"God Save the King?": Learning to Pray Psalm 20

Psalm 20 is a royal psalm that asks for God’s continued protection and support for the LORD’s annointed king or messiah as he leads God’s people in their mission to bless the nations. The context is important. Psalm 18 and 21 are also royal psalms. These three royal psalms wrap around Ps 19 that proclaims the power of Torah. Torah and kingship are key related themes in the book of psalms and are foundational for helping us as God’s people to understand our security in God and our guide.

¹ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
    may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
² May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and grant you support from Zion.
³ May he remember all your sacrifices
    and accept your burnt offerings.
⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
    and make all your plans succeed.
⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory
    and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶ Now this I know:
    The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
    with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
    but we rise up and stand firm.
⁹ Lord, give victory to the king!
    Answer us when we call!

The king served as the LORD’s agent for guiding and leading the LORD’s kingdom on earth. The king was to model faithfulness to the LORD’s instruction as he lead God’s people to embody God’s holy character before the nations.

Psalm 20 is a prayer for the success of the king as he defends God’s people from enemies. Vv. 1–5 are the petitions for the LORD’s help and vv. 6–9 are statements of assurance of God’s help.
In vv. 1–5, the king faces a trying time. The language in these verses implies that it is a time of war. In the Old Testament, Israel was a tiny nation surrounded by the superpowers of the day (usually Egypt, Assyria, Babylon or a combination of these three). The security of Israel depended on the power of the LORD. The king presented the human agent through whom God worked. This is not a violent prayer of a militaristic society that plots to dominate its neighbors. The wars of Israel’s kings were matters of self-defense in the advancement of God’s ultimate mission of extending his blessings of peace and justice to the world. In our day as God’s people, such a prayer is not for use in the advancement of any nation's self-interest but for protection for God’s people, the church of Jesus, against forces that may seek to thwart its kingdom advancing work.

The prayer of vv. 1–5 recognizes that success depends fully on the LORD whose sanctuary was in Zion in Jerusalem. It was not about battle plans or weapons. The faithfulness of the king is emphasized (v. 3).

Verses 6–9 anticipate God granting the king victory. God will answer the king from the sanctuary. Again verse 7 affirms the key stance of God’s people: trust in the LORD rather than gaining a false security through the best weapons developed by human inventiveness. Chariots and horses functioned as the tanks or perhaps even as the airforce of the day.

Those who trust merely in human tactics and military might will fall before the LORD and God’s people will stand. Verse 9 ends the psalm with a final plea for the LORD’s saving actions.

As we ponder this prayer for the king, let us remember our Lord and Messiah Jesus through whom God conquered the grave, the power of sin, and injustice. King Jesus accomplished this through willing submission to death on a cross rather than through wielding any type of human power or using divine privilege. He trusted the LORD. As we represent God’s kingdom in our day, let us do so in the confidence that God will hear our prayers for protection and victory too.

What does this psalm teach us about trusting the LORD for victory?

How does this psalm teach us to pray for protection for God’s people, the church of Jesus?

What provides false security for us today?

My God My God, Why Have Your Forsaken Me (The resolution): Learning to Pray Ps 22:22-31

Poignant lament becomes a testimony of thanksgiving when God answers our prayer. For the psalmist of Ps 22, lament turns to thanksgiving and praise at verse 22. The sorrow of the opening verse “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” morphs into an audacious and free testimony about the power of the LORD to work salvation even in the most hopeless situation.

²² I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵ From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
²⁸ for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
³⁰ Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
³¹ They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!

How do we respond to God’s saving work in our lives? With gratitude and public witness. The psalmist knows that God has saved him and makes certain that God gets the credit (v. 22).
Notice that the psalmist’s testimony includes inviting the community to participate in the celebration (vv. 23). This is an important reminder that even psalms that sound individualistic are meant to be heard and shared in community. Following Jesus is not a solitary enterprise. We must always stay connected to our community in times of plenty and in times of want. The psalmist experienced isolation in vv. 1–21. Verses 22–31 model the importance of communal celebration.

In verses 24–25 remind us of the psalmist’s previous plight and summarizes his new found testimony. He had experienced isolation and trauma. He had felt rejected by God. Yet now the psalmist declares the truth: God remained with him. This is deep truth for us. We may feel rejected and alone, but God abides with us. Jesus who knows suffering and pain is our high priest (4:14–16) and extends grace to us in our times of need. God hears our cries and prayers, even our most desperate ones. Moreover, God acts and provides the pray-er with a testimony to share (v. 25).

The deliverance of the psalmist is good news for the world. In verses 26–29 turn to the implications of the psalmist’s experience of salvation for others. God doesn’t just save “me”; God is willing, ready, and able to deliver others. The “other” includes the poor, all who seek the LORD, and even people from the surrounding nations who turn to the LORD. This reminds us of God’s mission. God’s people exist as conduits of God’s grace for the world. This means that our testimony serves not only to encourage other believers but as a word about God’s kingdom to those who do not yet follow Jesus.

