Amen, please be seated. This morning, we have a psalm before us. That points our focus as God's people to God in the face of trouble. What we have here in Psalm 20 is what we call a royal psalm, which would have been offered as something of a prayer for the king.
And yet, we see ultimately that this psalm roots the believer's faith, not in someone like David, but in the Lord himself. In fact, we're gonna see from this passage that the psalm is ultimately about Jesus, our God who is king, the one in whom we place our faith. This week, consider Psalm 20 this morning when I ask the question, what is, what is its theme? Well, quite simply the theme of Psalm 20 is trust.
Psalm 20 offers a unique perspective of the believer's trust in the Lord. It considers our assurance as believers to face whatever may come with full confidence of the Lord. He is sovereign, that He is mighty and powerful to save, and that He is really near to His people. He is really near to you.
The mindset of the psalmist is one that expects trouble and knows that danger lurks. The author is not deluded or misinformed regarding what threats lay before Him. And so, Church, let us this morning hear God's word, and be so strengthened in our trust in the Lord that we can meet today, and that we can meet tomorrow with full confidence because God is your God. Before we read God's word, would you pray with me?
Let's pray together. Oh God, we thank you that you have spoken, or that you have revealed Christ to us in your word. Every page of our disciples is about Jesus. And Father, we ask that you would exalt Him in our hearts and our minds, that we would bow before Him, who rules and who reigns, even now, all authority and dominion has been given to Him.
And so, will we pray that your word to us might be as sweet, as honey, and as valuable as gold? Might you instruct us, might you teach us, might you whittle our hearts, O Lord, that we might be formed in the fashion more and more into the image of Christ. And so, Father, we pray that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to love and eyes to see, hands to work, a mind to know, a will to desire, O Lord, affection for you. You pray and ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. It's a psalm. Shafter 20, this is God's word. Perfect, let's give ear, 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 in regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.
Say, la, 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 mind 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. Amen. The grass withers and the flower fades. The word of our God stands forever and ever.
Thanks be to God. As most of you know, I'm a transplant here to Northwest Arkansas. And one of the things I left behind in South Carolina is I've traded hurricanes for tornadoes. I want you to correct me after the service as I'm assuming some things here.
But I imagine that being in Arkans and being landlocked means that when June 1 comes around, you don't start fretting about the systems churning in the Atlantic or in the Gulf or whatever's coming off the coast of Africa. And yet in South Carolina over the summers, we would all begin paying a little more attention to our beloved local meteorologist, Ed Pietrowski. And we would do so closely. Because when he reports that there's a disturbance being monitored in the Atlantic and as he crunches numbers and he shares spaghetti graphs, we not only watch and wait, but we also prepare.
We go to the store and we buy all of our essentials. We make sure our generators are gassed up. We go and we get sandbags after sandbags. We stock our pantries.
We buy flashlights and batteries. We check on our neighbors. We batten down the hatches and we put plywood over our windows. And yet when the winds pick up and the clouds roll in and the storms begin, what are we to do?
For surely our preparation means little. Should we not have prey to the one who parted the waters, to the one who calmed the storms, to the one who sent floods and covered the earth with the depths, and the one who promised never to flood the earth again? You see preparation without prayer is folly. And similarly, this psalm sets God's people on the brink of uncertainty.
The clouds are gathering. There's the potential in the proverbial storm rolling in. And surely they'll prepare for wars. There's likely a note here that these troubles mentioned are likely wars or battle.
But the highest calling for the Israelite and for the Christian is to seek the Lord and to pray. Whether storms or war or global pandemics or economic uncertainty or political upheaval or even grief and loss or hardship, whatever it may be, the theme of this psalm reminds us that when trouble is on the horizon, yes, we should plan. Yes, we should prepare, but above all we should pray. And so this morning, we're going to look at really one major point about such prayer.
That for the Christian, when we pray, we really cry unto the Lord. Considering the Christians cry this morning. It is something ironic that our psalm considers preparations for battle. For surely men were mustered and organized and inspected.
They were distributed and plans were prepared. But the words in tone of the psalm reflect the pinnacle of preparation for battle. The king and his people should seek the Lord. And there's a fair question here, I think.
What good is prayer as a means of preparation for something like war. Surely this is the world's mindset. And just not just those nations who surround in Israel, trusting the might and number of men, or the power and prowess of their king. But it's the world's mindset today.
