Psalm 20:2














In this psalm, as indeed in the rest, there are most suggestive verses, which might be elaborated into useful discourses. But in this division of the Commentary we refrain from dealing with isolated texts. We desire rather to show how the whole psalm may be used by the expositor of Scripture as the basis of a national sermon in a time of impending war. No doubt, as Mr. Spurgeon remarks, it has been used by court preachers and pressed into the service of unctuous and fulsome flattery. There is, however, another kind of abuse to which it has been subjected, even that of an extreme spiritualizing, in which the words are made to convey a meaning which there is no indication that they were ever intended to bear. No commentator seems to have set forth the bearing of the psalm more clearly and accurately than that prince of expositors, John Calvin. We have no clue, indeed, to the precise occasion on which the psalm was written; but we can scarcely be wrong in regarding it as a prayer to be said or sung in the sanctuary on behalf of the king when he was called forth to defend himself in battle against his enemies. And inasmuch as the kingship of David was a type of that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the psalm may doubtless be regarded as the prayer of the Church of God for the triumph of the Saviour over all his foes. It is said, "Prayer also shall be made for him continually," and those words are being fulfilled in the ceaseless offering of the petition, "Thy kingdom come." At the same time, there is such deep and rich significance in the psalm when set on the strictly historical basis, that to develop it from that point of view will occupy all the space at our command. The scenes here brought before us are these: Israel's king is summoned to go forth to war; sanctuary service is being held on his behalf; a prayer is composed, is set to music, and delivered to the precentor, to be said or sung on the occasion; after sacrifices have been offered, and the signs of Divine acceptance have been vouchsafed, the Levites, the singers, and the congregation join in these words of supplication. Obviously, there is here assumed a Divine revelations; the aid of Jehovah, the covenant God of Israel, is invoked; he is called, "Jehovah our God." The disclosures of God's grace in the wondrous history of their father Jacob are brought to mind. They, as a people, have been raised above reliance on chariots and horses alone. The Name of their God has lifted them up on high, "as in a fortress where no enemy can do harm, or on a rock at the foot of which the waves fret and dash themselves in impotent fury." They know of two sanctuaries - one in Zion (ver. 2), the other "the heaven of God's holiness" (ver. 6); they know that God hears from the latter, when his people gather in the former. Hence the prayer is sent up from the sanctuary below to that above. We, as Christians, have all Israel's knowledge, and more. The revelation the Hebrews had through Moses is surpassed by that in Christ. And although, as a "geographical expression," no nation now has the pre-eminence over any other as before God, yet any praying people can get as near to God now as ever Israel did. All devout souls have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Hence, when any trouble-especially that of war - befalls them, they may betake themselves to their God, and plead with him on behalf of their emperor, their king, their president, their state. And the psalm before us is truly a grand one for preachers to use at such emergencies, that they may cheer a people's heart, quicken the people's prayers. The abuse of the psalm by some courtiers, who feared man rather than God, is no reason why the preachers of any day should leave such a psalm unused, still less is it a reason why they should refuse to preach national sermons at all. For a long time, Nonconformists were so treated, that some of their preachers almost lost the national esprit de corps. But it is to be hoped that that is passing away; for on the basis of a psalm like this, some lines of thought may be so expounded and applied from the pulpit as to cause times of national peril and anxiety to be most fruitful in spiritual elevation and power.

I. IT IS AN ANXIOUS TIME FOR ANY PEOPLE WHEN THE HEAD OF THEIR STATE IS CALLED FORTH TO BATTLE. (See 2 Chronicles 20:1-3.) The interests at stake in the conflict itself, and for the promotion of which it is entered upon, must press heavily on the nation's heart. The fearful bloodshed and unspeakable suffering and distress in private life, which any battle involves, must bring anguish to many mothers, wives, and children; many a home will be darkened, and many a heart crushed, through the war, however large the success in which it may ultimately result.

II. WHEN WARS ARE ENTERED UPON PERFORCE, FOR A RIGHT OBJECT, THE PEOPLE MAY LAY BEFORE THEIR GOD THE BURDEN THAT IS ON THEIR HEARTS. (2 Chronicles 20:5-15.) There is a God. He is our God. He has a heart, tender as a father's, and a hand gentle as a mother's; while, with all such pitying love, he has a strength that can speed worlds in their course. Nothing is too large for him to control; nought too minute for him to observe. And never can one be more sure of a gracious response than when, with large interests at stake, a people are united as one in spreading before the throne of God their case with all its care. If "the very hairs of our head" are all numbered, how much more the petitions of the heart!