Verses 26–29 are inclusive of all: from the prosperous to needy. Verse 29 even hints at persons who have already passed on. The point is this: God’s grace, love, and blessings are available to all who turn to him. The psalmist has experienced this personally and shares this good news with his community and the world.

Verses 30–31 conclude the psalm by emphasizing God’s work in bring deliverance and salvation. God’s acts of grace will carry on and future generations will here of it. The final verdict on human history is this: “He has done it.”

Jesus spoke 22:1 on the cross. Yet Jesus’ death was not the end; God raised Jesus from the dead to secure our future. He, Jesus, has done it indeed. Amen.


What does Ps 22:22–31 teach us about gratitude and giving thanks?

How can we incorporate thanksgiving into our personal lives and into our worship experiences?

How does giving thanks advance God’s mission in the world?

Giving Thanks for God's Deliverance of the Messiah: Learning to Pray Psalm 18 (Part 3)

This is the final post on Psalm 18. Read Part one (18:1-6) and Part two (18:7-19).
Let us hear the rest of the psalmist's prayer:

²⁰ The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
    I am not guilty of turning from my God.
²² All his laws are before me;
    I have not turned away from his decrees.
²³ I have been blameless before him
    and have kept myself from sin.
²⁴ The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
    to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
²⁶ to the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
²⁷ You save the humble
    but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
²⁸ You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
    my God turns my darkness into light.
²⁹ With your help I can advance against a troop;
    with my God I can scale a wall.

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect:
    The Lord’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the Lord?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
³² It is God who arms me with strength
    and keeps my way secure.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
    he causes me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
    my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You make your saving help my shield,
    and your right hand sustains me;
    your help has made me great.
³⁶ You provide a broad path for my feet,
    so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
    I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;
    they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;
    you humbled my adversaries before me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
    and I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
    to the Lord, but he did not answer.
⁴² I beat them as fine as windblown dust;
    I trampled them like mud in the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
    you have made me the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
⁴⁴     foreigners cower before me;
    as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart;
    they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶ The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
    Exalted be God my Savior!
⁴⁷ He is the God who avenges me,
    who subdues nations under me,
⁴⁸     who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
    from a violent man you rescued me.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories;
    he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
    to David and to his descendants forever.

In verses 25–45 the psalmist returns to his report of the victory that God won on his behalf. There is a mix of praise for the LORD and narrative about the salvation of the psalmist. Unlike verses 7–19, the language of vv. 25–45 focuses on the psalmist’s experience rather than on the creational imagery that the psalmist had used to cast God’s actions into cosmic focus.
 
How does the psalmist describe his experience of salvation? 

First, in vv. 25–27 he recognizes that God does indeed save those who are faithful and \ depend fully on God to make it through the world. Those who are deviant or arrogant will not be able to stand at the end of the day.
 
Second, God is the source of the psalmist’s strength (vv. 28–32). God empowers the psalmist with the strength and energy to complete the mission of God. This is important. God will deliver us, but as we struggle through the challenges, God will sustain us. As Paul will write centuries later to the Corinthians about God’s empowerment in times of weakness, “My grace is sufficient” (2 Cor 12:9).
 
Third, the messiah is able to win an extraordinary victory because of the power and loyalty of the LORD (vv. 33–45). As you read these lines, they are militaristic and contain violent images. It is vital to recognize that it is the LORD who wins the victory. The king is merely the agent through whom God acts. These words do not justify violent acts by us or by any person of faith. They assume that the LORD’s messiah is under heavy assault from the enemies of God. In the ancient world, Israel was a tiny and insignificant nation from a military perspective. If it was successful in war, it was only because of God’s protection and not because of their own power or the superiority of their weapons and tactics. Most importantly, it is vital to remember that this psalm finds its most poignant fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. In Jesus, God won his salvation securing victory by refusing to counter human power with any power other than love. Jesus conquered the grave because God raised his dead body from the grave to demonstrate true power and victory.
 
Psalm 18 reaches its climax in vv. 46–50 with a final flurry of praise. Again the language is extravagant and audacious. Review the opening three verses and observe the similarities of the praise at the beginning and end of the psalm. The messiah models the mission of God. He praises God for his powerful acts of salvation. He is grateful for the deliverance that he’s experienced. V. 49 also keeps God’s mission to bless the nations in view. Yes, God has rescued his messiah from the hand of enemies, but this deliverance shifts to be a word of witness to the world including those who had acted against the king. The LORD is for God’s people, but this is so that God’s people can serve as his hands, feet, and mouthpieces for the world that does not yet know and sing God’s praises.