What good is prayer. Well, the theme of the psalm brings to mind Paul's words in verse Corinthians. Paul writes, but God shows what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God shows what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God shows what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are. So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And I want you to miss that which is so plain and rooted in the psalm, it is a deep humility and acknowledgement of the weakness of all men, even kings, apart from the mercy and help of God. You know, why is it that we think we can take on each day and stare down the forces of evil and meeting each trial and travel like white earth at the OK Corral?
Most likely that answer is really a deep, seated pride, a sense of self-reliance, which ultimately, whether our express intent or not, sounds something like, I don't need you, God, I'm just fine without you. And so we see the orientation of the believer's heart is towards the Lord in prayer because if the king can do nothing apart from the Lord's help, if the king can do nothing apart from the Lord's help, what beloved neither can you or myself. And this weakness serves as a purpose, as Paul's right, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God, that it might be God who receives all the glory and all the praise. And it is here that we see our object of worship, the one to whom we pray, the one to whom we cry out is the very king of the universe.
And when we face uncertainty or stare trouble in the face, might we remember these petitions before the Lord? And might they inform the language of our prayers? For first, we find this passage, the believer cries out, Lord, protect me. The believer first cries out, Lord, protect me.
In verse one, there's a call for the Lord to answer you in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob, protect you. And again, I want to note the acknowledgment of the people and the king that it is God alone who protects his people. But isn't it kind of strange that they appeal to the name of the Lord?
Well, what good is a name? Well, maybe you're a long time Siloam Springs resident. Maybe you've been pulled over a time or two, maybe going just a little bit over the speed limit. You know that a name sometimes can get you out of a speeding ticket.
Maybe it can get you a special rate. Maybe it can get you expedited service or access to something exclusive. It can even earn you trust or respect with those that don't know you when you have a name. We recognize that with some names, there is associated some sense of power or prestige.
Maybe from their status in society, maybe from their job, or maybe from their reputation. But what David has in mind here reflects an ancient Hebrew Hebrew understanding of what's in a name. For David and his people, a name spoke to the very being, the very character and trustworthiness of an individual. It was the Lord's name that was given to Moses at the burning bush when he asked, well, who am I to tell the Israelites, sent me?
Do you remember what God's response was? I am who I am. This is what you were to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you.
This is the name of God which reveals to us Yahweh, or the small capitalized letters Lord, and the Old Testament referring to the covenant name of God. It carries with it covenant maker and covenant keeper, steadfast love, holiness, care and compassion among many other qualities. But at its core is this, at least a promise. For when we cry out to the Lord, he says, in his name I have been and will always be with you.
I will be your God and you will be my people. See, this is the God to which you and I pray. In the very reason we pray with such assurance, with such urgency and trust that the Lord who protected Jacob and his family will protect us. When we call upon the name of the Lord to protect us, we're calling upon everything that God is to fight for us and to defend us.
And as Proverbs 18 reminds us, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe. Wonder if you've ever been camping in a thunderstorm. And that don't mean necessarily in an RV or in a trailer, but I mean on the ground, in a tent, in the middle of the woods or top of mountain and a drenched downpour with lightning crashing all around, growing up storms seem to follow us everywhere we set up a tent.
But you're never more aware of just how insufficient of a shelter a tent is until a small mountain squall pops up in the middle of the night. But unlike the feeble mesh and tarp of a tent, the name of the Lord is a strong tower where those who love and cherish his law and word find safety from the onslaught of this world. Beloved, he is sufficient. He is a strong tower.
And when troubles arise, when we encounter uncertainties, or when enemies set themselves against Christ in his church, where do we turn? What do we do? What do we cry out to the Lord and pray in the full confidence in the name of God? We cry out Lord, protect me.
Second one, what you see this morning is that we cry out. The Christians cry is Lord. Be with me. Lord, protect me.
Lord, be with me. And the people in Psalm 20 appeal to the sanctuary and to Zion, which for ancient Israelites was the site where God promised to dwell with his people. It was the place of worship. It's there that God dwelled.
And there the king would have made sacrifices to which the people appeal to in verse three. The tabernacle also served as a constant reminder that the all surpassing glory of God, the one who is transcendent and the one who is invisible is also near. He resided among his people. And the Levity continues to reside among us by the Holy Spirit and Christ.
