Psalm 20

Q: What does the Bible say about the coronation of Christ in Psalm 20?

Psalm 20 reflects the majesty and glory of Christ, presenting Him as the King of Kings. Psalm 20 is a majestic psalm often associated with the coronation of kings, portraying the grandeur of Christ as the King of Kings. It highlights that while it was used for earthly kings, its true significance lies in its application to Christ. As it speaks of divine help and support, it reminds us that Christ, throughout His life, was troubled yet remained faithful, embodying the perfect prayer of faith. Particularly in His greatest tribulation, His crucifixion, Christ exemplified ultimate submission and trust in God, affirming His sovereignty and majesty amidst suffering.

Q: How do we know that God hears our prayers?

God promises in His Word that He hears the prayers of the righteous, as seen in Psalm 20. The assurance that God hears our prayers is a promise deeply rooted in Scripture, particularly in Psalm 20. The psalm starts with a declaration that 'The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble,' emphasizing God's attentive ear to His people's needs. Christ, through His earthly ministry, consistently modelled prayer, illustrating that He always resorted to seeking the Father’s face. In moments of greatest anguish, such as during His crucifixion, He prayed fervently, and His cries were answered, leading to the salvation of many. This establishes a principle: for all who are in Christ and called according to His purpose, God not only hears their prayers but acts on them.

Q: Why is the concept of sovereign grace important for Christians?

Sovereign grace is fundamental as it underscores God's unchanging nature and His choice to save His people. Sovereign grace is crucial for Christians because it articulates the doctrine that God saves who He wills based solely on His mercy and not on human merit. This is beautifully encapsulated when Psalm 20 speaks of the 'God of Jacob' who is a covenant-keeping God. His unwavering faithfulness throughout Scripture reassures believers of their salvation in Christ. Understanding that salvation is rooted in God’s sovereign grace provides believers comfort, security, and a basis for worship and gratitude. It shifts the focus from personal accomplishments to the unmerited favor bestowed by God, allowing believers to find rest and hope in His unchanging character.

Q: What does it mean that Christ is our help from the sanctuary?

It signifies that Christ, as our high priest, provides spiritual support and strength to His people. When Psalm 20 states that God sends help from the sanctuary, it reflects the profound truth that Christ is our source of strength and support. As seen in the related scripture, Christ assumes the role of our high priest, advocating and interceding on our behalf. The sanctuary symbolizes the presence of God and the communion that believers have with Him, particularly when they gather to worship and receive from the preached Word. In Christ, believers find empowerment to endure life's troubles and challenges, as He provides strength and sustenance through His grace and truth, enriching the faith of His people.

