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February 20/21, 2016
Jason Meyer | Psalms 20:1-9
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!
May he grant you your heart's desire
and fulfill all your plans!
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!
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.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.—Psalm 20
Introduction
Someone once said that if you want to know what it means to be wet, don’t ask a fish. You wouldn’t ask a fish what it means to be wet because that is all they know. They spend all their time in the water. They don’t know anything else—they can’t tell you the difference between being wet and being dry. In the same way, it is difficult for Americans today to really think critically about the culture in which we live today because we are always swimming in it. It is notoriously difficult to step out of culture long enough to think critically about it. But let’s try for a moment. Let’s grab the towel of cultural awareness and try to dry off a little bit from our cultural saturation.
How would you describe the culture in which we live? Sociologists are people that devote their lives to studying societal and cultural patterns. One prominent sociologist, makes the case that we are living in a culture of fear. Sociologist Barry Glassner, professor at the University of Southern California, documented this cultural phenomenon in his book by that very same title: The Culture of Fear. The book explores why America as a country is so engrossed with fear. The million dollar question (so to speak) is this, “Why do we have so many fears these days? Are we living in exceptionally dangerous times?”
Here is the answer he uncovers through all of his research: Our perception of danger than has increased, not our actual risk of danger. Our perceived risk is running out so far ahead of our actual risk that we have lost sight of the difference between perception and reality. But why has this happened?
Glassner blames people that he calls “peddlers of fear” who profit from the culture of fear. Politicians, advocacy groups, and news outlets are “peddlers of fear,” according to Glassner, because they manipulate Americans’ perceptions and profit from the resulting anxiety.
And polls show that we are buying what they are selling: three out of four Americans say they feel more fearful today than they did 20 years ago.
Glassner blames the news media for a great deal of Americans’ fears. The media, he argues, bombards us with sensationalistic stories that are designed to increase ratings, a concept called the media-effects theory.
Television news programs, for instance, survive on scares. Stories of crime, drugs, and disaster make up most of the newscasts because that is what gets people to tune in and watch. As stories of crime and disaster increase, so do ratings. Some people and organizations in America profit from this social panic, but the general populace pays for it in terms of time and energy (and sometimes money) wasted in our worry over these fears.
People deal with worry by placing their trust in things that they believe will calm their fears. Some trust in politics. If we could just get the right candidate into office, then we could rest easy and have more peace of mind. Others trust in the security of money. If I can just position myself into a place of financial independence, then my future seems brighter because I have more resources at my disposal and thus more options when trouble does come.
Psalm 20 gives two examples of things that people put there trust in: “some trust in chariots and some in horses.” That is like trusting in military might and advanced weaponry. We need to have better weapons than anyone else: rather than horses and chariots, we are now talking about stealth bombers and long range nuclear weapons. We trust in the biggest and best armies, the finest intelligence, the most advanced cyber tech.
Can you see the table set before you with all of those options—all you have to do is choose which items you will put on your plate—what combination of things will you choose for a well-balanced hope?
When you enter into the world of the Bible, you enter into another world. Psalm 20 comes into the room with a message to deliver: It grabs hold of the tablecloth and jerks it out suddenly sending all of the options crashing to the floor and then and only then puts one thing on the table for our trust: We trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20 shows how the kingdom of God comes to cast out the culture of fear.
The world of the Bible ushers us into a singular hope—the Messiah, the King of Kings.
Outline and Main Point:
Main Point: God will save the King and save us through the King.
Psalm 20 will seem like a strange Psalm to many of you. David the King starts the Psalm by saying, “May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!” Then the prayer keeps going with references to “you.” Who is the “you”?
The introduction of the Psalm is very important. It is a Psalm written by David. What Jesus did with Psalm 110 is very similar to how I think we need to read Psalm 20. Listen to Mark 12:35–37,
And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’
David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.
The same thing happens here. This is a psalm of David—David, the great king, is praying for his descendant—the greater King. David says, “May he answer you in the day of trouble.” David hopes in Christ: Now I know that the Lord says his anointed. David the king prays to this greater king: O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call. God will answer the King and the King in turn will answer the people. This king is the Messiah (the anointed one of God), as seen in Psalm 2:2, 6; 18:50; 20:6.
