We're going to be in psalm chapter
20 tonight psalm chapter 20 you might have thought we would be
in psalm 19 But I brought a message on psalm 19 on Sunday and so
I Pretty much used Sunday for that purpose. I didn't actually
finish all of psalm 19 and I will probably go back and summarize
that Yeah, that's fine. Some just added. Some came in.
So I'll go back and summarize that with you another time, but
I'll get that recording posted on Sermon Audio, and then maybe
in the future we'll come back to it. Okay? So tonight I want
to look at Psalm chapter 20. Psalm 20 has nine verses in it,
and I want to read those together with you. Before I read them,
maybe giving you an overview of this psalm will help. I think
as we have an overview in our perspective of what the psalm
is about, that when we read through it, we can identify those things
and see how that the text of the scripture correspond to the
truth as revealed here. So let me give you that overview.
In the beginning of the psalm, it says that it is to the chief
musician and it's a psalm of David. This is a common label
or title, subtitle given to the psalms. And what it means is
that there's so many of them that have this title that these
psalms are intended for public worship. And hence, this psalm
is given to the Church of Jesus Christ. It's given to the Church
of Christ in order that the Church of Christ would be able to read
it, meditate on it. take it to the Lord in prayer,
and give praise to God for it, because in this psalm is revealed
the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ as a man and our salvation
in Him." So that's the first thing to note here, is that it's
a psalm given for the church, it's a psalm given about Jesus
Christ, And it is who he is, he's the anointed. If you look
at verse six, it says, now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed.
That's the verse that really helps interpret the entire psalm.
The psalm is about salvation. It's about salvation of Christ
under our sins, under the wrath of God, under the assault of
the kingdom of Satan. He was constantly afflicted and
persecuted by his tormentors on earth, the scribes and Pharisees
and false religion and the world. I remember Herod and Pilate and
all the Gentiles and the people of the Jews, the Sanhedrin were
all against him, his entire ministry. So especially at the cross, they
came and they bound him and they took him to the to be tried before
Pilate, the high priest Caiaphas, and Annas, and the whole trial,
the whole ordeal was a great persecution and affliction of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So the psalm is about that salvation
of him. under those things because of
the sins of His people. So when we read this psalm, we
can hear then that it is a prayer of the church, really it's the
prayer of the Spirit of God given to the church, that we would
ask the Lord to deliver Christ, the Anointed One. And in His
deliverance is our deliverance, is our salvation. So that's the
thing to see here in this psalm. And if we see that, then we'll
be able to piece it together. At the end of the psalm it says,
verse 9, save Lord, let the king hear us when we call. So there's
the theme of the psalm. Save us, Lord, and let Christ
hear us when we call. That's the way God saves His
people. He causes them to call on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
it's Him who saves them from their sins. He gives them the
salvation He obtained for them. Okay, so given that broad overview,
I want to look at this psalm beginning at verse one. It says,
the Lord, or Jehovah, the Lord, hear thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. So there's two things here. First,
and this is the way a lot of scripture is written, especially
in the Psalms, where there's two things that are set together,
and in this case, hear thee in the day of trouble, and the name
of God, the God of Jacob, defend thee. So hear thee in trouble
and defend thee. So we know right away that this
is about a deliverance from the enemies that are coming against
the one that the prayer is going out to God to deliver. The Lord
hear thee in the day of trouble. So this is a prayer directed
to the one about whom this psalm is speaking. And as I said, that's
the Lord's anointed. And so he's speaking first of
all and foremost of the Lord's anointed, which we know the word
anointed in the psalms means Christ. It means the Messiah.
If you were to look at John chapter one, and I'll just flip over
there real quickly in John, the gospel of John chapter one and
verse 41. I'll read this to you where it
says this. Did I get there? He says in verse
41 that Andrew found his brother Simon and said
to him, we have found the Messiah. which is being interpreted the
Christ. So Messiah, an Old Testament
word, means Christ. And in the Old Testament, Messiah,
in our English translation, is anointed. So in this Psalm, in
verse six, Psalm 20, verse six, it says, the Lord saveth his
anointed, meaning Messiah or Christ. So that's the first thing
to realize, that this psalm is about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the first verse says, the Lord, or Jehovah, hear thee in
the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee.