That's what makes Ezekiel's prophecy of the Lord's departure, leaving the temple, all the more terrifying of account. For if it's the Lord leaving the midst of his people. So David Psalm and the prayer of the people served as a reminder that help was not only certain, but it was also near. Our kids have recently enjoyed, I think maybe I've shared this before, I've enjoyed the neighborhood privilege of going out riding their bikes and playing with their friends.
And what's always sweet is we send them off every time they go, armed with a walkie talkie. And whenever we send them out, we know that they have access to us, that we are near. We're never that far away. Even if they were outside, we know that they were the fall, or if they were to get hurt, we know that they could cry out.
And we would hear them. And we could rush to them and take them up and help them, or take them to find the care that they need. I mean, do you remember? Have you been there?
You've heard your children outside, you hear the cries. You know that all cries aren't the same. You hear that cry, you know something's wrong. What blessing is this now that you're near, that you can come running, that you can scoop them up in your arms and take care of them.
And that you can give them a little bit of the message of the proximity to God. It was people who forgot here in this Psalm. He dwells in his sanctuary, made with hands. But John informs us in his gospel that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we have seen his glory, glory as the only son, from the Father, full of grace and truth. And when Jesus told the disciples that he was leading them, he promised them a coming helper, the Holy Spirit. And again, Jesus is ever so close to you and me by His Spirit, which is the bond that unites us to Christ. And if the Lord's presence was a comfort and confidence to the King, then surely this for you and for me.
That appointed appearance of God ushered in the ministry of Jesus' life and death and resurrection and showed to be the grandest of rescues for by Jesus' work, were we not spared from our earthly enemies? But from the grand cosmic enemy of death. Or with Paul say, where of death is thy victory? Where of death is thy sting?
The sting of death is sinned. The power of sin is a law. But thanks be to God, he gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas Charles Person puts it, men of the world despise sanctuary help.
But our hearts, believer's hearts, have learned to prize it beyond all material aid. They seek help out of the armory or the treasury or the buttery. But we turn to the sanctuary. And as such, we cry out, Lord, be with me.
And blood of the is and is near. Third, we cry out, oh Lord, keep your promise. Oh Lord, keep your promise. And in the rituals and sacrifices of the Old Testament are sometimes, or maybe oftentimes, if we're honest, difficult for us to comprehend and understand.
Right there far and in strange to our modern ways, they're bloody and they're violent and they can seem antiquated and barbaric. But what this honest has in mind here is a confirmation of God's promise. Here there is an appeal to the covenant, that promise or that bond which God makes with the Israelites, that the language here in verse three to regard with favor your burnt sacrifices literally says, set a flame or to make them ashen. As I have to say, God, send down fire from heaven to show that you are pleased with my king's worship.
What's so interesting about this passage is that in the midst of preparing for battle, the people and the king are concerned with right worship, or worshiping God as he commanded. This is what we see also with the Buchashua. For they knew that success in the battlefield began, not with the strength of their men, but with their love for the Lord and their covenant fidelity. And what a lesson for you and for me as well.
And we feel so busy and overwhelmed, especially to the point where our worshiping together, where our private devotion suffers, we've lost the centrality of God's promises and purposes in our lives. Whether worldly distractions or days of trial and suffering, they can tend to choke out our sense of urgency before the Lord. Maybe you've then laid off or a loved one has been sick or maybe more responsibilities than given to you and you're struggling with keeping up. Maybe things are tense at home with your spouse or with your children.
There are days when our earthly troubles seem to eclipse the grand promises of God. The example here I think is that the Lord in his promises are central to your daily life. Whether in feast or in fallow, we cannot forsake these process. In fact, it's Jesus himself who reveals to us what it means to trust completely in God.
He who lived not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father. He who would utter the words, not my will, but yours of Father. He would regularly retreat to the wilderness, to pray he who with tears of blood and trust himself to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane. Surely it's Christ who patterns for us and reveals to us what it means to trust in God.
And as the Israelite looked to the altar to see God's pleasure and surety of his promises, to make those sacrifices ashen, to show forth his covenant love and promise. So you and I, we look to the cross. We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed in Christ. The promise is fulfilled in his finished work.
And we should have no doubt that the Lord will keep his promises. And so beloved, we cry out, Lord, keep your promises. Lastly, we cry out, Lord protect us, Lord be near, Lord keep your promises, but we cry out, Lord, bless others. In verses four and five, we're reminded not only of whom, but of two whom, but for whom we pray.