I want to show you that what David is doing in Psalm 20 is praying Psalm 18.
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
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!
| PSALM 18 | PSALM 20 |
| Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD .... From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. |
Psalm 20:1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble |
| Psalm 18:35 and your right hand supported me |
Psalm 20:2 support you from Zion |
| Psalm 18:50 Great salvation he brings to his king |
Psalm 20:4 May we shout for joy over your salvation |
These prayers in Psalm 20 all build upon what we learn in Psalm 1–2:
| PSALM 1 & 2 | PSALM 20 |
| Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked |
Psalm 20:4 and fulfill all your plans |
| Psalm 2:6 As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill |
Psalm 20:2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! |
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.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
| PSALM 18 | PSALM 20 |
| Psalm 18:35 and your right hand supported me |
Psalm 20:6 with the saving might of his right hand |
| Psalm 18:35 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. |
Psalm 20:8 they collapse (are bowed) and fall |
| Psalm 18:39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me |
Psalm 20:8 they collapse (are bowed) and fall |
The king of Israel was not to trust in chariots and horses (Deuteronomy 17:16) but in Yahweh. Trusting in worldly things like horses and chariots would be following the worldly counsel of Psalm 1:1.
O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
All the prayers of blessing for the king in Psalm 20:1-5 now find their shortest and purest summary in the petition of Psalm 20:9, “O Lord, save the king!” If the Lord saves the king, he will indeed “answer” the king in his “distress,” send help from the heavenly sanctuary and supported him from Zion (20:2). The Lord will have remembered the king’s offerings and sacrifices (20:3), the desires of the king’s heart and the king’s counsel will be fulfilled (20:4), and those who trust in the king will join him in the joyful celebration of his victory (20:5).
The last line of the Psalm shows that all of our hope is placed in one person: “May he answer us when we call.” Because of what the Lord has done for the king, we can call upon the king!
Application
Psalm 20 heralds the trust we have in God’s king (20:9), God’s anointed Messiah (20:6; Psalm 2:2).
We have two Psalms about Yahweh’s King (20–21) and two Psalms about Yahweh as King (23–24). The Psalm in the middle is a pinnacle Psalm (22). It answers the question—“how will these two thrones come together?”
We know that the answer from Psalm 2 and Psalm 16 is that the King conquers death. But now Psalm 22 will fill in the gaps by showing how God saves us by not saving the king from death—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”
Trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus is our only hope for salvation. Let us keep our hope and trust pure—let nothing else creep in and become a false idol of trust.
Think of how trusting in Christ applies to two big issues in our day: politics and terrorism.
Politics
We have to say something about the political season that is upon us. Faith in Christ will cause us to avoid the ditches of apocalyptic fervor and apocalyptic fear. We don’t hope in politics, but we can faithfully engage in politics. Engaging in the process and casting an informed vote is a far cry from the kind of trust in a candidate that only belongs to Christ.
I think it is important to know about the caucuses coming up. I think I let you know about next week's Pastors Blog series on "What Is a Caucus?"
What Is a Caucus? Prepare for ‘Super Tuesday’
Saturday, Feb 27, 7:15–8:15pm, Downtown Campus, Room 114
Attending your precinct caucus on March 1 is worth more than casting 1,000 votes on Election Day. Why? Because at the caucus, you will be part of choosing who will be on the ballot—from local representatives up to the President of the United States. Join us this non-partisan info session to learn about caucus participation. Instructors: Mike Rusten and Rick Segal.
Our heavenly citizenship enables us to be good American citizens without hoping in the candidates we elect as part of our American citizenship. It is good to remember what political candidates—even good ones, cannot do. Listen to Philippians 3:20–21.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Terrorism
Terrorism can contribute to our culture of fear as well. People try to deal with this culture of fear in many different ways. I saw on the news that the number of support animals are on the rise. I am not talking about seeing-eye dogs, I am talking about animals for emotional support. There was a person that got papers authorizing them to bring a support turkey on the plane because they were so afraid of terrorists. I don’t want to mock someone’s pain and fear at this point (though I am mocking support turkeys). Support turkeys deserve to get mocked. Some trust in chariots, some in horses and some in turkeys. I understand horses and chariots—just not turkeys.
