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Psalms 20

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A Prayer for the King’s Deliverance 1–5

1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; ​
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 according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5
We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. ​

The LORD Saves His Anointed 6–9

6
Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear 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 remember the name of the LORD our God. ​
8
They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9
Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalm 20

Verse 1

the name of the God of Jacob defend thee — Sagab is to set on high, out of reach, and ‘the day of trouble’ (tsarah) is a tight place. Jacob had prayed to the God ‘who answered me in the day of my distress’ (Gen 35:3), and ‘hear’ here is the same verb as ‘answered’. ‘The name of the LORD is a strong tower’ (Prov 18:10).

Verse 3

accept thy burnt sacrifice — ‘Accept’ is dashen, literally to make fat, the verb rendered ‘anointest’ in Ps 23:5. In the Law the LORD’s acceptance showed when fire ‘consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat’ (Lev 9:24); fire also fell on Solomon’s altar (2 Chr 7:1). ‘Remember’ is zakar, the verb of v.7.

Verse 5

set up our banners — Dagal is to raise a flag, and the banners go up ‘in the name of our God’. ‘Salvation’ is yeshuah, deliverance, from the root of ‘saveth’ in v.6 and ‘Save’ in v.9, so one word for rescue runs through the psalm. ‘Petitions’ (mishalah) are requests asked of God.

Verse 6

his anointed — Mashiach, the anointed one, here the king, as in Ps 2:2, ‘against the LORD, and against his anointed’. Help was asked ‘from the sanctuary’ (v.2); the answer comes ‘from his holy heaven’, the same word qodesh. ‘Saving strength’ echoes Ps 28:8, ‘the saving strength of his anointed’.

Verse 7

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses — The Law kept the king from relying on horses: ‘he shall not multiply horses to himself’ (Deut 17:16). Isaiah repeats the warning against those who ‘trust in chariots, because they are many’ (Isa 31:1). ‘Remember’ (zakar) is the verb of v.3, so the offerings and the name are both called to mind.