Context No. 2613 of 4322 · Psalms
Context · Reflection
Psalms 20:1-9: in context
1May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high, 2send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion, 3remember all your offerings, and accept your burned sacrifice. Selah. 4May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your counsel. 5We will triumph in your salvation. In the name of our God, we will set up our banners. May the LORD grant all your requests. 6Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand. 7Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright. 9Save, LORD! Let the King answer us when we call!
Psalm 20 is a prayer for a king going out to battle, and its most quoted line names two ways of facing a threat. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. The psalm asks God to answer in the day of trouble, to send help from the sanctuary, and it ends with the outcome of the contrast: they are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up and stand upright.
Chariots and horses were the visible strength of the ancient world, the measurable assets you could count before a fight. The temptation is always to locate confidence there, in the resources, the numbers, the tangible advantages I can see. The psalm does not say chariots are useless; it says they are not where our trust goes. We trust in the name of the LORD. And the two confidences lead to two different endings: those who lean on their visible strength are bowed down, and those who lean on God rise and stand. The question is not whether I have any chariots, but where, when trouble comes, my trust actually rests.
What are my chariots and horses, the visible things I actually trust when trouble comes, and does my confidence rest there or in the name of the LORD?
Sources
- Psalm 20:7: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Psalm 20:8: They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright.
- Psalm 20:1: May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high.