So there's a couple things to take special note of here. The
Lord is Jehovah. And when God uses that name in
scripture, he's referring to himself as the God who made promises
in a covenant with Christ for his people, and he fulfilled
those promises. If you were to look at Exodus
chapter five, at the end of Exodus chapter five, the people of Israel
were told by Moses that God was going to deliver them, but whenever
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and asked him to release, or
told him to release the Israelites, then Pharaoh actually laid more
work on them And they were suffering under that additional bondage
and burden that Pharaoh laid on them. And they complained
to Moses at the end of Exodus 5. Moses took their complaint
to the Lord. And he said, Lord, ever since
I've come to Pharaoh, you have not at all delivered your people
like you said you would do. In fact, their situation has
grown only worse. And then in Exodus chapter 6,
it says that God told Moses, now you shall see what I will
do to Pharaoh. So it was set up. God told Moses
and Aaron to go demand the release of Israel from Pharaoh. Pharaoh
refused, as God said he would. The people of Israel felt the
pain of his anger. And so God set it up so that
they had no hope. They were in a terrible state
of despair. And then the Lord said, now you'll
see what I will do to Pharaoh. And it's in that very chapter
that we see this name of Jehovah. And that's why I referred to
it there. Let me go back to Exodus chapter
six and read these words to you. He says in Exodus chapter six,
In Exodus 6, then the Lord said to Moses, now shalt thou see
what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand shall he let
them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his
land. And God spoke unto Moses and said to him, I am the Lord,
and the words the Lord are just Jehovah. I am the LORD, and I
appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of
God Almighty, which is El Shaddai, but by my name Jehovah was I
not known to them. Now, it's pretty evident if you
read Genesis that the name Jehovah is used throughout the book of
Genesis. Not only is the name Jehovah used throughout the book
of Genesis, which we know was written by Moses, but also when
Abraham called and built an altar to the Lord and called on the
name of the Lord, he spoke of him as Jehovah. And we also know
that when God appeared to Abraham, after he told Abraham to offer
up Isaac, that the Lord, I'm sorry, Abraham told Isaac that
the Lord would see to it, would see to the lamb, would provide
himself the lamb. And so that's why Abraham at
that point called the name of the Lord Jehovah Jireh, which
is God will see or God will see to it and he himself will provide
the lamb. So Jehovah was used by Abraham. So it's not like the name Jehovah
was foreign to him. Not only that, but when God made
a covenant with Abraham, he made it as the Lord. He said that
I am thy shield and I exceeding great reward. And he spoke to
him in covenant language the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob. So you might ask the question,
then, why does God say here that by his name Jehovah was he not
known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Well, the fact is that
he's underscoring the meaning of the word Jehovah. It's the
one who fulfills his promise, fulfills his covenant. Not only
does he make it, Make a promise, make a covenant, but He fulfills
it. Now, I mention all that because when we read this name in Scripture,
it helps us to understand that the One who is called Jehovah
is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He made a covenant. with Christ. He chose Christ,
He is anointed, He set Him up from everlasting to save His
people, and He promised blessings to the Lord Jesus Christ. You
read about this in Galatians chapter 3 and verses 16 and 19. And He fulfilled those promises
when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled the will of God. He
cried from the cross, it is finished. That's Jehovah God. And His name,
Jesus, which we need to include that here, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, His name Jesus means Jehovah is salvation. So, we
see the name Jehovah in the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who fulfilled
the promises made to him for his people in covenant before
the world began, and Abraham is the one God made this formal
revelation of his covenant in Christ to, and that's the covenant
spoken of in Galatians chapter 3 and Galatians 4. Hebrews 13,
20, and various places in Scripture, this covenant, this New Testament
in Christ's blood is the one that was made by Jehovah, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for His people through the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior. So I know that seems like a lot
of time to spend on just this first word in Psalm 20, the Lord,
but it's important that we keep this in mind. And so when we
read the Old Testament, we hear these names of God, for example,
Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide, or Jehovah-Sid-Kinu,
as it says in Jeremiah 23, verse 6, verse 5 and 6, that the Lord
Jesus Christ would be born through David and he would be called
the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah our righteousness. So because
these names of Jehovah are assigned to not only God the Father but
also to Christ, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovah
in scripture. He's the Lord our shepherd, Jehovah-rah-ah,
I think is the way you say that. He's the Lord our peace, Jehovah
our peace, which is shalom, Jehovah shalom. He's the Lord our shepherd,
the Lord is my shepherd, Psalm 23 and John chapter 10, and so
on. We can go down the list. He's
the Lord who sanctifies thee, in Exodus 31 verse 13. And throughout
scripture, you see these names that God has given of himself,
but they're all comprised, they're all comprehended and brought
together and brought to bear on this one name, Jesus. Jehovah is salvation. And so
in Isaiah chapter 12, verse 2, it says, the Lord Jehovah is
become my salvation. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
So When we read about Jehovah, hear thee in the day of trouble,
the name of the God of Jacob, defend thee, he's talking about
the covenant God who fulfills his promises to Christ in that
covenant when he shed his blood. And that's what the prayer is
based on here. The covenant relationship of
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the matter of our salvation
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that make sense?
