Psalms 20

1. THE LORD answer thee in the day of trouble; The name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high; 2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, And strengthen thee out of Zion; 3 Remember all thy offerings, And accept thy burnt sacrifice; [Selah] 4 Grant thee thy heart’s desire, And fulfil all thy counsel. 5 We will triumph in thy salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners: The LORD fulfil all thy petitions.

6. Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; He will answer him from his holy heaven With the saving strength of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses But we will make mention of the name of the LORD our God. 8 They are bowed down and fallen: But we are risen, and stand upright. 9 Save, LORD: Let the King answer us when we call.

A PRAYER for the use of the ancient Church in time of war. Addressing her visible head, she wishes him Divine assistance and success (vs. 1-5), and expresses a strong confidence that God will answer her petition (vs. 6-8), which she then repeats and sums up in conclusion (v. 9). There is no trace of this Psalm having been composed with reference to any particular occasion, its contents being perfectly appropriate to every case in which the chosen people, under their theocratic head, engaged in war against the enemies of God and Israel. A.

This Psalm was composed for the emergency of a pending war, of which the indications are “the day of trouble” (v. 1); prayer for help in battle is the strain of the whole Psalm; the offering of special sacrifices preliminary to the going forth to war (v. 3); the setting up of military banners in the name of their God (v. 5); the fact that their enemies gloried in chariots and in horses, God’s people in His name alone (v. 7); and that in this conflict their enemies fell and they rose in strength and victory (v. 8). C.

1-5. Intercession for the king who is in distress, and who causes sacrifices to be offered for himself in the sanctuary. D.—The army, ready drawn up for action, as we may fancy, prays for the king, who, according to custom, brings sacrifices and offerings before the fight.

“Jehovah hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee, send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion, remember all thine offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice.” Then, as they wave their standards in the sunshine, or plant before the ranks of each tribe its cognizance, to be defended to the death, the hoarse shout rises from the files, “In the name of our God we will set up, or wave, our banners.” A. M.

1. “The name of the God of Jacob,” in the second clause, is used instead of the word “Lord” (Jehovah), or simply, “God of Jacob,” to express the fact that the petitions offered, and the promises implied in them, are founded upon the actual known character of God and His revealed relation to His people. This is made clear by the declaration of the ground of confidence which follows the petitions. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God;"—that is, we will call to mind what God is in Himself, and has made known about Himself to us, and has promised to do for us. W. F. Wilkinson.

The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Here is an assurance of protection and safety in the midst of foes, and of perseverance to the end. Get encircled with covenant engagements and covenant blood, covenant promises and covenant securities; then will “the Lord hear you in the time of trouble, and the name of the God of Jacob will defend you.” J. Irons.—A sweeter wish, or a more consolatory prayer for a child of sorrow, was never uttered by man. And who is there of the sons of men to whom a “day of trouble” does not come, whose path is not darkened at times, or with whom is it unclouded sunshine from the cradle to the grave? “Few plants,” says old Jacomb, “have both the morning and the evening sun;” and one far older than he said, “Man is born to trouble.” A “day of trouble,” then, is the heritage of every child of Adam. How sweet the wish, “The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble”! It is the prayer of another in behalf of some troubled one, and yet it implies that the troubled one himself had also prayed, “The Lord hear thee”—hear and answer thine own prayer! Bouchier.

2. Send thee help from the sanctuary.** Why “from the sanctuary,” but because the Lord presented Himself there as upon the mercy-seat! The sanctuary was in Zion, the mercy-seat was in the sanctuary, the Lord was in the mercy-seat; He would have Himself set forth as residing there. Herein they pray, and pray in faith, for help and strength. Clarkson.—Mercies out of the sanctuary are the sweetest mercies, such as are the tokens of God’s peculiar love; the blessing of God, even our own God. Strength out of Zion is spiritual strength, strength in the soul, in the inward man, and that is it we should most desire, both for ourselves and others, in services and sufferings.

3. “The Lord give thee the victory and success which thou didst by prayer with sacrifices ask of Him.” By this we may now know that God accepts our spiritual sacrifices, if by His spirit He kindles in our souls a holy fire of pious and Divine affection, and with that makes our hearts burn within us. H.—Very excellent are Luther’s remarks here, and capable of wide application. After observing that the sacrifices of the old law are done away in Christ, he continues, “Notwithstanding, at the present day others, as well as David, may use this Psalm in prayer; for as the person, the circumstances, the time, and place are all different in the new law, so likewise is the sacrifice; but one faith and one spirit abide through all ages, and amid all diversities of places, works, persons. The external varies; the internal remains ever the same.”

4. Fulfil all thy counsel.** All thy plans and measures in the war. P.—Those who make it their business to glorify God may expect that God will, one way or other, gratify them; and they who walk in His counsel may promise themselves that He will fulfil theirs. Thou shalt devise a thing, and it shall be established unto thee. H.

