Psalm 20

We will read in its entirety that Psalms number 20 as we continue our journey through the Psalms. To the choir master, a psalm of David. May the Lord 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 favor your burnt sacrifices. May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over your salvation. And in the name of our God, set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord 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 the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. O Lord, save the king. May he answer us when we call. May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. Now again, as we continue our journey in the Psalms, we come to one of three Psalms that are titled or categorized as kingship or royal Psalms, kingship or royal Psalms. They all three have been composed by David, who is the author of this one, as you see in the title. And all of them were intended. They were written by David, and they were intended to be sung by the entire congregation. Even though it's from David, and David was the king, David is both a composer and the author. And so these songs are intended to be sung by the congregation on behalf of the king. So essentially, as a matter of fact, what you'll notice is that both Psalms 20 and 21, they're kind of bookends that in Psalms 20, David is urging the congregation to pray for the king as he goes to battle. In Psalms 21, the king has returned from battle. And so they are to sing the songs of victory in honor of what the king has accomplished. Now my argument is going to be, as we look at this, ultimately, we want to see from our vantage point that Christ is the king. And we therefore go back and read Psalms 20 not anticipating him going into battle, but rejoicing because he has already won the battle. Now that's later, but what we want to look at first is the Psalm itself and understanding the intent, David's original intent, in this particular Psalm for the congregation that was to be sung. Now it should be noted that even though David is the author and being the author, it makes a little awkward because he's the king. And you would think that if the king is telling you to sing about him, we have a twisted and a tainted view of what that would seem like. We would think, wait a minute, is he trying to get us to prop him? Is in other words, is this an act of egotism that causes David to get, you know, he wants the people to sing his praises and you know how human leaders can be. We like pomp and circumstance and maybe David is just trying to get the people to sing his praises, his personal praises, but I don't think that's the case. In fact, I'm certain that is not the case. David is not writing these Psalms as an expression of his own ego, trying to get the people to sing his personal praises. On the contrary, what David is doing is using these Psalms to accomplish some, really to edify the people and to help them to understand their salvation as it rests in God. So let's, before we look at this through the lens of Christ, let us first look at three things that David seems to be doing with these royal or kingship Psalms. On the one, or first off, David uses these Psalms to reaffirm to God's covenant people that all of God's grace to them is mediated through his anointed. So he wants to remind God's covenant people that all of God's grace to them is mediated to them through his anointed. Now to national Israel, his anointed would have consisted of three individuals, three offices. It would have been the prophet, and therefore the prophet being anointed by God was a way of saying that God does not speak to his people apart from what he has spoken through the prophets. In that sense, prophet is not just contained to those books of the Bible that we have in the scripture with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of them. No, the prognosis in that regard was a prophet. Samuel was a prophet. Nathan was a prophet. Elijah was a prophet. So there was no word from God except through the prophet. Now we know that God had given the word, he had given his law, but he speaks to his people through the prophet, and his anointing of that prophetic office was a way of validating him as the only voice that you need to recognize as coming from God. It is a multi voice, or it's a varied voice, but it is still those who have been appointed to the office of prophet is the sole means by which God spoke to his people. So what David is reinforcing here is the idea of God blessing individuals and using individuals for the good and for the edification of his people. God blesses his anointed, and his anointed for national Israel certainly would have been the prophet. But the anointed of God in national Israel was not only the prophet, it was the priest. And the priest he ordained office of the priesthood or the anointed priest of God, they were the only means through whom acceptable worship was given to God. Not only were they the only means through whom acceptable worship was offered to God, it was only through their mediation that benediction and blessing came from the Lord. So forgiveness of sins and the acknowledgement of God's blessings that came from the appointed and anointed office of the priesthood. We see this illustrated reversely, or negatively I should say, in first Samuel. You remember Saul, the first king of Israel, and he was told that he was to wait until Samuel, who was both prophet and priest, that until he came and announced God's blessings through the sacrifice that he was to go to war. But Saul got anxious and offered a sacrifice on his own accord. And at that point Saul told, or Samuel told him, the kingdom has been taken from you. Because the only acceptable worship from God's people was through his anointed priest. So the priest was the one who was anointed, and if it was, in fact, it's interesting