with rejoicing. The people would sing for joy in the victory accomplished by God through the king. While Psalm 20 likely had international conflict as the primary issue and a temporal anointed king as God’s agent of salvation, we must acknowledge its place in God’s covenant with Israel. God’s use of temporal faulty prophets, priests, and kings in the Old Testament to help Israel occupy a promised land and be a set apart people pointed forward to an eternal and perfect remedy. Our joy in temporal national freedom is hardly comparable to the joyous freedom from sin that God offers in Christ. The petition for God’s salvation through His anointed during a day of trouble in Psalm 20 may direct our minds to the suffering Anointed King, Jesus. Perhaps the heavenly host were quoting Psalm 20 as Jesus wept in Gethsemane, stumbled towards Golgotha, and hung upon the cross as they knew well that He was the source of great joy, the one who would be crushed for our sin (Lk. 2:10, Is. 53:5). To the church in Corinth Paul referenced the prophets Isaiah and Hosea to proclaim Jesus’s victory on the cross as Lord and Christ, or Anointed (1 Cor. 15:54-56, Is. 25:8, Hs. 13:14) – .

Psalm 20