November 23
Reading: Psalm 21
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4 He asked life of you;
you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your salvation;
splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6 For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear.
The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
and their offspring from among the children of man.
11 Though they plan evil against you,
though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
If Psalm 20 was a prayer for the king, Psalm 21 is a prayer by the king. Psalm 20 was a prayer for the King, that God would save him. Psalm 21 is a prayer of thanksgiving and trust because God has saved the king.
I imagine that in ancient Israel this is a prayer that David would pray along with all the priests and the people. It is a statement of faith in Yahweh by the king as he leads his people.
God does lead us, whether we acknowledge it or not. So, we ought to actively trust Him, as a church, as a nation. I think of the words spoken by Benjamin Franklin in 1787, all the more remarkable because he was not a Christian;
I have lived a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: “that God governs in the affairs of man.” And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
This psalm begins and ends with a statement of faith, trust in God and His power to save. And, when we read of salvation in the psalms, we are not simply reading of God’s power to save us from sin, death, and hell. He does do that, but He saves us from so much more. He saves us from sickness, hunger, poverty, loneliness, enemies, slander, defeat, everything. Though sometimes He takes a while.
Psalm 21 falls neatly into two halves, you can see this in the verbs. In the first half (vss. 1-6) the king, leading the people, is praising God for their present situation. God has saved and blessed and answered prayer. The second half of the psalm looks to the future in trust and worship. God will save from every enemy. God will fight for us.
So, from this psalm we can see that the most important quality for a nation is trust in God. The most important quality for a church is trust in God. The most important quality for a family is trust in God. The most important quality for an individual is trust in God.
Are you trusting Him? Do you intend on continuing to trust Him? You can see in this psalm how trust and praise walk hand in hand. If you trust Him, you will be praising Him. If you are praising God, you will be trusting Him.
Put your name in this psalm. Look back and praise God for all that He has done for you. Now trust Him for the future. It is a matter of obedience.