I am trying to tirelessly point out that a Christian will stand out in this culture of fear when they say on a plane—I don’t need a turkey—I have a King. I don’t have to get authorization to bring him with me—he is always with me even to the end of the age and unlike a turkey he is a king with all authority in heaven and on earth.
A culture of fear kills a culture of evangelism. A culture of evangelism is a culture in which sharing Jesus with others is commonplace and natural—even if at times it feels nerve-racking. We fail to advance the gospel when we forget that Jesus is with us—the Almighty King with all authority in heaven and earth. We are his heralds. If we are aware that he is with us, it is more likely that he will be heralded by us.
Let me give you a first hand account of the difference here. I heard about a mentality shift that some Christians struggle with now as they get on airplanes. They realize that they spent so much time looking around for possible terrorists (hyper-sensitive) that they did not think once about sharing the gospel. A culture of fear can kill a culture of evangelism—because you are so preoccupied with personal security and whether or not you will reach your physical destination that you lose a preoccupation with someone’s eternal destination. We lose sight of Who and what we should really fear: Don’t fear those who can kill the body and do nothing more. Fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell.
Conclusion
I want to sing a song that addresses our culture of fear. I envision the song as a battle cry that rebukes the culture of fear and tells the peddlers of fear that we are not buying what they are selling. We are probably not going to keep them from selling, but we can keep from buying—because we are bought. We belong to Jesus. His perfect love for us casts out fear from us.
So let me clarify two points. First, when the song says, “win this nation back.” It is not saying win America back. It is not making the case that America was a Christian nation and our founding fathers were all Christians. The song writings are a group from Ireland. They are not talking about America. I wish they would have said “win these nations back.”
Second, we are the hope on earth. You may say, “God is the hope—not us.” But I don’t want to let ourselves off the hook that easily. William Carey spearheaded the modern missions movement by stressing the fact that God will win the nations—but he does it by using human means—us. God wins the nations as we preach the gospel to them.
God is our Rock. David has not used the image of “Rock” until Psalm 18 and 19. Why? Psalms 3–17 feature David the fugitive, wandering in the desert, hiding in caves, always on the run. But now that God has given the king rest from all of his enemies and Saul, now the focus can shift to “the Lord as the rock of stability upon the messianic kingdom rests” (O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms).
But Psalm 18 and many other psalms look forward to a day when that word about the King will not just go deep, but deep and wide. They look forward to a day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord even as the waters cover the sea. The whole earth will be filled. How? The word has to go to the ends of the earth.
Let me pick up the argument in Romans 10:13–17. Paul shows us how this is going to happen.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for
“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”
The word went to the Jews, and the rest of Romans 10–11 looks forward to the day when the fullness of the Gentiles will come in and then the final ingathering of the Jews (Romans 11:25–27). Be encouraged. Don’t lose heart. This mission can’t fail. The sun has a fixed course and it completes its course. Let us imagine a foolish group of men that decide they are going to try and stop its fixed course. Good luck with that. Go ahead and try. Phone a friend. Poll the audience. There is no way to stop it.
The sun will be replaced—we will not need it anymore because the glory of God and the Lamb will be the sun. The sun in the sky would be easier to stop from journeying on its fixed course than the Son of God who will one day split the skies—but not before this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world and then the end will come. The certainty of the mission does not create an excuse—a reason to not go, but it creates empowerment—a powerful, decisive reason to go: it can’t fail. The whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the King’s glory. Heaven is the King’s throne and the earth will be the King’s footstool.
| Psalm 18:35 they fell under my feet. |
Psalm 110 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” |
Don’t fear the footstool. Fear the crushing feet of him who makes the world his footstool.
Sermon Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
Application Questions
Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to keep our trust and hope purely and singularly in Christ.