that in the mosaic law that on the day of atonement, you know, and the writer of Hebrews points this out, that you could only go into the holy of holies on one day of year, and that was only by one person, and that was the high priest. But then the high priest also had bells on when he went into the holy place, and that was in case of one of two things, in case number one, because he's mortal and he might die, and people do die on the job. And so in case he died while he was in there, no one could say, oh, well, he died, so we have to go in behind the veil. He said, no, you don't go in and get him. You pull him out. There's a rope around him. You pull him out. And if you hear the bell stop, then you might need to go get a rope and pull him out. But here was the other thing. As long as the priest was ministering behind the veil, that meant God was accepting the sacrifice. And so when you heard the bell stop, and then there was no one coming through the curtain to offer a benediction, then that meant your worship was no longer accepted. So God and accepted God spoke to His people through the anointed office of the prophet, and there were false prophets, and there were prophets who were true, who sometimes deviated. But the anointed prophets of God were the primary means by which He spoke to His people. And the anointed, now people tried to offer their own brand of worship, but the only acceptable worship to God was through His anointed prophet or priest. The thirdly, God also anointed the office of King because it was only through. In fact, when we talk about the idea of God guiding His people and God protecting His people and God governing His people, it was through the anointed office of King. So therefore God's leadership, God's authority is manifest in the human office of the King. The King was not just, it wasn't like a dynasty and other nations, it wasn't because of the right of birth that a person became King, what made a person an acceptable King to God was that He places anointing on them. So therefore whether it's the word from the Lord or whether it's worship to the Lord or whether it's the governing of God, how does God lead and guide His people? And it's interesting because people always have their own view of how the Lord leads and God says, listen to my anointed and here's how I lead. And so therefore whether it's through the word from Him, worship to Him or the governance and protection of God's people, it was through His anointed offices. And so David uses that phrase in verse six, you're anointed or verse five, that you always bless, or verse six, I'm sorry, yeah, that you always bless, you're anointed. He is referring to at least all three of these offices, but His emphasis here is on the office of priest or of King. So David uses these Psalms, Psalms 20, 21, and also 45, David uses these Psalms to reaffirm and to reinforce to the people that the fate of the King in war is the evidence of God's favor or disfavor of His people. And he uses that. And that's why he says, he wants the people to pray on behalf of the King that the Lord would grant them him victory because his victory is their victory. But here's a second lesson that I think David is reinforcing in these royal Psalms. I think he is also reinforcing the idea that among God's people that their greatest resource and their greatest security is always spiritual and not just physical. Is he part of their problem with Saul who was the first King of Israel is that Saul looked like what they thought a King ought to look like. And God wants them to know that your security is not tied to the outward appearance of things, your growth, your wellbeing, your strength, your stability is not based on what you see. As a matter of fact, he makes this point in verses two and three where he reminds them that and will come back to this idea of God's name. But their strength is not physical. Look in verses two and three where he says may you may he send you or excuse me may the Lord beginning in verse one may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble and may the name of God of the God of Jacob protect you may may the name of the God of Jacob protect you in verse three. He says and may he send help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion. Now none of that is military. This is for a King who's going to war. He doesn't say now may your troops be big and your weapons be strong. No, he says they don't he doesn't teach them to pray. Now when you go in make sure that that you have bigger weapons than the enemy that your cannons may fire stronger that you have stronger horses. Oh, he says pray for the King that the name of God that the name of the God of Jacob would be your protection and he would send you help not from a napless not from not from the citadel but may he send you help from the sanctuary not from your troops not from your training grounds may the protection of the Lord be upon you. Now when you get to verse seven you see that contrast very clearly and here's what he says he you know it and we it was captured in song. I remember when I in the 70s I was doing an internship in Juno Alaskan I served amongst a particular denomination and they would sing that song almost every week some trust in chariot some in horses but we will trust in the name of our God. That's what David is teaching the people. He's teaching them as they as they besiege God on behalf of the King to be reminded that our strength is not in our military. Our strength is not in our budget. Our strength is in God. Brothers and sisters here's the point that he's making that you can have a big old army and you can have strong men. In fact you can recruit some if you want but if the offering is not accepted in the sanctuary if the if the voice from the sanctuary grow silent then you can go with a big army and you'll still be defeated. Isn't