And then he says here, Not only is Jehovah, God's name prominent
here, the one who he prays to, but it's a prayer to him to hear.
in the day of trouble. What is this day of trouble that
he needs to be heard? Well, remember in Hebrews chapter
5 and verse 7 it says that the Lord Jesus Christ in the days
of his flesh, he made strong, he offered strong prayers and
supplications to him that was able to save him from death and
was heard and that he feared. And though he were a son, yet
he learned obedience by the things which he suffered and being made
perfect he became the author of eternal salvation to all them
that obey him. In Hebrews chapter 5, he's emphasizing
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, as a man, prayed. He was the high priest. He was
the prophet. He was the king, as the anointed,
the Christ. And he prayed in those sufferings,
and he was heard. God heard him. He says that he
made strong supplications. I mean, he made He offered up
prayers and supplications unto him who was able to, note, save
him from death, and was heard in that he feared. And that's
what's speaking about here. Death is the wages of sin. Sin is what he had to bear. He
had to bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and having
borne them there, and having made a propitiation to God for
our sins, meaning He made satisfaction for our sins, making a satisfaction
to God's justice, taking away His wrath from us, so that God's
love and grace could be shed forth in abundance according
to that eternal will of God that lay in His heart from eternity,
to save an unworthy and an ungodly and a sinful people by making
His Son their substitute and bearing their sins for them,
bearing the wrath of God and taking away their sins and washing
them from their sins. This matter of our salvation
by the substitution of Christ for us That's all comprised here
in this being heard in the day of trouble, in the day of Christ's
trouble, when he bore our sins. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane,
he said, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death, is
very heavy, and he sweat. He sweat, as it were, great drops
of blood. And he cried to his father, Father,
oh Father, if it be possible, take this cup from me. And that
cup represented the cup of God's wrath poured out because our
sins. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 21,
he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. And so all these things bring
it to a point on this matter of the day of trouble, the day
of Christ's trouble. On the cross, what did he do?
Well, we know that his prayer, when they were nailing him to
the cross, when he was there in Luke 23 and verse 34, I think
it is, it says, he said, Father, forgive them. for they know not
what they do." Everyone for whom Christ asked His Father to forgive
them of their sins were forgiven because God always hears His
Son, always answers His prayer. And then on the cross, He prayed
many things. At the very end he said, into
thy hands I commend my spirit. And so God the Father in loving
delight and satisfaction according to his faithful promises to save
Christ from death because he committed himself into the hands
of his Father. as we just mentioned in Hebrews
chapter five. All those things point to the
fact that the Lord Jesus Christ's prayers were heard in the day
of trouble. God heard his prayer. He stood
not for himself but for us. Christ died for our sins according
to the scripture. Let me read to you from Isaiah
chapter 53 at the end of the chapter. In Isaiah 53 and verse
10, listen to these words. He says, It pleased the Lord
to bruise him." Now, these words are so significant, so important
that we continually keep them in the forefront of our mind,
to remember them, to hold them in the meditation of our heart,
in our prayer. God sent his son, to be the Savior
of His people, to save them from their sins. That was the reason
He came, to save His people from their sins, to offer Himself
to God as a sacrifice, a sweet-smelling savor, that God the Father would,
according to that sacrifice, in justice, in righteousness,
according to His truth and complete grace, On our part, we had nothing
to merit this. God forgave us freely for Christ's
sake alone. So he says here, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
and he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. So the Lord Jesus Christ would
see his people. He would see that the Father
who had given him these people to save would see his own suffering,
and he himself would see his people, his seed, and he shall
prolong his days. God the Father would prolong
his days, in fact, eternal days, and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand, meaning the will of God he would fulfill.
