WE TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD by Trish Reimer

Psalm 20

Observe:  Psalm 20 is basically in two parts.  The first part (vs. 1-6) consists of requests from the people of Israel for David their king.  The second part (vs. 6-9) is a response from David describing his confidence in God and ends again with a request.

Interpret:  The people of Israel obviously respected and loved King David.  They asked the Lord for His protection as David went out into battle and stated their plan to rejoice when the Lord did protect him.  (vs. 5)  They then ended their litany with another petition that the Lord would grant David all his requests, thus ending their requests with another final request.  The second part of the psalm refers to the Davidic King stating his confidence in the Lord God.  Although this psalm doesn’t really refer to Christ, we may liken it to Jesus, who was the ultimate Davidic King – the Messiah.  Now this I know:  the Lord gives victory to His anointed. (vs. 6)  The psalmist then concludes with a final prayer:  Lord, give victory to the king!  Answer us when we call! (vs. 9)

Application:  These past couple of years have been challenging in so many ways for all of us.  Many of us are discouraged and weary.  Can we say as David did?  Now this I know…we trust in the name of the Lord our God.  No matter the circumstances, good or bad, we can have the confidence that God “has our back”.  He will help us rise up and stand firm and answer us when we call.  A couple of weeks ago I personally had reached a low in my life.  The unanswered grieving for my dad followed immediately by Christmas preparations in home and church life, my mother-in-law rushed to the hospital on Christmas Eve for emergency surgery and then the aftermath of taking care of both her and my father-in-law (now in separate facilities) as well as my own health issues brought me down.  I had never experienced anything like that.  Years ago Bill Bright put out a little booklet called The 4 Spiritual Laws.   In it he likened our life to that of a train.  The engine is faith, the coal car is fact, and the caboose is feeling.  We can run the train without the caboose, but we can’t run it without the engine and coal car.  That has been a real blessing for me when I picture it.  In my despair, even though I didn’t feel it, I knew that I could trust in the Lord to bring me through.  My feelings don’t run my faith or the facts of the Bible.  I don’t have to feel good to know that God cares and loves me and will be my victory.  I trust that you believe this as well. We can have the same confidence that David did!

Prayer:  Father God, we know that we can trust in Your name.  Help us to rise up and stand firm and give us victory through You Son’s name.  Amen

Song:  We Trust in the Name of the Lord our God