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Psalm 20:1-9
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; send
thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; remember thy
offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and
fulfil all thy counsel. 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. Now I know that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving
strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses: but we will remember the name of
the LORD our God. They are brought down and
fallen: but we are risen,
and stand upright. Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.”
Everybody In This Room Is
Facing A Battle In One Way Or Another
Introduction To Psalms
20, 21
“We
come to Psalm 20 and Psalm 21, they are a pair. Psalm 20 and 21, Psalms of David, they are to the chief Musician, there
are 55 of those in the Book of Psalms. These are songs that were to be sung publicly, that’s why it says “To
the chief Musician.” Psalm 20 is a song
that was sung before a battle, Psalm 21 was the song after the battle. The interlude between the two psalms is some
battle, we’re not specifically sure which battle it is, but it is when the
nation went to war. So, Psalm 20 is a
prayer, and Psalm 21 is a praise that follows. Psalm 20 kind of anticipates the battle, and Psalm 21 reflects on the
battle. And of course it’s interesting
for you and I to remember, you know, the Bible tells
us we are all in a battle, all of us here. We are in territory, when we talked about it Sunday morning, as Christ’s
ambassadors, it is imperial territory, it is a territory that is adverse to our
God, to his standards, it is in rebellion against him, it is a fallen world, we
are here as his ambassadors. And that
means we’re always in a struggle, we’re always in a battle, just in your
private life, in your thoughts [you ain’t kidding, see, http://www.unityinchrist.com/memphisbelle.htm]. The traitor that lives
within. So there is always that
struggle to react differently, not to turn the other cheek, not to give a soft
answer, we wrestle with lust, we wrestle with anger, we wrestle with
selfishness, there is a wrestling and there is a warfare. The New Testament is filled with those
ideas. And we’re told that we wrestle
not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. We’re told that the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal but they’re spiritual, to the pulling
down of strongholds (cf. 2nd Corinthians 10:3-5). We’re told to put on the full armour of God,
and so forth, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the
shield of faith, and so forth (cf. Ephesians 6:10-20). Paul says we are conscripted into God’s army,
we don’t live as civilians do, that we have an
enemy. You go through the New Testament,
all of these different pictures and truths that are put before us, should tell
us that we are in a spiritual struggle in this world. We are fighting from victory, not for
victory, we stand in the victory of our King, so we are all contained in that
larger struggle. In fact, the Targums
say the king spoken of in Psalm 21 is the Messiah, so certainly in both Psalm
20 and 21, there are Messianic flavours. David is the king being spoken of here, but David always reflected a
greater King. The battle ultimately will
be fought, the Church of God will be removed, Christ will return in power and
glory at the battle of Armageddon, he will subdue his enemies, this world will
be subdued before him, there will be victory. God’s enemies have no future, God’s people
can sing of their future victories, because they are assured. We may loose a battle here and there, but we
will not loose the campaign, we will win the war. And sometimes we see God’s enemies, we see
those adversaries of the things of God, seemingly winning battles, but they
will not win the war. And sometimes God
allows you and I to loose a battle, because it outfits
us and it completes us in a better way to win the larger battle, the larger war
that we’ll face. Sometimes that loss is
complementary to our growth in one way or another. So, we have all of these ideas in here. So as, remember, these songs were sung in
ancient Israel, publicly. This 20th Psalm has incredible ideas in it, as we are facing battle. Everybody in this room is facing a battle in
one way or another, we face, you’re battling with this, you’re battling with
that, you’re battling hopefully not with your wife or husband, but you’re
battling with many other things, and those things are going on. As a nation, what are we facing? As a nation, what are we facing? You know, there’s certainly a battle for our
morality, there’s a battle for the next generation, for our children in many
ways. There is a battle in regards to
ideals in the world, of different religious emphasis, and there’s
battles in regards to terrorism, we’re worried about those. We have confidence, falsely, because we are
in fact the greatest military power that the world has ever seen in its
history. But Rome was in its day, and it
fell. We are presently the greatest
military power the world has ever seen, but the Bible is clear, we are not to
trust in those things. But the might of
a nation depends on its righteousness, and this first Psalm, Psalm 20 will tell
us the LORD is the one who steps up in the midst of the
battle and grants victory, not Israel’s military prowess, or David, who was a
great warrior. In fact this central
verse in the first Psalm is verse 7, where it says ‘Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will
remember, or ponder, to think upon, the name of the LORD our God.’ So, there is a difference, and horses and
chariots were, they were their cruise-missiles [and tanks] in those days, this
was the most sophisticated weaponry there was in David’s day. He’s saying ‘We don’t trust in that, we’re
going to trust in the LORD.’
