Psalm 20 - Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God.

PSALM 20

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

20 May the Lord lanswer you in the day of trouble!

May mthe name of the God of Jacob nprotect you!

2 May he send you help from othe sanctuary

and give you support from pZion!

3 May he qremember all your offerings

and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4 May he rgrant you your heart's desire

and fulfill all your plans!

5 May we shout for joy over syour salvation,

and in the name of our God set up our tbanners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he will answer him from his holy heaven

with uthe saving might of his right hand.

7 Some trust in vchariots and some in whorses,

xbut we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

8 They collapse and fall,

but we rise and stand upright.

9 O Lord, save ythe king!

May he answer us when we call.

The first verses that really struck me were verses 4-5:

May he rgrant you your heart's desire

and fulfill all your plans!

5 May we shout for joy over syour salvation,

and in the name of our God set up our tbanners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Mary Ellen and I were just talking about this tonight, the fulfillment of our plans, petitions, requests, dreams that we make and ask of God to bring to fruition.  I think a lot of times that Christians misunderstand verses like this.  I think they tend to think that if you ask God enough, eventually He'll cave and He will give you what you've been asking for.  But with vs. 5 "May we should for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our Banners!  May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!"  We're saved, our lives are no longer about ourselves anymore, they're about God and our petitions should be asking God to bring us closer to Him.  Those are the prayers and petitions that we know without a doubt that God will answer.  I don't mean stop praying for what you want.  That would be silly.  If there is a strong desire on your heart that you'd like God's help with by all means pray!  But our main desire of our heart should always be for God.  And that's what I think these verses are talking about.

The other verses that stuck me were vs 7-9:

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.

Ever watch Ben Hur or any of the ancient Rome type movies?  Horses and chariots are no joke.  They are part of why the Roman Empire was so big because the Romans had the upper ground and could overpower whomever they decided to attack.  They were a deadly combination and one that you would definitely want on your side.  It's like the olden day equivalent of saying that you put your trust in tanks instead of the little rifles.  "But we trust in the name of the Lord our God."  Just the NAME of the Lord is so powerful that it blasts away everything else!  That's who we have on our side!  That's who is in our corner!  

I'm amazed more and more every day that God is on my side, by my side, helping through this and that and defending me against the evils of this world and my own sinful nature.  That He lifted off my heavy burden of sin so that I might walk more gayly and joyfully in his presence and rejoice more fully in him.

This psalm just proclaims to me just how AWESOME God is.