5. In the name of our God we will set up our banners.** We will wage war in His name, we will see that our cause be good, and make His glory our end in every expedition; we will ask counsel at His mouth, and take Him along with us; we will follow His conduct, implore His aid, depend upon it, and refer the issue to Him. We will celebrate our victories in His name. When “we lift up our banners” in triumph, and set up our trophies, it shall be “in the name of our God.” He shall have all the glory of our success, and no instrument shall have any part of the honor that is due to Him. H.—Confession of Christ, as the only name whereby we can be saved, is the “banner” which distinguishes His faithful people. Oh, that this confession were more distinct, more pure, more zealous, in those who seem to be His followers, then would they be more united, more bold, in the profession of their religion, more successful in the cause of Christ, terrible as an army with “banners”! W. Wilson.

The union of patriotic devotion and of religious fervor is not an incidental and occasional feature in the records of the Bible. It colors all the history and emerges in all its literature. Every one of the prophets, from Moses down to Malachi, through a period of fifteen hundred years, was both a preacher of righteousness and a patriot. They were as ardent lovers of country as they were lovers of God; and were always found at the front in times of national danger and despondency. When twelve hundred years ago and more the sword of Mahomet swept over the East and invaded Europe, patriotism became intensely religious, and for nearly one thousand years afterward prayers were earnestly offered in all the churches of Christendom for protection from the Turk. When Holland stood resolute against Charles V. and Philip II.; when Germany bore the brunt of the Thirty Years’ War, the cause of patriotism was the cause of religion. Had there been no Cromwell there had been no free England; had there been no William the Silent, there had been no Leyden, giving refuge to the Pilgrims, and this Republic would never have been born. Patriotism has an ethical and spiritual root; it is devotion to a moral ideal. The state is no man’s creation, however great he may be; nor is it a mere compact between many men; it is the voluntary subjection of the many to the sovereignty of law, to the maintenance of order, to the supremacy of righteousness. And intelligent, ardent, habitual regard for law means reverence and love for God. Thus patriotism and religion coalesce; a true love of country issues from and merges in true love for God; and true love for God involves true love for all men. In this spirit we may set up and wave our banners in the name of God. Thus we may put our religion into our patriotism. Behrends.

6-8. While vs. 1-5 were being sung, it is probable that the offering of the sacrifice was going on. Now, after a considerable pause, one voice is raised, very likely the voice of a Levite, and gives expression to the confidence that flashes up in their minds, that the sacrifice which has been offered by the priest has been graciously accepted. D.

6. The hope suddenly changes into certainty, now know I that Jehovah hath saved, hath given the victory. The singer speaks in the full assurance of faith that the prayer is heard, and as if he already saw the victory gained. The prayer had been (vs. 1, 2) that God would hear and send help from the earthly sanctuary or Zion. Now the answer is said to come from his holy heaven. For if God then condescended to dwell in visible glory among men, yet He would teach His people that He is not limited by the bounds of time and space. He sends help out of Zion; but the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. P.—Here, as in Psalm 18: 50, His Messiah or Anointed One includes the whole succession of genuine theocratic kings, not excepting Him whose representatives they were, and in whom the royal line was at the same time closed and made perpetual. A.

7. Some trust in chariots.** In war, chariots, horses, navies, numbers, discipline, former successes, are relied on; but the battle is not to the strong. “Providence favors the strong battalions” may sound well, but neither Providence nor the Bible so teaches. In peace, riches, friends, ships, farms, stocks are relied upon, yet they can neither help nor save. Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. W. S. Plumer.—Some there are who put their trust (as the Psalmist says) in chariots and horses, and dream they shall live forever in those palaces which are but the outhouses of the grave. There are very few men, in fact, who are capable of withstanding the constant effect of artificial distinctions; it is difficult to live upon a throne and to think of a tomb; it is difficult to be clothed in splendor and to remember we are dust; it is difficult for the rich and the prosperous to keep their hearts as a burning coal upon the altar, and to humble themselves before God as they rise before men. In the mean time, while pride gathers in the heart, the angel is ever writing in the book, and wrath is ever mantling in the cup. Sydney Smith.

We will mention the name of the Lord. Great certainly is the faith which hath such courage by remembering the name of the Lord. Soldiers in our day are wont, when they go into battle, to recall to mind the brave exploits of their fathers, or former victories, and the like, wherewith to warm and stir their hearts. But let our princes remember the name of God, wherein all salvation and victory do stand. Luther.—The life wholly occupied with the present is necessarily superficial. Recollection and anticipation broaden and deepen life. Memory enriches it by making us grateful for Divine goodness, humble in the consciousness of our failings and infirmities, wise from the lessons of experience, and diligent to redeem the time that remains. Adeney.

8. How different the end of those whose trusts are different! The enemies of God are uppermost at first, but they belong are brought down by force, their chariots are burned in the fire, and their horses die of pestilence, and where is their boasted strength? As for those who rest on Jehovah, they are often cast down at the first onset, but an Almighty arm uplifts them, and they joyfully stand upright. The victory of Jesus is the inheritance of His people. The world, death, Satan, and sin shall all be trampled beneath the feet of the champions of faith; while those who rely upon an arm of flesh shall be ashamed and confounded forever. S.

9. The hymn concludes congregationally, as it had begun, and is rounded off by reverting to its original tone, praying for the fulfilment of that which has been besought and pledged. D.