that reflected in the history of Israel. Remember the first battle of I in the book of Joshua the Lord had given them victory over their enemies and they were so pumped up from these victories that the next time they went to war all of a sudden they said well let's start counting our troops we got now we don't need to send everybody out. They went out with a trim down army and it wasn't the size of the army but they went out because they were trusting in their own strength and they were convinced that it's a physical battle and they knew how bad they had defeated the people. They had perhaps assessed their their armory. They had assessed they had probably sent out good spies into the land and they knew that their opponents had fewer weapons. They went out with a lesser army and the Lord sent them back home with their tails tucked between their legs and then brothers and sisters we see also in the book of in the book of judges when the Lord takes Gideon and he's up they're up against they're up against a huge army over 300,000 they are up against Gideon has an army of 30,000 and thinks that he's outnumbered even if that and the Lord tells him then your army is already too big it's too big because you're going to be thinking that you're as big as your army so you need to cut them down you say well Lord I'm already starting out a deficit brothers and sisters that's the very deficit most of us need to go back to we start measuring ourselves by the wrong standards and we start thinking that we are more than we are because of what we what we have and sometimes we think we are less because of what we don't have and Lord says you're looking at the wrong place to determine what you have what you have is me so 30,000 against 300,000 is too big for me to give it to you because then you'll start talking about we're the underdog look at what we can do so we cut it down to 10,000 Gideon was skeptical and he said no no that's still too many here's what you need you need 300 and at that point I'm sure there were some that were were probably like wait a minute maybe 300 we can't go to war with 300 in fact it may have been that 300 might have been a sliding number because you know you started counting how many of us it's 300 well no wait a minute it's 290 because 10 just less 100 the Lord wants them to know that if I've accepted your sacrifice behind the veil that if I put my name on you and I don't care who you go up against you have more isn't that what the Lord teaches through the prophet Elijah when when when he was when Elijah looked out the young man that was with him he looked out and he saw all of the Syrians surrounding him and he went back and told the old prophet Lord we doc we're in trouble we're in trouble they're out there they're out to get us and the old prophet just looked at it no no we got this more of us young man said wait a minute it's one I see two let me go back and look he looked out the window and all he could see was a Syrian troops he said no I'm sorry maybe a little tired but but no it's not he says and then all he lies you did he just turned to the Lord didn't talk to the young man turn to the Lord it's like Lord here's what I want you to do it doesn't say bring anything he doesn't say send anything all he says is open this young man's eyes open his eyes let him see that there is more of us than there is of them let him see young man went back and the Lord opened his eyes and he looked and he saw something that he didn't see the first time he saw he saw the assyrians but he also saw chariots of fire everywhere he looked he saw chariot of fire and I can imagine largely looking back I told you brothers and sisters here's the victory here's the strength of God's people the strength of God's people is not the size of our armies the strength of God's people is not the size of our bank account the strength of God's people is whether God's name has been put upon us whether he has accepted our offering and our sacrifice in the temple what what David wants the people to know pray for the success of the king but let you and the king know that your power is not in your arms it's not in your army and it's not in your armor you remember David against Goliath everybody standing on the sideline and and even when saw getting him and I don't you have to love that that that that that the king would allow a kid to go out and do the work David said not keep it because I go in the name of our God brothers and sisters here's what David is teaching them is teaching them that their strength is not in the army because if we're fighting the right fight if we're fighting the right fight then we know that our victory is in the one who sent us if we're fighting the right fight then that means we're fighting God's fight and I want you I listen I got news for you he's undefeated our record is so and so but he's undefeated and if we're fighting the right fight then we're fighting God's fight and God is not in the habit of losing brothers and sisters sometimes we lose and when we lose is because we fought the wrong fight but God is always undefeated and the victory of God and the victory of his people is not because of the weapons because our greatest weapon is God's name and God's favor but here's a third lesson that David teaches through these Psalms he reminds the people of God in these Psalms these he's he's reminding them both by way of song he is reminding them to lift the king in prayer David is therefore reinforcing the importance of the people because that's what especially this particular song what it is it's David putting in the mouths of God's people in song the importance of the people to lift the king in prayer as he goes to battle in other words he is reinforcing to them the importance of the people to pray for the king and the importance of the king to know that he is prayed for David is saying I'm not too big to be prayed for I remember George Ravling used to coach basketball he coach USC he coached Iowa and Washington state a few other places and he was a he was a charismatic sort of speaker so he was popular on the on the the the banquet circuit spoken a lot of different events and he would all he would oftentimes close out his speeches by saying now you pray for me because I need the prayer and you need to practice