God’s People, Praying For David
As He Prepares For Battle
So,
David begins to lay this out for us. The first five verses, interestingly, are
God’s people praying for their king, for David, as he prepares for battle,
David records that. And it’s wonderful
to have people praying for you, certainly. Verse 6, David himself begins to speak, and verse 9, it seems that they all speak together. We’ll work our way there. Ancient
Israel was instructed, you don’t have to turn there, I will turn to Deuteronomy chapter 20, as they’re
ready to enter the land, the LORD says, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses,
and chariots, and people more than
thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it
shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach
and speak unto the people, and shall say unto them, Hear O Israel, ye approach
this day unto the battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye
terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is he that goeth with you,
to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” (verses 1-4) And it seems Israel is very much in that
circumstance here. Remember, they’re not
watching CNN or Fox News to see where the enemy is and see where the battle
line is, somewhere in the Middle East or what the North Koreans are doing, no,
they’re in the walls of Jerusalem, and on some distant hill they’re hearing the
trumpets or the drums of battle, they’re seeing the smoke of an army, the enemy
may be within view itself. And that’s
the scene here as the people begin to speak to David.
Three Names Of God, Three
Types Of Faith
Now
three times in the Psalm you’re going to find this, you’re going to find “the
name of the God of Jacob” mentioned first, then you’re going to have “the name
of our God” down in verse 5, and then you’re going to have in verse 7 “the name
of the LORD our God.” So, this Psalm, preceding battles, speaking to you and I before we go into a battle. It speaks first of all, it’s a very practical
faith that’s applied, that’s in regards to the name of the God of Jacob, and
then it’s the name, very personal faith, of the LORD our God, and then it’s a
perfect faith, it’s a faith in the name of the LORD, Jehovah, our Elohim, the
Covenant God of Israel. As we move into
the first five verses, the King James doesn’t bring it out at all, but the
petition is strong, because it has the word “may” in it. If you have an NIV or a New American
Standard, I think you’ll probably have the word “may” in there six or seven
times. The King James doesn’t have it, the Hebrew has it eleven times. So let me kind of read the first five verses
so you can get a sense of it. I’ll read
it first out of the King James, and then I’ll go back and reread, the first
five verses. “The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;” they’re praying for David,
their king, “send thee help from the
sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; remember all thy offerings, and
accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant
thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. 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.” (verses 1-5, King
James Version) Now, it’s a prayer. The Hebrew reads this way, “May the LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend
thee; may he send thee help from the sanctuary, and may he give
thee strength out of Zion; may he remember all thy offerings, and may he accept thy burnt sacrifices; may he grant thee according to thine own
heart, and may he fulfil all thy counsel. May we rejoice in thy salvation, and
in the name of our God may we set up our banners. May the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.” So, the sense of the petition
or the prayer is all the way through in the Hebrew, “may this,” “may that,” beseeching God for David, “may this,” “may that,
we want to do this.” Interesting, it
begins, and says “May the LORD hear thee in the day of
trouble,” this is for David, they’re praying in regards to David. Again, is the enemy in view, we’re not
certain for sure. ‘May the LORD, Jehovah hear thee in the day
of trouble, may the name of the God of Jacob defend thee,’ that is incredibly practical,
first of all. It’s telling us, they
don’t have confidence in David himself. David is called the light of Israel, if David
is killed the light of Israel will go
out. The people understood that the king, had a spiritual, not just a civil position in the
nation. But they’re not saying, ‘David, we trust your ability with a sling
to kill a giant, we trust your ability to kill a lion,’ what they’re saying
is, ‘David,
may your God that has kept you these years, and preserved you, and finally
brought you to the throne, may he keep you.’ In fact, ‘May
the God of Jacob defend you.’ Now when you’re headed into a battle, or you’re in a battle, and
if you’re not in a battle, you’re asleep, because you are in a battle, it’s
wonderful to be able to see the honesty here, saying, ‘May the God of Jacob defend
you,’ because he’s the One I need defending me. Look, we tend to pray prayers a little more
desperate in battle than after battle, don’t we, or between battle. When the enemy is sitting on the hill around
