Psalm 20
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May 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 salvation,
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 saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
9 O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
The last verse for us would inspire us to call upon Jesus and know for a certainty that the Almighty of Creation, our Father ....hears us.
David and Isaiah would have taken a different approach. When they prayed as believers, if they weren't malcontents, they were praying for their country. Peace instead of experiencing invasion of enemy empires, vigilantes and the raiders David was, as well as, being raided against.
O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
We could equate this to a very practical version - "Pray, but pay the electric bill !!!" Even believers will say pay the light bill first and then pray. Yet this really depends on your outlook. That's easy enough to say pray first, but if you have experienced war, need, trauma - you know with certainty, God always says," Pray First." "Pray constantly." "Give thanks!"
Thank You, Father GOD, for light in the darkness. The welcome of home, when we pull in and the light gleam for us invitingly. For cool air conditioner when the climate is hot. For the joys we have learned in this generation, for the darkness to be lightened in this generation. In the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
Examining the Scripture is living and active. And so apparent. No, actually Scripture is not. This Psalm will move in our understanding as life unfolds, Scripture is fluid. Deepening and enriching us. Giving us reproach when we need correction, only bad parents don't correct their children.
Easy to understand? Yes and no. The people reading Isaiah expected an earthly King. Knowing Jesus, we would be devastated to see Jesus claim Israel as world supreme power. Jesus didn't do that. He was not Moses lifting up His Hands to fight for land for His chosen people. And yet... and yet. We are the chosen and privileged people to know GOD has rebuilt, reclaimed and still fights for a struggling Israel. Still precious, chosen, special and flawed to Him today.
Why did people so expect Jesus to slay Romans? He didn't. Because He is.
The Word of God. Going to a Samaritan woman, revealing HIMSELF as MESSIAH. Jesus upheld Romans, and does today, to the Centurion who believed. Look at this paragraph again, there are levels. Jesus said HE upholds (as the WORD of God made flesh) every i is dotted, every t crossed.
Matthew 5:17-18
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished."
The people did see a Very GREAT Light. The Light that lights all mankind, God Himself.
Isaiah's generation saw clearly, God rewards the faithful. Earthly favor.
Psalm 139:12
Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
Jesus' generation clearly lived, God rewards the faithful and His promises are sure. Israel remained intact during Jesus' lifetime. Earthly favor. The promises poured forth. Across the generations. Vast generations. Across boundaries. Into places we would not want to go, where HE is needed more than righteousness previously existed. Seen in the Words of Jesus, He works and His Father does as well. Today.
John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 6:68
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
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