that's what David is saying not in a lighthearted way but David is saying that that you need to know when when the king goes in war you don't need to count the troops that go with him but pray for it you need to pray for him you need to pray that God would bless him because what the Lord does too and through and for the king is equivalent to what he does to through and for you the king is not just a private citizen the king of Zion is the representative of God to the people and a representative of the people to God and therefore the people need to lift the king in prayer brothers and sisters there's there's something for that in our churches I am greatly encouraged by people who regularly tell me we I'm lifting you in prayer I want you know I'm always praying and you know we I don't I don't get tired of hearing it because I know that that what God does through his appointed leaders among his people is not because of our ability it's not because of giftedness no he empowers us and there are so many things that can get you sidetracked so I appreciate the prayers of the people and don't stop but here's what the people need to know you need to lift the one through whom God the one who God anoints for your edification lift him in prayer the story is told of two men who left the worship service once on day evening in England and it was snowing and they were lifting as they were walking they were they were walking along and both of them agree well men pastor just what and what he used to usually is and they started complaining about the sermon and as they were walking one just stopped dead in his tracks and he stopped talking and all of a sudden he hit his knees the other one looked at him and says well brother what are you doing he says no I the false is not with what we heard the fault is how we heard it and it dawned on me that I had not even before going to to listen to the word through our minister that I hadn't prayed for him he dropped his to his knees to offer up not prayers for the minister but to ask forgiveness for having heard tried to hear God without lifting up the vehicle through whom he would hear him brothers and sisters David is teaching a lesson because it's easy to stand back and sing the praises of David and it's even easier to stand back and lift up the criticism of David but what David is teaching the people is you pray for him you pray for him because God is ministering to you through him and so therefore his blessing is your benefit and likewise he's reminding himself that he is never without the need of prayer I don't want to become superstitious but I wonder if David thought that way or if he was reminded of of being sidetracked of him perhaps standing in his own strife and perhaps even the people not turning their voice to pray for him in the season in which kings go to war and David chose not to go to war and instead he was on his balcony and he saw Bathsheba I wonder if if if he had lost sight because he was trusting in his chariots to do what he should have been doing I wonder if the people had lost focus and was too critical of David or to or singing his praises too much to forget to pray for him because if he's not in the field then he ought to be and if he's not in the field where he ought to be then maybe it's something wrong let's pray for him but in either case what David is doing is teaching his people or teaching the people of God the importance to pray for the king and being and reminding the people of how important it is for the king himself to be prayed for on behalf on or buy the people but the psalm has a greater point of reference than David this psalm as well as the 21st but but this psalm has a greater point of reference to David this psalm has a greater point of reference than David getting ready to go and fight the Philistines this psalm is pointing to a greater king and a greater conflict than David and the Amorites or any of the otherites that he's always battling with during the period of his reign is she this psalm points to the ultimate anointed one an ultimate because he is the highest anointed one and the reason for that is David was independently anointed as king and the Lord used him as prophet but David was forbidden to serve as a priest because trust me I believe David is listening to his great tributes to worship David if he could have he would have been a priest God didn't call him to that office therefore this psalm has its ultimate fulfillment in the one who has the greatest anointing and I would argue that the one who has the greatest anointing is not David but it's the son of David it is the one who comes from the loins of David and therefore I would exhort you to green from this psalm that Christ is the anointed one through whom all of God's blessings are received but I want to focus on one particular aspect one particular aspect of the anointing that is on Christ that is the benefit of this people and that one aspect of it is something that is said in verse two it's repeated in in in verse it's alluded to I should say in verse five and it's finds its fullest fruition in verse seven and that is the concept of the name of God being a source of protection the name of God being the source of protection in verse two it says and or in verse one it says may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble and may the name of the God of Jacob protect you just think about that for a moment a soldier at