III. AT SUCH TIMES THE INTENSEST SYMPATHIES OF THE PEOPLE GATHER BOUND THEIR ARMY AND THEIR THRONE. (Ver. 5.) "We will rejoice in thy deliverance," etc. Whatever may have been the sentiment in bygone times, we now know that the king is for the people, not the people for the king. Hence his victory or defeat is theirs. The soldiers, too, who go forth loyally and obediently to the struggle, with their lives in their hands, leaving at home their dear ones weeping as they leave them lest they should see the loved face no more, how can it but be that a nation's warmest, strongest sympathies should gather round them as they go to the war?

IV. THE NAME OF GOD IS A STRONGER DEFENCE TO SUCH A PEOPLE THAN ALL MATERIAL FORCES CAN COMMAND. (Vers. 6, 7.) This is so in many senses.

1. God himself can so order events as to ensure the victory to a praying people, however strong and numerous the foes.

2. An army sent out with a people's prayers, knowing that it is so sustained, will fight the more bravely.

3. To the generals in command, God can give, in answer to prayer, a wisdom that secures a triumphant issue.

4. All chariots and horsemen are at his absolute disposal, and he can cause them all to vanish in an hour. The army of Sennacherib, The Spanish Armada. History is laden with illustrations of Divine interposition (Psalm 107:43).

V. WHEN THE PEOPLE TRUSTINGLY LAY THE WHOLE MATTER BEFORE GOD, THEY MAY PEACEFULLY LEAVE IT TO HIM AND CALMLY AWAIT THE RESULT. (cf. ver. 8.) When once their affairs are rolled over on God, they are on his heart, and will be controlled by his hand on their behalf. Hence the wonderfully timely word of Jahaziel (2 Chronicles 20:15), "The battle is not yours, but God's." Such a thought may well inspire the people with the calmness of a holy courage, and may well lead them patiently to wait and see "the end of the Lord." Note: By such devotional use of national crises, they may become to a nation a holy and blessed means of grace; whereby the people at large may learn more of the value and power of prayer than in many a year of calm, and may be drawn more closely together for ever through a fellowship in trouble and in prayer. - C.

Send thee help from the sanctuary.
I. IT IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD'S HONOUR DWELLS. When Israel would have the help and guidance of Jehovah, they made application at the temple where His glory was seen in the holy place, and where He had appointed to respond to their supplications.

II. THE HOUSE OF GOD IS THE PLACE OF UNITED AND FERVENT PRAYER. The increased efficacy of prayer when united and fervent, and the assurance that it will have unity and fervency in the sanctuary, point out that place as the source of their help in the hour of danger and of suffering.

III. THE HOUSE OF GOD IS THE RADIANT POINT OF SANCTIFYING TRUTH. From the lips of the living preacher go out those doctrines that operate to sanctify the hearts of men. And who dare hope that society can prosper where no hearts are sanctified?

VI. THE INSTRUCTION OF GOD'S HOUSE IS THE GRAND AGENT IN THE FORMATION OF PUBLIC SENTIMENT. An influence goes out from the holy place to affect all men, whether they will or will not be controlled by the influence. To the ungodly, public sentiment is an irresistible law. There is no means powerful like the house of God in the formation of public opinion and sentiment.

V. THE HOUSE OF GOD SUSTAINS ALL THE OTHER CIVILISING AND HEALTHFUL INFLUENCES. Identified with it are a preached Gospel and the ministry of reconciliation. These all sustain each other.

VI. FROM THE HOUSE OF GOD ARE SELECTED THE SUBJECTS OF HIS GRACE. Those only who frequent the sanctuary are at all likely to be regenerated. It is in the lips of a living ministry that God has pledged Himself to bless. Men bring misery on themselves when —

1. There is a satiety of hearing the Word of God.

2. When the spirit of decay esteems the support of Gospel institutions a burden.

3. When there is a disrespect for the ministry of the reconciliation.

(D. A. Clark.)