It's salvation perfectly restored. Chains from glory in. We take our place. Thank you. All right, back to Psalm 20.
Twentieth Psalm. This is a majestic psalm. Fit for a king, majesty belongs
to a king. It's his fit for a king, and
indeed this was used on many occasions for the coronation
of a king. This very psalm was used in the
crowning of many kings over in the British Isles and other places. But this is not meant for mere
mortal monarchs. This is best suited for the coronation
of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. One old writer put
it, this could well be the words of God's people as they stand
at the cross and watch the crowning glory or the coronation of Christ. And we're first going to look
at it as it as it relates to Christ, and then we'll go back
over these verses and apply them as a prayer for ourselves. All right, look at verse 1. Let's
dive right into it. This will be short, but I hope
the Holy Spirit will make it sweet. As I said, this is speaking
of Christ. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. From cradle to grave, our Lord was troubled. Scripture says
he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I like, there's a
verse over in John 11 which says when he came to the tomb of Lazarus,
that it says he groaned in spirit and was troubled. And the margin says, he troubled
himself. You see, our Lord, known unto
God are all his works from the beginning. Christ is the eternal
God who came with an eternal purpose, ordered in all things
and sure. He knew the end from the beginning.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, as we just saw. He knew the end
from the beginning. He knew what he had purposed
and what he was going to accomplish. So he was not troubled in the
sense of things coming upon him unexpectedly. But as the margin
said, he troubled himself. He put himself to trouble. He put himself through a great
deal of trouble for us. And this psalm says, The Lord
hear thee in the day of trouble. Our Lord was a man of prayer. He tells us to pray continually.
And so did he. The scripture says he always
resorted to a place to pray. And he called upon his father,
and the father heard him. He lived by faith, as he tells
us to do. And that faith is exercised by
prayer. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. On that great day, our Lord recorded on numerous
occasions prayers of his own. On that great day, the day of
his crucifixion, which was his greatest day of putting himself
to trouble, that great day of his crucifixion, he cried from
the cross, Father, forgive them. The Lord hear thee. I want the
Lord to hear that prayer. And he did. Not long after that
at Pentecost, how many people do you suppose were around that
cross? when Christ was crucified. Everywhere he went, he attracted
a large crowd. And that day especially, there
were thousands of people gathered around Golgotha's hill. And he
prayed, Father, forgive them. As a direct result of that prayer,
the Father heard him and saved 3,000 people. And shortly after
that, 5,000 people. The Lord hear thee. And more
than that, myriads of people in days to come, now from one
of them. In the garden, when he went in the garden and prayed
that high priestly prayer, oh, the Lord hear thee in that day
of trouble. When he sweat great drops of
blood and then that high priestly prayer before that, the Lord
hear him in the day of trouble. Here's what he said then. He
said, Father, I will that they be with me where I am. The Lord
hear him in that day. The Lord hear him. Father, forgive
them. Father, I will that they be with
me where I am." Read on, "...the Lord hear thee in the day of
trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee." God was
indeed Christ's defense as a man, yet I believe the margin says
it better here. Look in your, if you have a marginal
reference, what does it say? It says, "...the name of the
God of Jacob set thee on a high place." And he did. Philippians 2 says, Because he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross, God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above
every name, and set him on the throne, a high place, the right
hand of the majesty on high. He heard him. He sat back there
in the garden, and that priestly prayer again, he said, Father,
I am coming to you, but they are staying here. and the Father
heard him and received him to himself. The covenant God highly
exalted him." That's the God of Jacob, the covenant God. Verse
2, "...the God of Jacob, the Lord, hear thee, the God of Jacob,
send thee help from the sanctuary." And again, this may be what it
means to search the scriptures, these references and so forth
you see in your margin. What does your margin say again
there where it says, sin thy help." Christ is our help, who comes
from the sanctuary, who comes from God himself. Christ is our
help. Read on, sin the God of Jacob,
the Lord, sin thy help, sin thee as help from the sanctuary, and
strengthen thee, or the margin says, support thee, or sin thee
as a support and strength for Zion. Turn over to Psalm 89,
and you'll see, I believe, comparing spiritual things to spiritual
things. Psalm 89, this is glorious. I
didn't know where to stop, so we'll just read several verses
here. Psalm 89, look at verses 17 and following. I want the
glory of their strength, speaking of Christ. In thy favor our horn
shall be exalted. The Lord is our defense." Do
you see that? The Holy One of Israel is our
King. Then thou spakest in vision to thy Holy One, and saithst,
I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one
chosen out of the people. I found David, or that is Christ,
the Son of David, my servant, with my holy oil, have I anointed
him. with whom my hand shall be established,
mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact
upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down
his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him by
