Psalm 20-21

Bible Passage:  Psalm 20 – 21

We are back to reading the books of wisdom this month.

How we need wisdom!  Especially in view of recent announcements.

Man may say a lot, but in the end for me, it is the Word of God that counts.  And that is what we all need to return to as we seek His will and wisdom.

Today’s passage is interesting in the fact that it is like a ‘before and after’ songs or hymns to be sung.

Before – Psalm 20

Psalm 20 suggests that David composed it for use before battle.  He and his troops reminded themselves that their victory ultimately depends not on chariots or horses (some can compare them to the technologies of warfare) but rather it depends on the Lord.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves 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 remember the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

~ Psalm 20:6-8

Psalm 20 starts off showing us that David completely understood the true source of our strength in our victories over sin and everything that our heart desires.

Unfortunately, even though we are Christians, we are prone to forgetting this and although we cry out to the Lord before our ‘battles’ and ‘trials’, we resort and depend very quickly on the things that are in our hands and abilities to help ourselves.  We scheme.  We work hard at ‘working our way’ out of our predicaments… not really trusting the Lord to take care of things, even though we have prayed to Him.

But David’s psalm is a clear reminder that if we are in trouble, call out to the Lord for help. If we are weak, discouraged, depressed, or overcome by our circumstances of life, call out to the Lord for help.

Because of the Lord’s great love for His chosen people, He is always available to help and guide us in the way we should go.

And we have to believe that and not be too clever for our own good.

After – Psalm 21

Now Psalm 21 is the ‘After’ psalm of the before-and-after-battle couplet that David uses.  It is a celebration of victory that comes from God.

The glory of victory does not belong to the general or the king but to the Lord.

The thankfulness of David for God’s providence is clearly evident.  And there are some lessons for me today as well.

Praying in times of trouble is easy but how often do we forget to return our thanks to God when He intervenes, helps and delivers us from our troubles? How often are we thankful that He is supplying daily grace to help us bear up under the trial difficulty or crisis?

There are times when God does not remove the difficulty.  But He simply helps us to cope with it, to bear up under the burden.

However, it seems much harder to give thanks to God than it is to ask Him for help…. when in reality it is not.

Just think about it… when was the last time you thanked God properly?

Now I don’t mean the “Thank God for….” that slips out of our mouths so readily.  But I mean the “Thank you God….” that is expressed with the same intensity and urgency as when we ask God for help in our times of need.

Well we need to learn the lesson from the Psalmist who realised the importance and necessity of being thankful to God for his many mercies.

Jesus taught this lesson as well on the occasion of His encounter 10 lepers. They asked him to have pity upon them, which He did by healing them. All of the lepers were delighted of course that Jesus removed this awful disease from them. But only one returned to give thanks to Jesus and he was a Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19). Jesus then applied the lesson of the importance of giving thanks to God.

So have we developed a thankful heart?

Do we regularly spend time every day properly thanking God for his grace and mercy to us?

Do we especially thank God for those specific times when God comes to our aid and delivers us from some trial and difficulty?

We will only return thanks in those specific times if we are thanking him daily for his general blessings. We must learn this lesson and be thankful people and not just asking people.

Let’s start by thanking God for the start of this month and week.  We know that whatever lies ahead of us…. God will be there.  Always.