us, pounding the drums, and we know we’re headed into it, or when it’s
starting, ah, we’re pretty desperate. Desperate days bring desperate prayers. And the first part of this petition is, ‘Look, may the God of Jacob, you
know, LORD you know, we know David your
propensity to wander, we know that you’re just a man, we know that you’re just
a human, we know that you struggle, but God was faithful to Jacob, he kept the
covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob was a heal-catcher, Jacob was a conniver, Jacob was an operator,
and yet God was faithful to him, and God worked in his life, God led him, and
God gave him the 12 children of Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel, of Jacob.’ So, he says, first in prayer in regards to
this, understand when you go into battle, it’s not because of your prowess,
your wisdom, what you think you’re going to accomplish. Because if we enter into the battle that way,
the enemy’s got us, right where he wants us, self-confidence. No, it’s much better to go in and say ‘You know, I’m
headed into here with the God of Jacob on my side, because I’m a Jacob most of
the time, and now that I’m getting thrown into the line of fire, I need the God
of Jacob to be with me.’ So they say ‘May
the God of Jacob defend thee,’ and ‘may he send thee help from the sanctuary,’ “and strengthen thee out of Zion.” How wonderful to pray for national leaders that way. You know, ‘May you find direction and help
in the sanctuary, in worship.’ This
Psalm puts worship and warfare rightly together, they accommodate one
another. This is a nation that knows
they’re not as great as the nations that surround them, they don’t have the
weapons of those nations, they know God delivered them when he brought them
through the Red Sea and destroyed the greatest army in the world. That’s why he says here ‘Some trust in chariots, some
trust in horses, we’re going to remember the name of the LORD our God,’ (verse 7) and as they’re going into this
they’re saying, ‘Look David, may God bless you out of his sanctuary, out of Zion.’ (verse 2) How
wonderful to think how America, if we have to go to war, you know, personally I
want to see my President coming out of church with a Bible in his hand, I want
to see, ‘You’re taking us into this again? I want to know you’re praying, I want to see
you with Billy Graham on one side, Franklin Graham on the other side, Greg
Laurie on the other side, I want to know you’re getting Godly counsel, I want
to know you’re praying.’ And the
nation says, ‘May God bless you, may he send you help from the sanctuary, strengthen
you out of Zion.’ I love the
picture of George Washington on his knees on the battlefield, men dying of
cold, no food, no weapons, some of them, no shoes, greatly outnumbered by the
British, and that famous painting of Washington on his knees, he just
understood. He understood something very
clear in that scene. He said, “May
he remember all your offerings, and accept all your burnt sacrifices, may God
remember, David, you’re a great worshipper, you’re always at the Tabernacle,
always offering. May God remember that
you’re not just a warrior, you’re a worshipper, Selah, think about that.’ (verse 3) Everybody here, you’re struggling with
something tonight? If you’re not, man, I
want to know your recipe. But, you know,
everybody here, we struggle with something or another, look, isn’t it wonderful
that we can go to God, not because we deserve it, we can go to the God of
Jacob. We know him better than Jacob
did. We know the One that came and
wrestled with him [with Jacob] better than he does, he’s our Saviour, Jesus
Christ. This is the God of Jacob, we can
go to him. And we can get things in
perspective, in the sanctuary, you know, we remember the blood that was shed, we remember the offerings that were made. But before we head into any difficult
situation, things need to come into that context, you know, are we fighting the
battles of the Lord, or are we fighting our own battles? Are we being vindictive, and vengeful, and
unforgiving? Or are we saying, ‘Lord, this is really hard, I really want to
slug this person, but I’m going to turn my cheek, I know you want me to love
them, I know you want me to do this the right way, Lord, you gotta help me, you
gotta help me, Lord. I’m doing this in
light of your bloodshed, in light of the offerings, I’m coming to you, not in
my own righteousness, Lord, I’m coming as your child, blood-bought, asking for
help, Selah, Think about that for awhile.’ That’s a good thing to think about when you’re in the middle of a
battle. Then he says, “May
he grant you according to your heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.” (verse 4) ‘understand what you’re asking David, may God hear that in
regards to the enemy and the battle, and grant that.’ “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.” (verse 5) So these people who are praying for their
king, they’re very personal in their faith. ‘may he allow us to set up our banners,’ the idea is they’re anticipating victory before the battle’s even enjoined, and “the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.” Very personal in their
request.