We cry out, we appeal to the Lord on behalf of the righteous King. And we ask the Lord, might protect, that he might be present, and might find the sacrifices acceptable to the King. Right here, the words of David, he says, may he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over your salvation.
In the name of our God, set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Note that this King is worthy of the prayers of his people. His desires are holy and right.
For the people with confidence that they can pray that the Lord fulfill his heart's desires and plans. For King, preparing for battle, that his actions might be just, that they not be greedy or vindictive, that he not seek vain glory, but seek the will of the Lord in all things. The King is one for whom the people want to see spared in battle. He's not an individual that the people are secretly praying in their hearts, hoping doesn't make it back from the battlefield.
It take a stray arrow. He is one in whom the people place their trust in his petitions or his prayers, that his will is to be done and enacted. And on some level, I want you to see that there is an instruction here in the Psalm to pray for the people in power and authority. There is a call to lift up the righteous one in our midst and to trust in him.
The larger catechism plots our positions of living and how we relate to one another. We all bear different relations to one another as superiors or equals or inferiors. And this again, depending on how we relate to one another, we all have some sense or seventh authority over others and some more than others. And it is here that we must ask a difficult question that I think especially as we relate to another, especially with authority, can this song be prayed of us?
Can others pray that our petitions be granted before the Lord? Can others pray that the Lord will fulfill our hearts desires and fulfill all our plans? Might it be that others would shout for joy, literally singing a song over our salvation, if you're a husband, can your wife pray this of you? If you're a parent, can your children pray this of you?
If you're an older brother or a sister, can your younger siblings pray this of you? If you're an employer, can your employees pray this of you? If you're an elder or deacon, can the church pray this of you, of me? We should see in this a call to pursue the Lord and to listen to him and obey his commands.
But also we should see here the grace of God, that Jesus Christ is the greatest fulfillment of this king, we so desire, one to whom we need not pray these things or for whom we need not pray these things, but rather he prays them for us. We do see how Jesus is the greatest fulfillment of this call. We trust in his desires. We sing every Sunday over the salvation of him from the grave.
And we know and find great assurance that his prayers are praying on our behalf for our good in every circumstance. We need not pray for Jesus in the way that Israel might pray for David in her seating, nor how you and I might pray for presidents or legislators. But beloved, what a glorious thought it is that Jesus prays for you and for me. And the true beauty of this song is that Jesus is the greater king who protects you, is with you, keeps his promises, and is the great blessing of others, the image of God's love for you.
Don Cook is a Marine Corps veteran who had been working at Barrett, a firearms manufacturer and supplier for the US military. He did so for about 17 years, and he was interviewed by National Geographic where he recounts the most interesting call he ever received as a customer service rep. He picked up the phone one day to the sounds of a firefight on the other end. Apparently a group of Marines were in the field and under fire, and they had actually damaged the rifle the day before.
And so what do they do? Well, somehow they got to hold a Barrett's customer service phone number, and they called, and he picked up, and he walked them through Enfield Repair in 30 seconds they were back in the fight. That customer service, right. Well, what this song teaches us is that we have such access to Father, to be prayer, that when we cry out that the Lord hears and he answers, and so Christians take heart that when you pray to God, you pray to the one who is there, and the one who invites you to pray, who welcomes you to pray, who commands you to pray, and know that he will always protect you, that he will always be near to you, that he will always keep your promises, and that he will indeed bless those around you.
Let's pray to God, I would you pray with me. Father, thank you, O Lord, that you would give us assurance, and that you would so grant us peace, O Lord, to know that you are never far, and that you do invite us to pray, and that you do so command us, that we might rest and lean upon you. But Father, might it be that we would dwell in and with you, O Lord, and know such safety as being in that high tower, being in your hands, from which nothing can snatch us, not seek himself, not sin, not death. That's why we ask that you would soak the flames of desire in our hearts, O Lord, to seek your face in prayer.
It might be that you would grant us all comfort, and that you would grant us all peace, O Lord, to know that you're here, and you do far more abundantly than we can ask or think. God, we pray that you would fill our hearts now with faith, trust, and bring us to you. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand together as we're able to sing our hymn of trust, and sweet the name of Jesus sounds.