#698 Belongs to God

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

4 May he grant you your heart's desire

and fulfill all your plans!

5 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!

6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he will answer him from his holy heaven

with the saving might of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but 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 the king!

May he answer us when we call. Psalm 20 ESV

Welcome to the shadow lands. This is a poem by David about a prayer from the people for their king going into battle. In just a few short chapters from here, you will be able to look back upon this from another battle, you will see that their are often two worlds represented in the Psalms. 

In the day of trouble - The battle was certainly coming, and there is a point at the start where you are looking at your enemy across the field, and this is the last time you will see your quiver full, your strength at it's peak, the mind sharp. The young and untested do not yet realize except in the hearing, at the testimony of the older and more seasoned, that soon their strength will leave them, their larger muscles will fill with toxins, and their lungs will frantically search for breath. The hour will come, that day of trouble must come, whether the field or the cross, the visible or invisible, physical and spiritual. 

May the name of the God of Jacob - Let Yahweh be with you, He is the God of Jacob, who is Israel, the father of the twelve tribes. As king of Israel, David represents all God's chosen people in battle. He goes out to war for them, to defend the honor of the tribes and of Yahweh. As King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ represents God's elect from every time and corner of this world, the Hero of the greatest battle ever fought, there will never be a contest with higher stakes, don't kid yourself. 

Support from Zion - Be present oh God, send help from Your throne room, send down angels. Jesus had a skirmish with the devil in his temptation, but it seemed more like sparring in comparison to the strain in Gethsemane, where he sweat drops of bloody anxiety. He was approaching a battle without comparison, and He would need the ministry of angels to sturdy Him for this final leg. 

Regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah - Pause, reflect, hear the drum, there is a sacrifice that God does not regard, every sheep, lamb, bull, red heifer, none of them moved God, but all of them were meant to point towards perfect obedience. A billion sacrifices would not save you, but the favor of God, the Love of God, would send the perfect sacrifice, just One, obedient even to death on the cross. God has purchased His own favor, prepared His own sacrifice, and only regards yours in obedience to His perfect will, looking forward to His Son. On earth as it is in heaven. 

Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for me.…Hebrews 10: 3-5

Grant you your heart's desire - God will literally grant you not only the desires of your heart but also the heart that desires His will. You will never realign God to your plan, but your plans will come about to His purpose. This is peace unattainable by human effort, human will, or comprehension. You will never be satisfied with God if you need Him to be subordinate to you, to answer to your cries of entitlement, because He does not nor need to change. He is and you are because He is. 

Fulfill all your petitions - It says that we have not because we ask not, but when we do finally ask it is never to our growth, but rather for earthly things, to honor ourselves and our appetites. Listen to this most beautiful prayer:

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”43 After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”…John 11: 41-43

Chariots and Horses - Some trust this world's treasure, it's weapons, strength of youth and numbers, but all these things are passing, and what we find fierce is to God the down that He would stuff His pillow with, if He wanted to. Listen, Christ already won the greatest battle, you can fly the flag of His victory without fear or shame, for yours is eternity in Him, and no gun, or nuclear war, earthquake, tornado or army can ever take that a way from you.

I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost,except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to You, and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.…John 17: 11-13