In verse 11, Isaiah 53, verse 11, He shall see the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. God the Father saw Christ's sufferings
and was satisfied, but the Lord Jesus Christ saw his sufferings
and was satisfied too. God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit were completely satisfied with the sufferings of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So satisfied that it says he
delighted, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He shall see the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge,
by Christ's knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify
many. The knowledge he had was what
was required by God to justify us from our sins, which was the
offering of himself for us, bearing our sins in his own body and
giving himself to God in a complete sacrifice For sinful people,
a sinful people, unworthy of anything from God except damnation,
and yet he stepped in and saved those who were the enemies of
God by their wicked works and in their mind, that is love. Immeasurable, incomprehensible,
that is grace unspeakable. And so he speaks of these things.
So he shall justify many by his knowledge, for he shall bear
their iniquities. There you have it. That's what
he's doing here. He's the substitute. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great. He shall divide the spoiled with
the strong." In other words, Christ would be exalted and given
everything. All of the glory of God lavished
upon his son. Jesus prayed in John 17, I will
that How did he say it? He says that
I may have the glory, the glory that I had with thee before the
world was. That's what he prays for. I finished
the work. you gave me to do, and now, O
Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was." So this is the
spoils that he's dividing here, the great portion he's given
to him. He's given him all the people
he came to save. He gave him dominion over every
devil, every angel, all the world. As God and man, he's the one
who rules over everything. and he has all that is the Father's
put in his hand, and all of his glory. It says, because he poured
out his soul to death, and he was numbered with the transgressors,
he was counted as a transgressor, and he hung on the cross between
two thieves, and he bare the sin of many, notice, and he made
intercession for the transgressors. Now I read all that, Because
I try to bring a point to what Psalm 20 verse 1 says, the Lord
hear thee in the day of trouble. This is the trouble. Why did
he come? For our sins. Christ died for our sins according
to the scripture. He didn't die for himself, he died for us.
We were the sinners. He knew no sin, but he died. He died, therefore, for the sins
of others, and he died for his people, those God gave him to
save. And he saved them, and he prayed
for them, and his prayers were heard. In fact, he continues
to make intercession for us. So, this is the announcement
at the beginning of the Psalm. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Can you
see here why this prayer to God involves our great interest in
it? If Christ is heard, if the Lord
hears Him in the day of trouble, the day of our salvation, when
He stood for us as our substitute, as our surety, answering God's
justice with Himself in order to obtain our release, if He
did this, then our interest in this is as high as it can be,
because this is where all of our salvation in life is, is
in God hearing His Son. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Now notice
it says, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. When it
says the name of the God of Jacob, it's really saying God himself,
the name of the God of Jacob. It refers to all that God is,
his name. When in 1 Samuel 25, 25, Abigail
spoke of her foolish husband, whose name was Nabal, and she
says, as is his name, so is he. And so the name in the Old Testament
refers to all that the person is that has that name. Jesus
means Jehovah is salvation. It refers to all that he is as
our savior, Christ, the anointed of God, chosen. and given the
Spirit without measure in order to fulfill the eternal will of
God. That's His name, Christ. the anointed of God, and all
the names that are given to Christ, our Redeemer, our surety, our
mediator, our high priest, our king, our prophet, everything
is given to him. These names of Christ indicate
who he is and his offices, the relation he has to us, his people,
to his God, and his relation to us that God has given to him
in order to save us from our sins. So, the name of the God
of Jacob defend thee. Why the name of the God of Jacob?
The name of the, well, when it says the God of Jacob, he's referring
to what? Well, Jacob, obviously. But when
he talks about the God of Jacob, he's referring to what God became
to Jacob in that covenant that he made, remember? He said, I
am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. I will be a God
to them, and they shall be my people." That's the words of
the covenant, right? The covenant God made with his
people, having made it in his son. So, here again, we see the
relationship of God to his people. They're called Jacob. He is their
God. And God is not ashamed to be
called their God. Because he chose them in Christ,
and Christ himself took on all of their responsibilities. So
we see that here, this relationship of God to his people as their
covenant God. But, notice also, the God of
Jacob. Because in scripture, in Romans
chapter 9, we know that Jacob is associated with those who
were chosen of God, right? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And so Jacob was the son of promise. Remember, he says in Romans chapter
9, it's not the children of the flesh, it's the children of promise
that are counted for the seed. So Jacob means the children of
promise, the children chosen of God, the children loved of
God. And so here we see that the name
of the God of Jacob means all that God is, for his people in
the covenant he made for them in Christ, they are the elect
of God, the beloved of God, the children of promise, those who
were made his sons by Jesus Christ. Does that make sense? Now we
see in verse one that this prayer is speaking to God as the covenant
God to hear Christ in the day of his trouble when he gave himself
for our sins and to defend him, the God of his elect people.