God Hears Our Prayers And Saves Us
Now
David, it seems, responds here in verse
6, and he says, “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.” Now David just doesn’t go to the sanctuary,
but “from his holy heaven with the
saving strength of his right hand.” David says, the first thing he has there is “truth.” He realizes, ‘LORD, you’re the one who delivers,’ in fact,
“saveth” seems to be present in its tense, the Hebrew word can also be
translated in a past tense, David may be praying ‘LORD, you have saved,’ already standing on victory
ground, realizing LORD, this is your battle, you are
the victor, I’m in you, I’m not going to do this myself.’ He says, “Now
know I that the LORD has saved his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving
strength of his right hand.” (verse 6) and if David’s his anointed,
how much more are we? If David can say,
under the Old Covenant, ‘the LORD is my shepherd,’ how much more can we say it, in
the blood of Christ? “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.” (verse 6) The Lord hears us from heaven as we pray, “with the saving strength of his right
hand.” That just happens to be true, that’s the truth that David has. Now verse
7 gives us the trust that David has. He says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses: but we will remember the name of
the LORD our God.” It means “to bring to memory, to ponder,” “we will remember the name of Jehovah our
Elohim.” This is perfect trust, what
we will do, is we’re going to remember that we serve a covenant-keeping God,
who has a covenant with his people. Look, David was under the Old Covenant, the Bible tells us you and I are
under a better covenant. And there may
be places along the way where we loose a battle, [but] we will not loose the
campaign. We already know the last
chapter. He’s coming, with his vesture
dipped in blood, on a white horse, with the armies of heaven, that’s you and I,
behind him. He’s coming to set up his
Kingdom, nothing is going to change that [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm]. ‘Well I
don’t believe in God.’ That doesn’t effect him at all, he’s still coming. And the devil can’t change 666 to 667, it’s
written out, it’s gonna happen, he’s coming [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm]. We may have some difficult times here in the
mean time. But we will not lose the
campaign. He’s taken up for you and I,
his anointed, he will use his own saving strength, he hears us from his holy heaven. ‘And
there will be those who trust in the natural chariots, horses, but we will
ponder the name of the LORD our God,’ this is perfect trust, we’re going to think upon the covenant-God that we
serve. “They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.” (verse 8) Who is
brought down? Those
who trust in chariots and horses [tanks and humvies, in today’s language]. ‘They are brought down and fallen, like the
Egyptian army, buried in the sea, with their horses and their chariots,’ “They are brought down and fallen: but
we are risen, and stand upright.” (verse 8) There is triumph here. Verse
9, there’s an argument, and you have different translations here this
evening, King James says “Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.” Which would all point to
the LORD. It would be a capital “K”, should be, “Save LORD: let the King hear us when we call.” The
“we” would be David, and the people of Israel. The Hebrew indicates, ‘Save, LORD, the king” small “k”, ‘may’ we have a “may” again, ‘may he hear us when we call.’ ‘Save LORD the king,’ they’re asking the LORD to save David, ‘may
he, the LORD, hear us when we call.’ Either way, the plea is to the LORD, they’re expecting him, and to
hear, and they’re expecting him to grant victory. The lesson here as we look at this, is what I
would say is this, always kneel before you go to
battle. First of all, choose
your battles wisely. Some of them are
just not worth fighting. [During WWII in
the Pacific, the US bypassed certain Japanese-held islands, viewing the cost of
taking them not worth the loss of life, for the strategic ground that would be
gained. One island which we should have
bypassed, but McArthur thought it was necessary to have (and later turned out
wasn’t) was the very costly battle on Pelelui where 1,400 US Marines died, and
10,900 Japanese soldiers died]. A
bulldog can beat a skunk any day, it just ain’t worth it. Some of the battles we fight are just not
worth it. Who cares? But sometimes we have to stand, and it’s right for us to stand. And we’re standing for more than ourselves, and we’re fighting the
Lord’s battle, and always get on your knees before you start. And when you see the enemy camped around you,
this is a place to go, you know, you go to Psalm 20, and you just look at it,
and you rehearse it again in your mind.
