Praying the Psalms: Psalm 20

Somehow Psalm 20 feels like a bit of a milestone for The Big Table. Not necessarily for its content (though that may also be true) but 20 seems like such a…well, such a mature number!

Psalm 20 is a royal psalm. It’s all about David and the hope of the people for the success of their King. Interestingly, David gave it to the people of Israel so they would have it to use for him when he went out to battle against his enemies.

At the church I grew up in we’d occasionally whip out a responsive reading. They’re kind of weird. The leader reads a bit then the congregation responds and so on back and forth until the job is done. As a reponsive reading, Psalm 20 is a doozy.

While I was scratching around for some background for Psalm 20 on the Google while waiting in a long line at the bank, I found these instructions for its common usage in worship:

The people, on the king’s behalf, offer up their prayers; these are included in the first three verses: the fourth was probably spoken by the high priest; the fifth, by David and his attendants; the last clause, by the high priest; the sixth, by the high priest, after the victim was consumed; the seventh and eighth, by David and his men; and the ninth, as a chorus by all the congregation.

None of this sheds great light on the content of Psalm 20 but it should tell you one thing for sure: these prayers were written for use in community. In this one, pretty much every had a speaking role! There’s a richness about the enactment of these—even the King (and the author!) was involved in this prayer of protection and victory. And who should receive the kudos for the victory? Who is to be trusted and attributed for the success? The Lord our God.

If you’re going to copy out one verse and tied it to your ear (or write it in your diary), it would be super-hard to go past verse 7:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

When the job seems too big for you, trust in the the name of the Lord our God. When the job seems beneath you, trust in the the name of the Lord our God. When others seem be flung at you as the result of unscrupulous perpetrators, trust in the the name of the Lord our God. Don’t put your trust in lesser gods, don’t put your trust in the created, and don’t put your trust in you, put your trust in the creator. Trust in the name of the Lord our God.

– Simon Elliott