His elect meaning Christ, the first chosen, and all of God's
elect in him are included in that, the God of Jacob. Christ
in scripture is called the chosen of God. And we see this several
places. I'll let you think on that without
just giving you all the answers there, okay? All right, now,
so we've looked at verse one a little bit here, and we've
looked at this, the overview of this, but I want you to see
here that before we go too much further, that this text of scripture
here emphasizes what the New Testament says about Jesus Christ.
What did he say to his disciples? He said, whom do men say that
I am? I, the son of man. Who do they say I am? And some
said one thing, some said another, and Peter spoke up and he said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood
has not revealed this to thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell
will not prevail against it. Christ, Jesus is the Christ. That's what it says later on
in 1 John chapter 4 and 5. Those who are born of God believe
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Let me read a couple
of scriptures to you from the book of 1 John. In 1 John chapter
5 verse 1, it says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. The anointed, the one here the
psalmist is speaking about, that's Jesus. He says in 1 John 5, 5,
and who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. Okay, so now we're beginning
to see here that in Christ's trouble, in verse 1, that God's
deliverance that God delivered him and defended him, as it says
in verse one, because he was heard in heaven's court and throne. Let's read verse two. Send thee
help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. What is the
sanctuary? What is the sanctuary when we
see the word sanctuary in scripture? Well, it's the place where God
dwells. It's his dwelling place, isn't it? God dwells in the sanctuary. So it's God's dwelling place
with his people. And not only is it the dwelling
place, but it's the place where God accepts his people through
the sacrifice, through the Lord Jesus Christ. In the wilderness,
the Israelites had the tabernacle that was called the outer court. There was the holy place, and
then there was the holiest of all. That was called the sanctuary
and then the holiest of all. This is the place God met with
his people through the high priest because of the sacrifice. And
so this place of the sanctuary is where God dwells with his
people through the high priest who offered the sacrifice. And
it's not just those things, but it's where God's Testing, one,
two, three. Okay, I'm sorry, we lost sound.
The microphone receiver batteries went out. All right, so let me
see if I can pick this back up a few bars back. So we were talking
about Jeremiah 17 verse 12. I don't know if that was skipped
over, but the point I wanted to make with Jeremiah chapter
17 and verse 12, it says this. In Jeremiah 17, verse 12, a glorious
high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
So you can see from this text of scripture that the sanctuary
is the place where God's throne is. And we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ sits on that throne because He purged our sins from
Hebrews 1, 3. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down on the right hand of God. And therefore
we know that it says in Jeremiah 17, 12, that our sanctuary is
a glorious high throne from the beginning, that Christ's throne
was already established in God's eternal purpose, that He would
reign on that throne as both God and man, the Son of God and
the Son of Man, because He accomplished our redemption. He is the one
who obtained our salvation. redemption by what he did on
the cross. So verse 2 of Psalm 20 says, send the help from the
sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. So we can understand
this now that he's talking here in verse 2 that God would send
help to Christ as our Savior out of, from his throne, his
place of judgment, his place of rule, his sovereign place
of rule and authority, and that it would be on the basis of the
sacrifice he would offer himself and strengthen thee out of Zion.
Another reference to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, which
is the kingdom of heaven, where Christ would rule, this is where
God would send forth help to him and strengthen him. Okay? So, let's see. We go to the next verse, in verse
3. Kind of fast forward here to
my next page. Okay. So now in verse 3, look
at this. Psalm 20, verse 3, it says, Remember
all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice, Selah. Okay? Now put that together with
the verse that preceded it. Send thee help from the sanctuary.
Strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifice, Selah. So here we see that God on his
throne accepts and delivers, he sends help and strength to
Christ from his throne, from his kingdom, where he dwells,
and that's his dwelling place for his people. He dwells with
his people. It's because of the sacrifice Christ would offer.
Remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt offerings. That's
what Christ did. He offered Himself to God. And
isn't this all of our acceptance? Isn't it? Do we have any other
way that we can be accepted at the throne of God, in the place
of justice, in the place of judgment, in the place that God's throne
could be made for us, a throne of grace? Is there any other
way except the offering and the sacrifice that Christ made of
Himself? Isn't it His blood that obtained our eternal redemption,
that purged our sins, that sanctified us, that justified us, that redeemed
us, that made remission of our sins, that forever perfected
us? Weren't all these things done
by His blood? He is the propitiation for our
sins in His blood. Everything the Lord Jesus Christ
is that He did for us in our salvation is because of His offering
and His sacrifice. God forgives us for the sake
of the Lord Jesus Christ offering Himself for us. So that's what
this is praying. And we can see now again how
important these verses are to the Church. By the Spirit of
God, we're given this prayer of praise to God that He would
save us in saving the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute. Look at verse 4, Psalm 20 verse
4. grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all thy
counsel." What is the desire? What is the one thing that drove
Christ? Why did he endure the cross?
In Hebrews chapter 12 it says, for the joy that was set before
him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. He counted it nothing.
in order to obtain the prize. And what was that? It was the
eternal salvation of His people, given to Him by the Father, and
the glory that He would make known, His Father's glory in
doing that. He wanted to have a people the
people God gave to him in that covenant of grace, and he wanted
to have them even though it cost him everything, the sacrifice
of himself, he wanted to make known God's glory in his own
humility of love and self-sacrifice for the worst of people. This
is God's heart, His mind, His work. This is His eternal will.
This is who God is. And this is what draws forth
and compels us to worship and praise God. And so He's saying
here, grant thee according to thine own heart. It was in His
heart to do that will of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, more than
anything, wanted to do the will of God. That's what drove him,
compelled him. Even when he was suffering in
Gethsemane, he said, not my will, but thine be done. It didn't
matter what it cost him. It was the will of his father.
He must do it. I must be about my father's business. And that's why when he cried
in triumph in John chapter 17, I have finished the work which
you gave me to do. I have glorified thee on the
earth. Those were the two things, right?
And what did he come to do? His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. You see, everything
in Scripture brings us back to this point. Our eternal salvation
from our sins against God and our corruptions of our sinful
nature, the consequences our sins bring upon us of eternal
death and judgment and separation, eternal separation from God.
Everything, the spiritual death we died because of our sin, everything
is taken away because the Lord Jesus Christ did all of this
by himself. He stood in our place. He answered God. He fulfilled
his eternal will. He made known his glory. And
so he says here, the Lord grant thee according to thine own heart
and fulfill all thy counsel. Who wouldn't want this great
Savior to do whatever is in His heart? Remember, in John chapter
13, in John 13, let me read these words to you. These words just
draw out the grace of our Savior. He says, before the feast of
the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that
He should depart out of this world. He knows He's going to
the cross. going to his father having loved his own which were
in the world. Notice, he loved his own, he
loved them to the end. See the pages of scripture just
drip with the love of Christ for his people. And verse two,
supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart
of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray him, Jesus knowing
that the father had given all things into his hands and that
he was come from God and went to God. He knew. God had given
him everything. And he was going to his father.
Notice what he does. He rises from supper. He laid
aside his garments. He took a towel. He girded himself. And then he poured water into
a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them
with a towel wherewith he was girded. And you can see this. He stoops. He serves. He wants to do this. What did
he want to do? Why did he come into the world?
Why did he live, suffer, and die, and rise again? It was because
he wanted his wife. He laid his life down for her.
He gave himself for the church that he might have her and purify
her for himself. Don't you see now when we read
this verse, grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill
all thy counsel. We want the Lord Jesus to do
whatever he wants because all that's in his heart is both holy
and righteous and good is gracious is for our salvation. Notice
in verse 5, Psalm 20 verse 5. We will rejoice in thy salvation
and in the name of our God we will set up our banners The Lord
fulfill all thy petitions. Okay, what is being drawn to
a point here is the salvation Christ would obtain in his sufferings. God would deliver him. He would
be yielding himself. God would hear him from his throne.
Because of the sacrifice as the high priest, he offered himself.
He would strengthen him out of Zion, out of his kingdom. He
would remember all his offerings. He would accept his burnt sacrifice.