Psalm 21
To
the chief Musician, A Psalm of David
“The king shall
joy in thy strength, O LORD;
and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and
hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. For thou preventest him
with the blessings of goodness: thou
settest a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of thee, and thou
gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and
majesty hast thou laid upon him. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever:
thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusteth in the LORD,
and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be
moved. Thine hand shall find out all
thine enemies: thy right hand shall find
out those that hate thee. Thou shalt
make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his
wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among
the children of men. For they intended
evil against thee: they imagined a
mischievous device, which they are
not able to perform. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their
back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against
the face of them. Be thou exalted, LORD,
in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.” (verses 1-13)
“As
we come to Psalm 21, look, the battlefield is strewn with litter, the drums of
war have ceased, smoke is probably rising, the enemy’s been vanquished, Israel
of old is reflecting on what’s taken place, and this song now is a song, it is
certainly giving thanks, it is after the battle. Is this the battle that brings David to the
throne in Jerusalem? We’re not
sure. Is this a national anthem of
victory, is this a coronation hymn? Certainly it looks forward to the coming of Christ and the victory he
has over everything. But it’s in the
context of the battle, in Psalm 20. So
here, it says, “The king shall joy in
thy strength, O LORD;
and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!” (verse 1) speaking of
what the LORD has accomplished, what the LORD has done. “Thou
hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his
lips. Selah.” (verse 2) And it seems, now, that David is
speaking in the first seven verses in the third-person of himself, it’s
reflecting back on Psalm 20, and then from verses 8 onward, the people seem to
chime in. So he says “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,
and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.” “Selah,” which is “think about that.” Look over again, in Psalm 20, verse 4, it says ‘May he’ “Grant thee according to thine
own heart,” ‘may he’ “fulfil all thy
counsel.” Here in verse 2, after the battle is over,
David is saying, ‘Thou hast given me,’ the idea, “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the
request of his lips.” ‘think about that, Selah, meditate upon that, think about that.’ You know, how many times do
you and I, we’re facing a hard situation, something looks out of
control, and we freak out, depending on what it is. We can freak out, we’re afraid, we can be
afraid of something. We can do the ‘What if’s, what if this, what if that, what
if this happens? You think if I do this
he will do that?’ My wife can get
the ‘What if’s.’ She has a PhD in ‘What if’s.’ I could go to
the university and study longer than her and never be as good as she is. [Careful Pastor Joe, you’ll be sleeping on
the couch.] Now I do other things, but
some people, you’re facing crisis, ‘What
if?’ or ‘Why, why do you think?’ I don’t think any of those things, don’t make
me think those things, I don’t think those things. But some of us internalize, some of us get
high blood pressure, some of us get ulcers. And the funny thing is, when it’s all over, and we sit on the other side
of it, then we say ‘Lord, forgive me for
griping, because I was sitting on the front side saying ‘You don’t love me
anymore, I can’t believe you’re letting this happen, this is bad for your
reputation, people shouldn’t see this happening to a pastor, this is bad…’ and then you sit on the other side of it in his victory, and you say ‘Lord, you’ve answered every prayer, you’re
so faithful, Lord, you’re so good to us, I’m rejoicing in your salvation, you
have given my heart’s desire, you have not withheld the request of his lips,
your king, Lord, you’ve heard me,’ David is saying. How many times have we been there,
wrestling? Hindsight is 20/20, yea, we
always get on the other side and look back and say ‘Yea, now I see what you are doing, now I
know why you were doing that.’ David
on the front side is, ‘I went unto the LORD…I’m going to trust the God of
Jacob, I’m going to trust the LORD our God, I’m going to trust
our God, he’s going to do this.’ David had a remarkable perspective up front,
and now on the backside of the battle, when the fray of battle is all died
down, it’s all over, he says ‘You know, LORD, you’ve given your king his
heart’s desire, you haven’t withheld his request from his lips, selah.’