How do verses 25–50 teach us praise God?
 
What is the connection between salvation and mission?
 
Who in your life needs to hear your testimony of what God has done in your life?

Giving Thanks for God's Deliverance of the Messiah: Learning to Pray Ps 18 (Part two)

 Yesterday, we examined Psalm 18:1-6. Now we move to the middle portion of the psalm. In verses 7–19, the psalmist uses creational and mythic imagery to describe the victory of God. This part of the psalm helps us to understand the victory that God manifested for the messiah was a cosmic and world shaping action. It was not merely about rescue of the messiah. God actions secured the very creation and future for the messiah and for the people of God.
 
This section of the psalm is difficult to understand because it uses language that belongs to the ancient world and its belief system. When the ancients talked about creation, their focus was not on the beginnings of the universe (this is a modern conversation) but on how the gods fought for supremacy and secured the earth against the forces that threated the destruction of the world. In this part of the psalm, the psalmist, God’s messiah, is giving thanks to the LORD for saving him. The LORD has the power to save because the LORD is the Creator of the cosmos. 


⁷ The earth trembled and quaked,
    and the foundations of the mountains shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.
¹⁰ He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
    the dark rain clouds of the sky.
¹² Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
    with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
¹³ The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.
¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed
    and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
    at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

 (NIV)

Verse 7 picks some of the most awe-inspiring parts of nature: the earth itself and the foundations of the highest mountains. We feel puny in comparision to these. Yet they trembled, quaked, and shook before the LORD due to God’s anger at the injustice experienced by God’s messiah.
 
The LORD’s anger in verses 7–14 is described in terms of a raging story. This is the language of creation. God’s messiah is trapped by the waters of chaos and death (vv. 4–5). The LORD roars out of heaven in the form of a thunderstorm. All creation quakes as God approaches with lightning, thunder, and hail. The LORD is so powerful that he uses the most fearsome parts of Creation as a tool to bring about the deliverance of the King.
 
As we saw in vv. 4–5, the waters of chaos and death had pulled the king under. He was trapped and helpless. The future looked bleak. God’s mission seemed lost. But the LORD of Creation cannot be defeated by any power no matter how insurrmountable it may be to mere humans. This psalm reminds us that there is nothing in our lives beyond the capacity of God to redeem. Vv. 15–19 detail the LORD’s salvation of the messiah. Just as God delivered God’s people from Egypt by splitting the Red Sea and guiding God’s people to safefy, the LORD exposed the foundations of the world and the depths of the waters of death and chaos (vv. 15–16 cf. Exod 15:8). The LORD rescued the Messiah and restored him to abundance.
 
After telling the story of God’s dramatic and cosmic deliverance, the Messiah declares his life of faithfulness as a model to be followed. The Messiah practiced justice and obedience to the LORD. He was faithful to act rightly in all of his relationships (this is the meaning of “righteousness”). Jesus fulfilled this role perfectly as long-awaited Messaih. Through his faithfulness, God accomplished his victory over injustice, sin, and death. But there is more here. Stay tuned.

How does Psalm 18 help us understand the power of the LORD to save?

How does Psalm 18 connect the Messiah’s righteousness with the salvation of the LORD?

What challenges in your life seem overwhelming? How do the words of Ps 18 bring you comfort?

Giving Thanks for God's Deliverance of the Messiah: Learning to Pray Ps 18 (Part 1)

Psalm 18 is the third longest psalm after Pss 78 and 119. Psalm 18 focuses on the victory that God gives to Israel’s king. Like Psalm 2, it is a royal psalm. This means that it was originally written as a psalm for use in the celebration of David or one of his descendants. Royal psalms offer a tangible this worldly focus for the security that God’s people desire as they seek to walk faithfully through the world. From our previous reading of Ps 2 and Ps 146, we know that the book of Psalms makes two related moves regarding human kingship.

First, the book of Psalms was organized for worship after Israel’s exile to Babylon and return to the land. Historically, this meant that Israel did not have its own king. Post-exile, the Persians, Greeks, and Romans ruled over God’s people from 538 BC onwards. The only exception was the brief period following the Maccabean revolt (142 BC–63 BC) where God’s people enjoyed self–rule. Thus, when Israel prayed and sang the royal psalms, they were asking the LORD to restore the Davidic king. These psalms served as longings for the coming of God’s messiah who would renew God’s kingdom and guide God’s people in faithfulness.

Second, the psalms offered a critique of human leadership. We saw in our reading of Psalm 146 that it warned against trusting in any human leader. The LORD was the true king.

As Christians, these two elements—a longing for the messiah and distrust of human leaders— found a powerful resolution in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is the long–awaited son of David, and he is also God. Thus, as followers of Jesus, we read Israel’s royal psalms as prayers and praises to God for the victory over sin, injustice, oppression, and evil that he offers to all who trust and follow Jesus.