He would grant him all that was in his heart to do it. fulfill
all his counsel, and in verse 5, we will rejoice in thy salvation. And in the name of our God, we
will set up our banners. We're going to make conspicuous
God's great name. That's what it's saying here.
We're going to declare Christ's great work. And in so doing,
we're going to make known the glory of God in the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ in giving himself for his people. That's what it
means here when it says to set up our banners. Make conspicuous. What do we make conspicuous when
we preach the gospel? We make conspicuous the glory
of God. That God who called the light
out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We make it conspicuous. We declare Christ and Him crucified.
That's the glory of God seen in all of its evidence. Look
at verse 6. The perfections of God are known.
He says in verse 5, the Lord fulfill all thy petitions. He's
the one who is our intercessor, our righteous advocate. And God will hear his petitions. He will save to the uttermost
all who come to God by him because he makes intercessions for them.
Look at verse 6. Now know I that the Lord saveth,
who? His anointed. He will hear him
from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right
hand. This sounds like that other psalm
that we read back in chapter 17, I think it was, where God's
vengeance is called upon against his enemies for the salvation
of his people. And here we see the same theme.
that now I know that the Lord saves his anointed because he
would hear him in the day of trouble. He would defend him,
the God of Jacob, and he would send him help from the sanctuary
and strengthen him out of Zion, accept all his offerings and
his burnt sacrifice, grant him all of his petition, fulfill
all of his counsel, and now we rejoice in his salvation and
we say, now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. He saves
Christ. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Who is going
to stand and oppose God's salvation of his anointed, of the Lord
Jesus Christ and his people? No one. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. And who
dare lay anything to the charge of God's elect? All right, verse
seven. Some trust in chariots and some
in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God."
The chariots and the horses, that's just the things that men
can put their hands on and use in battle. This Psalm seems to
be taken from 2 Samuel chapter 10. David and his men, the whole
Syrian army came against them. They hired foot soldiers, there
were I think 33,000 foot soldiers who were brought against David
and his kingdom and then at the end of the battle it says that
there were I think there were 40,000 horsemen and 700 chariots
that David destroyed. David's army absolutely obliterated
the army that was raised up to come against him. 40,000 horsemen
and 700 chariots, plus another 33,000 foot soldiers, and they
were completely destroyed and brought under subjection to David
and his kingdom. And that is a representation
of what is spoken of in this psalm. Some trust in chariots,
some in horses. Guess what's going to happen
to those who put their trust in anything but Christ? They're
going to be brought down and fallen. He says in verse eight,
they are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. We're raised up. God has saved
us by his son. We are raised up. There's none
who can charge us. None can condemn us. None can
thwart God's will for us. The Lord Jesus Christ not only
obtained our salvation, but he gives it to us, and he will save
us neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities. Nothing
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ our
Lord. So, verse 9, the last verse here. Save Lord, let the King
hear us when we call. Here we see again, a plea is
for salvation and how God saves is Christ hears us when we call. What does that tell us to do?
Call on the Lord. Isn't that what Romans chapter
10 says? Now, whoever shall call on the name of the Lord, the
Lord Jesus Christ, shall be saved. That's the promise of God. They
shall not be put to shame, they shall be saved. God will not
say of them, they are brought down and fallen, but they're
risen. They're risen with Christ, they stand in Christ, and they
stand upright, justified in Him, faultless, without blame, before
God in the presence of His glory, because the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's anointed, did what He did, And God delivered him when he
was under that burden. will of God that God gave him
to do when he fulfilled it in the offering of himself for our
sins. Let's pray. Father, thank you that the Lord,
our God, saves his anointed and our salvation is in him. He was
delivered for our offenses. He was delivered for our offenses. And he was raised again for our
justification. This is our hope. This is the
assurance of our salvation. that you heard him, that you
appointed him, and anointed him, and provided him. And when he
offered himself, you accepted him, and you heard his cries,
and you delivered him, you defended him. And now you've given him
all of his petitions, all of his heart's desire. Now we know
that you save your beloved son. our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
and all of your people in Him. He truly is the one whose name
is Jehovah, is salvation. He's the one God has sent into
the world to fulfill His will and to bring His people to Himself
by His own precious blood. In Him we trust, upon Him we
call, and to Him we look, and for Him we anticipate, Him to
come and to give us the reward of His own obedience in his offerings
and his sacrifice. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.