war and everyone else has swords and he has a sword as well but his protection is a name that's that's a stark contrast but then in verse five he goes on to say that that may the Lord bless you and then he says he says for you when or excuse me yeah in verse in verse five he again indicates that he says may we shout for joy over your salvation now the salvation that they are praying for on the on behalf of the king is that the Lord would grant him salvation from his enemies and so it says now may the Lord may we shout for joy in your salvation and in the name of our God set up our banners so somehow the victory of the king allows them to set up a banner that has got as as the head as God has their banner and then of course verse seven where it stated most graphically as well as poetically some trust in chariots others trust in horses but we will trust in the name of our God we will trust in God our trust is always going to be in God we know that whether our numbers are large are big if God's name is there he makes up the difference now there's a few things that I want to look at here because that's that's powerful because the idea is that the blessing of God is associated with his name now we've mentioned this before but specifically here it really resonates that when we talk about the name of God it's not the name that's on his birth certificate because God doesn't have a birth certificate but but the name and someone put it this way that the importance of a name is that when you have access to a person's name it kind of gives you a little bit of control because you can get their attention when you know their name you say hey anybody can turn around or ignore you for being rude but when you call a person's name then even if it's a common name if you say Joe then every Joe is going to turn around we who what's your name you know and so God God's name is not like our name God's name is really what he reveals about himself to his people and and what it's what he reveals himself what he reveals about himself to his people and sometimes he uses in that revelation what he will be for his people and then ultimately his name is his possession of his people but let's look at it at a couple things first off I want to look at at at this great statement in in the great benediction the priestly benediction and numbers chapter six and you're familiar with it it says you know that the benediction itself it says the Lord bless you and keep you at the end verses 23 through 26 but but it says or 24 through 26 it says the Lord bless you and keep you and the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace but then here's what I found to be interesting it's at the end of this here's what Moses tells what what the Lord tells Moses about this benediction so shall they put my name upon the people of Israel and I will bless them in other words by by announcing this particular benediction what what what the priests were doing once the sacrifice has been accepted what the priest was doing was putting the name of of of of God on the people that he had accepted and so now he's claiming them he's claiming them in a unique and particular way consistent with everything that he's already promised in the covenant that God is claiming his people so he says through that benediction what that priest is doing is putting his name the name of God on his people it's like rebranding us all over again are there three important implications especially as we look at our text here in in the 20th number of Psalms because basically again what what the Lord is what what David is indicating is that the protection of God's people is tied to his name and I would argue that if Jesus is the anointed of God and he is he is anointed as the the proper prophet of God because he is the final revelation from God he's the final word of God to his people and so he is anointed to that as that in fact that's what the writer Hebrew says that God in sundry times in diverse ways spoke to our fathers through the prophets but in these last days he's spoken to us by his son and his son has spoken to us and in speaking to us he's given us what God has promised which is our salvation but he's also given us the benediction and giving us the benediction he has put God's name on us brothers and sisters we we try to to wear it off we we try to get it to dirty but here's the beauty of being branded by the the name of God it won't come off where God has placed his name he's placed it in permanent it's not it can't be erased and it can't be washed off now three important aspects of or angles to that number one God put his name on us through the anointed one which means it is our proof of possession proof of possession his his name being given to us is the proof that we belong to him which is why we have been given access to the only name given to men under heaven whereby we must be and I like that part everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus not might be must be because the name of the father is attached to the giving of the name of the son in other words the father has anointed the son to bring unto salvation all that the father has chosen since before the foundation of the world so in order to receive that gift of salvation they need to know the name of the son so whoever calls upon the name of Jesus must be saved because there is no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved now it means more than just repeating the name of Jesus no that's not what it is it is to recognize that I am a sinner condemned by God and I have no righteousness by which I can stand before him I have no way of paying the debt that I owe Jesus Jesus yes Jesus of Nazareth is the one that God is promised to save me and I believe that in Jesus is all the righteousness that I owe the father I believe that in Jesus is all of the payment that the father