God, the LORD, Precedes Us Into Battle
“For thou
preventest” ‘precede’ is the word, or ‘You went before him,’ the idea can be, ‘you met him’ “with blessings
of goodness: thou settest a crown of
pure gold on his head.” (verse 3) We see other times, the LORD went before Joshua, and met
him in the Plains of Gilgal, before the battle began. Abraham, coming back, the first time in the
Bible we have the word “war” is Genesis 14, first time in the Bible we have the
word “king” is Genesis 14, and when you have “kings” plural, besides the one
king, you’re going to have war. So you
have Chedorlaomer and the five kings of the north [Assyrian kings] descending, the
first war [listed] in the Bible, and it says afterwards, Melchizedek, the
Prince of Salem meets Abraham. In these
conflicts there is a meeting, God is gracious to that. And here he says, “For you preventest” ‘you met
him, you went before him, you met him with blessing and goodness. And you set a
crown of pure gold upon his head.’ David, his inauguration, it’s probably not the crown of an enemy, but it
may be his inauguration, here just a fitting picture of how God upheld his
own. “He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and
ever. His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon
him. For thou hast made him most blessed
for ever: thou hast made him exceeding
glad with thy countenance.” (verses 4-6) and you can see why the Targum says this is
all reflecting forward to the Messiah. Here’s the reason for the victory, here’s the central verse of this
“after-Psalm” or “after-the-battle-Psalm”, “For
the king trusteth in the LORD,
and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be
moved.” (verse 7) The reason
the prayer of Psalm 20 was answered, is because David went into battle not
trusting in chariots and horses, not trusting in himself, but trusting in the LORD, he went into a situation that
was difficult, as all of us do, and all of us will. And will we trust the Lord when we go
in? You know, because sometimes we look
in his Word, and we think ‘I’m not gonna
do that, if I do that, I’ll never get married. If I do that I’ll never get a better job. If I do that I’ll never be able to pay my
bills, If I do that, it’ll never work out, If I do that, that person’s going to
treat me like a doormat. If I do that
they’re never going to notice me.’ No, no, look, I’ve given you good advice, trust the Lord. That’s why we’re here, that’s the bottom
line, trust the Lord. David says, he’s
on the other side of the battle, he’s in victory territory, and he says ‘the
reason, for the king trusted in Jehovah, in the LORD,’ “and through the mercy of the most High he shall not
be moved.” (verse 7b) We are
on solid ground with our Saviour.
God’s People Have A Future Of Victory, God’s Enemies Have No Future
It
seems now, the congregation, now, addressing the king, “Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate
thee.” (verse 8) ‘David, this isn’t your last victory,
Messiah, this isn’t your last victory, your hand shall find out all your
enemies, your right hand shall find out those that hate you, God’s people have
a future of victory, God’s enemies have no future.’ “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in
the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.” (verse 9) Listen, these are the things in the world
around us that can frustrate us. ok? Remember, Paul
said to pray for those in authority when Nero was on the throne. We need to remember to be praying for our
President and policy-makers, praying for them. Paul said to do that when Nero was on the throne. You look at this world that’s around you that
drives you crazy, and I can get fed up with it, but I have to remember, you
know what? God so loved this world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe would not perish,
but have everlasting life. That’s how I
got in! I’m one of those whosoever’s. In fact, if he knew I was going to take him
up on it, sometimes you’d think he’d have narrowed that down a little. ‘When I
said ‘Whosoever’ I didn’t think you would come.’ He didn’t do that, he
said ‘Welcome
home, son,’ as he does to every lost man, or ‘Welcome home, daughter.’ How many of us, you know. I got saved in 1972, people were witnessing
to me, you know, 1969, 1970. And then, a
nickel was five bucks, that’s why you called it a nickel. A dime was ten bucks, a dime bag of pot was ten bucks. And LSD
was around, cocaine was there, it was before Crack, it was an era before these
things right now. You look at the world
now, people are using a drug one or two times, they’re hooked. You look at the world and what it’s offering
now, now they have social marijuana in states. What in the world is going to happen in those states? You have trouble holding onto your kids now? Give them an Ipad and a joint, you’ll never see them again. [laughter] It sounds
