Psalm 20:1-3
1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! 3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
Introduction:
This week, we continue to look at Psalm 20, very simple two part structure Psalm that contains 1) prayers offered and 2) a statement of confidence in God. So let’s dig in and take a close look, vs.1 The picture this Psalm paints for us here is of a group of people praying for their king who is about to go out into battle against an enemy. This is one of those prayers we pray for ourselves during those times when we know that what we are about to do will be a hotbed for emotional, physical, mental, and/or spiritual warfare. This is one of those prayers that we pray over others who have an especially difficult task ahead of them.Now, last time we were together we talked about God the deliverer of Jacob.This week we’re going to look at the next two verses.vs.2 has some wonderful insights concerning pre-war preparation and vs.3 has something to say about the importance of consistency.
Psalm 20:2 - Sanctuary
“help from the sanctuary” - The sanctuary is always a picture of the place where we meet with God. With Adam and Eve it was in the midst of the garden of Eden.With Noah and Abraham and those who came before the creation of the tabernacle and the temple it was most often the wilderness.For the children of Israel during their wandering towards the promised land it was the Holy of Holies and the Tabernacle.For the nation of Israel it was the Temple, the place where the Israelites came to get their thoughts straightened out, to get their thinking corrected, to get their hearts right, and to worship God. It was in the Temple where they met with God, and where they would heard the Word of God, the mind and thoughts of God, taught faithfully.Later on in the Psalms, we’ll read the thoughts of King David’s worship director who is deeply troubled by the prosperity of the wicked: Why do the ungodly prosper while the righteous seem to be downtrodden all the time? Asaph struggled with this, as so many of us do, and set about looking for a reason behind suffering and looking for a way to praise God rightly and do his job.He was upset... understandably... so what did he do? And the Psalms tell us that he wandered and struggled until he found himself in the sanctuary, in the Temple.Now... his solace wasn’t the Temple itself... just as our solace isn’t found in church attendance.No... Asaph found peace and answers in the place where he was able to see, hear, and spend some alone time with God.This is what the sanctuary does.For us the sanctuary is the Scriptures. This is where we find our help. It is by Scripture that our minds are illuminated, that we begin to see the world the way it is, not the way it appears to be. There is not one of us who has not already learned that life is not the way it appears to be, that often what looks like an answer and what we are convinced at first is the right perspective on things often turns out to be exactly the opposite. Life is filled with illusion, with deceit; things are not what they appear to be. Doesn't your heart cry for somebody to tell you the truth, to tell you the way things really are, to open your eyes to what is going on? That is what the Bible does... this is what good Bible teaching does... this is what personal Bible reading does.Hitting the MUTE button on God (ELABORATE)
Psalm 20:2 - Zion
Now... that’s the first part... the second part comes from the second section of vs.2“support from Zion” - Zion is another name for Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom. In the Scriptures Zion stands as a symbol of the invisible kingdom of God that surrounds us.This is the Kingdom that is made up of ministering angels sent by God to serve those who are the heirs of salvation. In other words, all the help that God can give you in the day of trouble, in the hour of pressure, is made available through God’s invisible Kingdom... and how do we access this invisible Kingdom? - PRAYER.Remember that in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus was praying and sweating drops of blood in the height of His agony, an angel appeared and ministered to Him and strengthened Him. That angel was made visible to Him in order that we might be taught a lesson of what happens when we pray. I have gone into prayer depressed and defeated, but while I have prayed I have felt my spirits caught up, changed, and strengthened. I came out calm, at rest, and at peace. Why? Because I have received help from Zion.Let me ask you: Where do you turn when your heart is troubled and your mind is confused by all that is happening in your world? Where is your place of quiet confidence and rest?John 14:1-7
Psalm 20:3 - Consistency
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