Psalm Meditation 1310 ¶Proper 12 ¶July 27, 2025 ¶Psalm 20 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2020&version=NRSVUE ¶Most nations of which I am aware are of the opinion that they are the brightest and best of all nations. Even those that are under the boot of another oppressive, colonizing country know that if they were free of the oppression they would be even greater than they are in their current colonized situation. And the oppressors see themselves not as oppressive, rather as offering greater opportunity for both nations to ascend to higher greatness. Israel under David is no different. ¶The psalmist is asking God to lead their ruler to victory in this battle against another, and wicked nation. Our God will certainly lead us to victory by helping David defeat our enemies. While all the other nations depend on their mighty weapons and armies, we depend of the power of God to bring our enemies to their knees in utter defeat and collapse of the army and the whole nation. In the presence of God, mediated through David, we will stand victorious over all who rise against us as the people of God. ¶Rather than warring with each other so that we can force those who lose those wars to live the way the victors do, or just as likely, to surrender all their resources to improve the lot of the elite in the victorious nation, we do well to work together to make sure each of us has enough. As we learn to be content with enough, instead of always wanting more, we will have plenty for everyone. ¶July 21, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1142 ¶Fourth Sunday of Easter ¶May 8, 2022 ¶Psalm 20 1 The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! 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 victory, 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 will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. 7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. 9 Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call. (NRSV) ¶I know there are families, congregations, and businesses, just to name a few, who are torn apart by infighting and competition among members. Most of us like to win when there is competition and rivalry in the groups of which we are a part. There are some who will do anything to keep from losing. And when they do lose, they will find or make a way to make themselves look and feel good and the others in the group look and feel bad. Infighting takes the shape of sniping at each other, sabotaging anything the other does, and generally being a thorn in each other’s side. It doesn’t have to be this way. ¶The psalmist offers this bit of cheerleading, placing the ruler into the care of God for help and protection. Yes, this is directed to the ruler, and it offers us a way to treat each other. Rather than sniping and hoping for the worst possible outcome for those we see as rivals, we can cheer each other on for the sake of the whole group. We don’t need to agree with them, or even like them; we can still support what they do for the good of the group. It is possible that our pet project and their pet project each have merit, and a chance to succeed if we allow the process to move forward with our prayers for success. ¶When our focus is on doing the work of God, rather than on outdoing those around us, we will find that God can prosper multiple plans and ideas at the same time. When our energy is directed to doing all the good we can we have no time to worry about which of us is better than the other, only whether we are being faithful. If we can do all this while cheerleading our group and those around us, we will ’rise and stand upright’ together for the glory of God in the world. ¶May 3, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1097 Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time June 27, 2021 Psalm 20 1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! 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 victory, 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 will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. 7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. 9 Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call (NRSV) In ancient cultures, the well being of folks had a lot to do with the success of the ruler in diplomacy and battle. Even the poorest of the poor could suffer if the land was over run and burned and destroyed by the conquering army. A prayer for victory was an important part of any engagement between two rulers. As the ruler was faithful in religious practice, the belief was that God would return that faithfulness by engineering the outcome of the engagement in our favor. While we may not be as directly affected by every encounter between the rulers of two nations, we continue to be dependent on our rulers to forge the partnerships that will benefit our nation and citizens. Various factions within a nation want different particulars, even as we each and all want what we see as best for us as a whole. I am sure there will always be those who want what is best for themselves alone, however, most of us want what is best for most of us. In every time and place, it is good to lift up the leaders and rulers of the nations of the world to God. At our best, we know that God loves us without concern for where we live or under what system of government we find ourselves. The psalmist gives us the example of praying for our own rulers. We can expand that to include all those who have authority over others so that as human beings we can rise and stand upright together. June 21, 2021 LCM

Psalm Meditation 796
Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 20, 2015

Psalm 20
1 The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! 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 victory, 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 will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.
7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.
9 Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call.
(NRSV)

This psalm is a pep rally for the king as he leads the army out to battle. The psalmist is aware that, while the king may lead the army, God has a hand in the victory. As the king has been faithful in the practice of his faith, has a good sense of the direction God is leading, the king and the nation will achieve a resounding victory against this enemy. Once this victory has been achieved, the people can rejoice over the victory that God has given to the king.

While most nations are engaged in multiple wars and battles on multiple fronts making it impossible for one person to lead the military into any particular fray, we do have something in common with the psalmist. We continue to have folks who put their trust in guns, bombs and the wide variety of military might available to us and we have folks who look to God for the lasting resolution to any conflict.

It is not in the decisive victories brought by strength of arms that solve the world’s problems. History teaches that the most belligerent and violent nations and movements see themselves as protecting themselves from the aggressions of those around them. We find and make ways to convince ourselves that ‘those people’ are out to get us and we lash out to protect ourselves. When we can put our trust in God instead of in our caches of mighty weapons we will be able to see a way forward into a world of relationships with people of God, even people who see and experience God differently than ourselves.

September 21, 2015
LCM

Psalm Meditation 627
Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
June 24, 2012

Psalm 20
1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! 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 victory, 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 will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.
7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.
9 Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.
(NRSV)

A royal psalm is addressed to the king as a hope and reminder that he is the agent of God on earth and that as he is faithful to God, God will be faithfully present in times of need. While kings are no longer the norm for us we do need the reminder that God is with us at all times, especially in times of need. The ancients were of the mind that God was extremely sensitive to their actions; helping them when they were faithful and turning away from them when they were not. The view was based on the experience folks had with their kings in which it was important to curry favor with the king in order to receive the outcome one desired.

The current tendency is to see God as one who loves us beyond measure, who is with us in all times and places. When we feel distant from and abandoned by God it is most often because we have failed to see God at work in our lives. God is with us. As we are faithful we are better able to identify and see the presence of God in our lives even though God is with us in all times and places.

Psalms like this one continue to be meaningful as we offer it up to God with a particular person or group in mind. As we lift up family members who are going through various trial and difficulties this psalm serves as a word of hope and comfort for us, as well as for the person in whose name we lift it up. Verses 4 and 5, “May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.” are a pretty powerful prayer for those who are going through a trial of any kind. It could be a battle between our loved one and an outside force, or a battle with the inner demons that touch so many lives. Since ‘the king’ is only mentioned in the last verse it will be easy enough to substitute the name of the person or group for whom you are concerned and use this psalm as a reminder of God’s presence in your life an in theirs.

June 18, 2012