funny, but think how crazy the world is now. Think how crazy it is, and we can get fed up
with it [it’s crazier now in 2015 than it was when he was preaching this, much
crazier]. Everything that people
wouldn’t even talk about back then is becoming legal now. And if you say anything negative against it,
you’re the criminal. Think how the world
is a-changin, and we can get fed up with it, and we can just have an attitude ‘Lord, get me outa here, and SMOKE
THEM. Now that I’m in, get me out and
smoke them, you know, I’m glad you waited until 1972 until I got in, but now
that I’m in, I don’t care about anybody else.’ We can get fed up. Look, it’s
terrible here, he says he’s going to have victory over all of his enemies, the
LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, fire will devour
them. [Comment: Look, I’m an extreme history buff, and it has
been estimated that 50 to 100 billion people have lived and died since the
written history of man began about 6,000 years ago. That’s an established estimate by historians,
sociologists and population experts alike. In the Old Testament the number of people listed as having God’s Holy
Spirit potentially could number in the mere hundreds. A careful and honest study of history will
show that most of mankind since the first coming of Christ have not been called to nor answered any call to salvation. If all the Scriptural passages about the two
major resurrections prophecied to occur are put together, the two biggies being
Revelation 20:4-6, coupled to 1st Corinthians 15:49-54 and
Revelation 20:11-13 coupled to Ezekiel 37:1-14, it is apparent that God is not
done with the “unsaved dead,” and is going to offer them their first real
chance for salvation, after they have lived experiencing a lifetime (for some
of them short) but for most, which has been extremely painful, in Satan’s
world. Then at the time of this massive
2nd resurrection back to physical life, God will offer them all
salvation in a perfect Millennial Kingdom of God setting on earth, a world
without Satan and the demons, and then say to them “choose, choose life.” For most the choice will be an easy one which
they will accept joyfully. To read a
study of this interpretation of prophecy and salvation, which is strictly a
secondary belief, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm. You don’t have to believe this
interpretation. If it’s true, we’ll find
out about it from Jesus at his 2nd coming, which is coming pretty
soon, by all indications I see in the world. So when God actually does “smoke” his enemies, are they lost
forever? I personally don’t think
so. Anyway, we’ll all find out soon
enough. The symbolic meaning of God’s
Holy Days listed in Leviticus 23 map out God’s greater overall plan of
salvation for mankind. If interested,
see http://www.unityinchrist.com/E-Mails/June%2014/FallHolyDays-short.htm] [But in the mean
time…] We need to be evangelists in these last days, we need to lead men and
women to Christ, because the Lord, as he says in Ezekiel ‘Why will you perish? Why won’t you turn to me?’ the LORD says, ‘Why will you die?’ he
pleads. Peter says ‘it’s not in his heart that any
should perish, but that they all should come to the knowledge of the truth.’ (2nd Peter 3:9) We serve a loving
God, a loving God. But there’s a day
when we’re going to sit after the battle, and we’re going to look, and all that
he has done will be just. “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in
the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the
earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their
back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against
the face of them.” (verses 9-12) I don’t want to see none of that, coming face
to face with the LORD prepared for battle. But the last verse says this, “Be thou exalted, LORD,
in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.” (verse 13) Look, Psalm 20 seems in some ways much more
intense than 21, and I think because before the battle, particularly if we can
see the enemy camping, we pray desperate prayers, we dig deep, we come before
the Lord in genuine appeal and we cry out, and we say those things
genuinely. You’re facing a difficult
situation this evening? He’s the same
yesterday, today, and forever. He says ‘I am
the LORD,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not
consumed.’ So we can know tonight, whatever you’re
facing, whatever the difficulty is, that you can go to him, and you can appeal
to him as the God of Jacob. He’s the God
of David, who committed adultery and murder. He’s the God of Samson, who was given victory in the end. He’s the God of Peter, who hacked people’s
ears off, and always got himself in trouble. We love the great humans of the Bible, because he loved them, and was