The name sanctuary means the holy place, and sometimes refers only to that which was the most holy place, but at other times to the tabernacle generally. It was made holy by God's dwelling there, and specially by the manifestation of His grace through mediation and sacrifice. To the sanctuary the pious Israelites turned when in trouble and in great emergency, specially besought the Divine protection by clinging to the horns of the altar. Something of the same kind we find in mediaeval Christian times in connection with particular churches. In the Chapter House of Westminster there is a beautiful picture depicting a scene which was often witnessed at the abbey porch. The venerable abbot, with the elevated host in his hand, is staying the progress of a strong angry warrior, while behind him a woman and her children, with terror in their faces, are clinging to his vestments and claiming his protection. But we take the word sanctuary as in its common meaning amongst us today; as the house of God, the place of worship. Help from the sanctuary, therefore, suggests the spiritual strength obtained through the observances of the religious ordinances connected with the day and the house of the Lord. Christ blesses us through them. They are no charms or talisman, but simply channels of His blessing.

I. WE ALL NEED HELP. Every soul has its own sadness. Some spiritual, through the conflict with sin. Others temporal, through the difficulties of life.

II. IT IS A COMFORT TO KNOW THAT THERE IS HELP FROM THE SANCTUARY. For in the sanctuary we draw near to God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as we appropriate Him to ourselves as our own God we find ourselves strengthened and encouraged. We are in our lives like a schoolboy learning to write, and every week is a page in our copy book, and every day a line. On the first line, and in the sanctuary, Christ has set before us His own beautiful example, and we start out to imitate it. But as we go down line after line we too largely lose sight of that which He has written, and when we get to the bottom our work is all irregular and blotted, and the paper, mayhap, also blistered with our tears. Then comes the first day of the week again, and when we enter into the sanctuary Jesus speaks to us words of cheer and sets us a new copy, and so we begin again. Thus page after page is covered. It is poor work enough, but it improves a little every time, and it is much better at the end of the book than it was at the beginning, for at the bottom of the last page the Master writes, "Well done!" Thus the sanctuary counteracts the evil influences of the week. And there have been special blessings coming to earnest Christians through some particular portion of the service of God's house. The Lord guides His Word to the hearts of His people. He knows how to direct the minister to preach aright. See how minute are the directions given by which Cornelius was to find Peter and Ananias to find Saul of Tarsus in Damascus. And the Holy Spirit acts in like manner still.

III. TO GET THIS HELP WE MUST COME TO THE SANCTUARY. I do not deny that we can get to God in Christ anywhere. But a particular promise is made in connection with the sanctuary. "Where two or three," etc. It may be difficult to analyse this special blessing, but it is reality. How lamentable, then, that so many stay away, and on such slight pretexts.

IV. IF HE WOULD BE THE MEANS OF CONVEYING THIS HELP THE MINISTER MUST KEEP CLOSE TO CHRIST. For it is the Christ of the sanctuary that constitutes its value, and if he, on whom most of all the character and quality of the services depend, loses sight of Him, then the Church is reduced at once to the level of the Lyceum, and all spiritual power is gone. The soul of a saint cannot be nourished by a scientific disquisition. The best way to defend the truth is to expound it. Above all, must they know Christ experimentally.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

People
David, Jacob, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Forth, Grant, Holy, Sanctuary, Strength, Strengthen, Support, Zion
Outline
1. The church blesses the King in his exploits
7. and expresses her confidence in God's helpfulness

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 20:1

     1245   God of the fathers
     5042   name of God, significance
     5096   Jacob, patriarch

Psalm 20:

     5420   music

Library
The Hymns of Isaac Watts
Bernard Manning A paper read to the University Congregational Society in Cambridge on Sunday, October 17, 1937. DR. HENRY BETTS and Dr. Albert Peel have recently revived the respectable game of comparing the hymns of Watts and the hymns of Wesley. I shall have to take a turn or two at it myself before I finish this paper. Indeed, no one can read Watts without having Wesley in mind, and nothing will enable a man to see the greatness of Watts's hymns so well as a thorough knowledge of Wesley's. I make
Bernard L. Manning—The Hymns of Wesley and Watts: Five Papers

Fourteenth Day for the Church of the Future
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Church of the Future "That the children might not be as their fathers, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God."--PS. lxxviii. 8. "I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring."--ISA. xliv. 3. Pray for the rising generation, who are to come after us. Think of the young men and young women and children of this age, and pray for all the agencies at work among them; that in association and societies
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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