In verses 1–19, the king gives thanks to the LORD for leading him to victory. We’ll focus on vv. 1–6 for today’s lesson.

¹ I love you, Lord, my strength.

² The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield^[b] and the horn^[c] of my salvation, my stronghold.

³ I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
⁴ The cords of death entangled me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
⁵ The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.

Verses 1–3 praise the LORD with rich and dynamic language. These lines have inspired countless hymns and contemporary praise songs that God’s people use to this day. The previous two psalms (Pss 16–17) focused on God as a refuge. These verses give us words to describe what this means. The LORD is a rock, a fortress, a shield, a deliverer, and the horn of salvation. The LORD is worthy to be praised because the psalmist has experienced the power of God’s salvation. This is not a lament; this is the testimony of answered prayer. The LORD is a refuge because he is the God who saves.

Vv. 4–6 describe the psalmist’s previous condition as truly desperate. He was trapped in death. The waters of the underworld ensnarred him. When we think of this psalm as ultimately a praise for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can read vv. 1–6 as a declaration of the victory that the LORD rendered through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus died on the cross, but God vindicated him by raising him triumphantly from the grave. This is the true ground for our security.

How do the opening six verses teach us to give thanks and praise to the LORD?

What are some areas in your life for which you can give thanks to God today?

How does this psalm help us to praise God for the death and resurrection of Jesus?

Reading the Psalms as a Prayerbook for God's Missional People (Part 4 of 4)

Part one

Part two

Part three

The following concludes our essay on the Psalms as Prayerbook for God's Missional Peoplel

The Psalms remain filled with hope for God’s victory and growth of God’s kingdom. This hope centers on God’s people’s recognition that the LORD is the true king of Israel and all creation. As we noted earlier, the Psalter ends with a call for all creation to praise the LORD: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (150:6). What is the means of this hope? It is not in humanity or humanity’s institutions. For example, Psalm 89 laments the loss and failure of the Davidic monarchy. The hope of the Psalter focuses on the kingship of God over God’s kingdom (see especially Pss 90–99). This hope is epitomized by the expressions “The LORD is king” or “The LORD reigns” (93:1, 95:3, 96:10, 97:1, and 99:1). These psalms remind God’s people that security and the future depends on God’s power and leadership. This is good news as Scripture consistently reminds us of the foibles and frailty of humanity.
    
As we saw in our  review of Israel kingship, it is critical to understand YHWH’s lordship, but there remains a human element in Israel’s hope. Psalm 2 introduced the idea of the LORD’s messiah as the human agent of God’s kingdom. The hope for the messiah as God’s agent of renewal and restoration remains alive throughout the Psalter. God is king, but God will reign through the hand of God’s messiah. Royal psalms about Israel’s kings such as Pss 2 or 110 became audacious prayers for God to renew David’s kingdom by raising up a new king to deliver them from the oppression of the nations and usher in a new age of salvation. The hymns of God’s kingship as well as the songs about Messiah maintain God’s people in a hopeful expectation for a good future despite any challenges or difficult circumstances faced in the present. In the New Testament, the book of Psalms is one of the most frequently quoted of Israel’s Scriptures. One of the main reasons for this is that the New Testament writers understand Jesus as the fulfillment of the Psalter’s messianic expectations.
    
The Psalter is anchored by three Torah psalms that extol the authority of Scripture and a continual meditation on it as the way of life. The three Torah psalms are Pss 1, 19, and 119. Their location is critical. As noted above, Psalm 1 serves as part of the Psalter’s hermeneutical introduction by articulating the happy life for the individual through the constant reflection on the Torah. Book 1 (Pss 1–41) are principally laments, but about halfway through, the Psalter’s editors provide another Psalm (Ps 19) that reminds its readers of the crucial role and power of the Torah for transforming the lives of God’s people. Lastly, in Book Five (Pss 107–150), Ps 119 serves as a massive reminder of the importance of Scripture. The Psalter is steadfast in its affirmation and confession of God’s kingship, but Scripture is the means of shaping Israel’s king and all God’s people into holy and missional community that will serve Creation’s true king. Ps 119 with its 176 verse treatment of the power of Scripture anchors the final psalms in preparation for the Psalter’s concluding symphony of praise hymns in Pss 146–150.
    
A missional reading of the Psalter reads the interplay of these various psalm types as a means of shaping and securing God’s missional people as they live among the nations as a witness to the true God. The God who created the world and called a people to himself to serve as his ambassadors provides God’s people with the gift of the Psalms to give them prayers for all occasions (both messy and magnificent).

Now let us engage the world while praying without ceasing (1 Thes 5). 

© 2015 Brian D. Russell