their God, as he is ours. And if you’re
in a struggle, you’re in a difficult situation this evening, read Psalm 20, say ‘Lord, help me with this, I’m appealing
to you, the God of Jacob, I’m not trusting in what humankind trusts in, I’m not
looking to natural resources, I’m not looking to anything, I’m not going to
trust in chariots and horses, Lord, I’m going to ponder your name and all that
it means, you are God, you are Jesus of Nazareth, your name is like ointment
poured forth, it’s like the Balm of Gilead, it’s sweet, Lord. I’m going to ponder your name in the middle
of all of this.’ And
when the battle’s over, the enemy’s going to be vanquished, we’ll be standing,
it says, saved, Lord. Then again, Psalm
21 on the other side of the battle that’s happened, ‘All that I asked for, all that I was pleading for, Lord, you’ve
answered, you’ve been gracious.’ Look, imagine one day when we stand on that Sea of Glass, on the other
side of all of this, one day when we stand, without pain, without suffering,
without these mortal frames, having immortality, swallowed up of life. Every doubt that we’ve had will seem so
foolish, every self-effort and every self resource we thought we had, we’ll
realize, no flesh glories here. It all
belongs to him. We will stand there and
say ‘Lord, you have answered every
prayer, the King, we’re rejoicing in your strength, your salvation, Lord, how
great, because we have trusted in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most
High, we have not been moved, we’ve come home, we’ve arrived, the victory is
ours.’ And the truth is, through it
all, God’s enemies will be vanquished, they have no future. God’s children have a future of victory,
their future victories are already written out. The end of the story is already told, it’s already placed there. I think, we’re so indoctrinated by what goes
on around us, that sometimes we forget the eternal,
what this is really all about.
In Closing
We’re
going to praise him, have Rob come up, be a great way for us to end this
evening, “so will we sing and praise thy power.” (verse 13b) Let’s do this, if you this
evening feel like ‘My mom called him and
told him what I was going through today,’ like you’re in the middle of a
battle, and you’re really struggling, and we don’t want to make light or be
cavalier about anything, but you feel like you really want prayer tonight, will
you stand? I ask you to do that, if
you’re really in a difficult place, you feel like, ‘I’m going to receive this tonight, I’m going to trust the Lord in my
situation, and I’m going to ask him to minister to me.’ Let’s sing this first song, and as we do,
I would encourage those of you who are around these folks, if the Holy Spirit
leads you to, just go and put your hand on them. Don’t ask them what the deal is, just pray
for them, ask God to be gracious to them. Know that they’re in a battle, ask God to
grant them victory, to strengthen them…just [pray] in your own heart, ‘if they’re finding themselves in these
things this evening, Lord, then let these things be real to them, Lord, assure
them that they’re going to sit on the other side of this, and they’re going to
look back, and they’re going to realize you heard every prayer, you heard every
request, that all of God’s children have victory bequeathed to them, paid for
in the blood of Jesus.’ I’ll pray,
‘Father, we all look to you, Lord, this evening in these things. And Lord our battles that range Lord from
personal battles, Lord, from small things, Lord, to huge things, from betrayal
to misunderstanding, Lord. Lord, the
Church and this nation, corporately we battle, Lord, against the moral
standards and those who would shut down every prayer and every mention of
Jesus. Lord there are international attentions, Lord, and we fear for our nation, Father, we have
turned away from you and leaned on our own strength, Lord. We have forgotten that the might of a nation
depends upon its righteousness, we pray for our leaders, our President, Lord,
for those making decisions, to come to their senses, Lord, to find themselves
on their knees, looking to you, Lord. As
you see each person that stood here this evening, as we lift our voices now as
we worship, we ask that you would move among us Lord, that you would lift up
broken hearts, Lord, that you would assure, Lord, that your Word, Lord, will
abide. Heaven and earth will pass away,
the words of this Psalm will abide forever, and never change, Lord. Let them be able to take these things to
their own hearts this evening, let’s lift our voices…[transcript of a
connective expository sermon on Psalm 20:1-9 and Psalm 21:1-13, given by Pastor
Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia,
PA 19116]
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