requires for my sins I believe that Jesus right now is seated at the right hand of the father so if I'm in trouble with the judge I cry out Jesus and that's what we do when we come to salvation the verdict has been given our guilt is evident and then now the judge says and what do you plea our plea is Jesus and calling upon that name gives us salvation and every one that the father saves through the name of Jesus he puts his name on him so that we become heirs and if we are heirs then we are joint heirs with Jesus because the name of Jesus is the revelation of the name of the father to those that he has come to save thank God that I have the name of Jesus thank God that I know who Jesus is and his anointed one means that all of my sin is forgiven in him Jesus no other name no other name no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved must is an imperative that's not an option if you call on the name of Jesus from a broken heart from a guilt stained heart and you call upon the name of Jesus in the presence of the judge of the universe you must be the bailiff has to let you go if you call on the name of Jesus and you can be guilty as all get out the class must come off they have to because the father put saving power in the name of Jesus brothers and sisters not only doesn't mean the father will own you he does own you he possesses us by access to the name of Jesus but he also lets us know that the most most significant identity marker that you will have in this life is that you have been sealed by the name of Jesus let me tell you what I mean by identity markers most of us we we identify by family we we identify by ethnicity we identify by gender we identify by geography we identify by church membership we identify by what party we're in we identify by a whole lot of things good for into my dawn match it wrote a book number of years ago called Christ to steam and in that book he says that he it caught his attention how he identified himself he identified and identified himself as a German American who lived in New York City who was a member of the Lutheran Church and said he realized something was off he realized something was off and and that's what we do we we identify by the wrong markers we identify first well I'm this I'm that but here's what I am above all else at the end of the day and at the beginning of the day what I am is a child of God because the father has granted me his name through legal adoption so that I am a child of God who is African American who does live in Miami who is a member of a Baptist church but I'm not Baptist first I'm a child of God first I'm not Glendale first I'm a child of God first I am more saved than I am black I am his child and that makes me more make more sense of everything else I am and so as dear children of God walk in this world first hold your head up that you are a child of God you don't apologize for where you were born you don't apologize for your ethnicity but don't hide that behind well don't put that before who you are in Christ because brothers and sisters in Christ you you you you're you're in high in high cotton I see that 23 in me commercial where the lady is it's proud to be born of African descent and she says and I have strong women in my heritage and that's good it's good but but here's what all of us have in our heritage we got sin that doesn't show up in 23 in me there's no DNA test that's going to prove that you're a sinner but brothers and sisters you are but you are a sinner who's been washed in the blood and identity of Christ so brothers and sisters never hyphenate you're being the child of God he doesn't hyphenate his name to you he calls you he doesn't call you my African American child he calls us his sons but as many as received him gave he the power to be called the children of God brothers and sisters our identity isn't the name that has been put on us by the anointed one but let me just look at one final thing our claim to God's grace is based on the name that has been put on us by his anointed is a simple statement that that David gives at the end after he says some trust and cherries very next verse he says they collapse and fall but we shall rise and stand up right now brothers this is maybe I'm reading too much into this but if he says we shall stand that means until we get home we are fall we're going to be knocked down we're going to stumble but here's the good news those who might stand today but are not covered under the banner of his name they will stand today and fall tomorrow but we who have been gathered from all nations all tongues and all tribes we might fall today to disease and destruction but we shall rise and we will stand and brothers and sisters the reason we will rise and stand is because our great-high priest who has gone behind the veil has blessed us and he's put the name of the father on us in everything that is covered by the name of the father will stand our assurance our security is not in the way things look or appear our assurance is in the name that has been placed on us and when Jesus gave us access to his name he put the name of the father upon us and brothers and sisters that means we'll stand yes we'll stumble yes we'll get weary but we'll stand and the reason we will stand is because while some trust in chariots and others in horses we stand and we trust the name of our God and God will vindicate his name and there is nothing that has his name on it that will not be restored redeemed and renewed thank God for the king so we don't pray this petition Lord bless the king we pray this song thanking God for the victory of the king because this is our victory song that the king has put us under the banner of the name of the most high God and what is his cannot be defeated and will not be lost some trust in chariots some in horses but we trust the name of the Lord are God a man