my faithfulness and mercy. But my faithfulness and my mercy
shall be with him. And in my name shall his horn
be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea, his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, Thou art
my Father, my God, the rock of my salvation. Also I will make
him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy
will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him." You see, Christ is our strength. He's laid help
upon one that is mighty. He's exalted one chosen out of
the people. He's the one who came out of
Zion, a man approved of God. Right in the midst of the church,
God's man. Look at verse 3, back in our
text. The Lord here did. The Lord,
the God of Jacob. Verse 3, Remember all thy all
friends, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Stop and think about
it. That's what Selah means, stop
and think about it. Will the Lord accept our offerings?
What burnt sacrifice do we offer that God will accept? Scripture
says not for righteousness which we have done. Scripture says
all our righteousness is a filthy writing. Scripture says after
we've done all that is required of us, we're still untouchable
servants. So this has to be speaking of our Lord. The Lord remember
all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. The Lord
accept that one sacrifice. The Lord remember Christ's righteousness
on our behalf. The Lord accept Christ's shed
blood for the remission of our sins. And he has, and he will. Christ said, he always hears
my prayer. And he has accepted him, and we are accepted in the
blood. Verse 4, read on. The Lord, the
God of Jacob, grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfill
all thy counsel. The Lord grant thee according
to thy heart. Well, what is Christ's heart?
What did he say? Again, referring to that prayer
in John seventeen this is what he says this is the outpouring
of our Lord's heart for his people. This is his prayer for his people
his heart prayer for us this is what he says father. And David
says oh the Lord grant thee according to your heart father. Keep through
thine own name. Those that you've given keep
on. He has and he will father Keep
them from the evil one. He has and he will. Father, sanctify
them through the truth. Thy word is truth. He has and
he will. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold
my glory. He has and he will. And Father,
grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all thy
counsel. That's our Savior's will and
purpose and counsel for us. And God hath heard his high priesthood
prayer on our behalf. Look at verse 5. The Lord hear
thee, the Lord the God of Jacob defend thee, and we will rejoice
in thy salvation. We will rejoice in thy salvation. Paul said the true circumcision,
the true people of God, they which are Jews inwardly, those
who have circumcised hearts. He said they worshiped God in
spirit, and they rejoiced in what? In Christ Jesus, and put
no confidence in the faith. We will rejoice in His salvation,
in Him alone. And in the name, read on, verse
5, in the name of our God, in the name of our God, we will
set up our banner, fly our flags. And Lord, fulfill all thy petition. In the name of our God, Christ
is God. The word was made flesh. In the
name of our God, Emmanuel, God with us, we will fly our flag."
I've seen this verse on bumper stickers of cars as proof that,
or saying that that's what this means, that you set up a banner,
that you put that you put, you know, these things on your bumper
sticker, your silly t-shirts and things like that. Well, that's
not the banner that he's telling us to raise. These silly t-shirts
and bumper stickers and bulletin board slogans and all, and clever
names on the church house, that's not the banner that we raise.
But the banner we raise is the declaration of the sovereign
grace of God. In other words, the gospel. That's the banner. It's the banner
of truth. One man named his gospel paper
that. That's a good name. The banner
of truth. The gospel is the banner. You
see, the custom was back in the days of old. David, earlier said
there'd be wars and rumors of war. And in David's day, David
lived in times of war practically all his life. And back in these olden times,
the custom was to fly a flag out in front of your troop or
your regiment or your army. And that flag would have the
color or the name or both of your country and your king or
your captain's name on that banner, your general on that. Well, and
that's what would distinguish certain armies. You see, that
was the distinguishing mark or feature. That's how you could
tell who was who. You see, the color of their banner
and the name of their king, well, that doesn't tell it today, does
it? Crosses and slogans and that doesn't prove a thing. Everybody
wears those. As a matter of fact, that's idolatry. Those are graven images which
our Lord tells us not to do, not to wear. You see, the weapons
of our warfare, as well as the banner, are not carnal, but spiritual, to the pulling down of strongholds.
We don't use fleshly means. We don't use fleshly means, but
spiritual. You see, our weapon, our sword,
is the Word, the preached Word. God is pleased by the foolishness
of preaching. to say the word that is sharper
than a two-edged sword. It's powerful. It's quick. It's
powerful. This is the only means that God has chosen with which
to slay that enmity that's in men. And this is the banner that
we hold forth which distinguishes us from the rest of the world.
This is the banner we fly. It's not a name on a church half.
It's not a slogan on our t-shirt. It's the gospel. See, even if,
like this little place here, if we didn't even have a name
out there on the church, they'd know what goes on in here. Or
as my pastor said, the old church. They know. So what distinguishes
us, you see, the banner we fly is the truth. This is what distinguishes us
from the world. This is our distinguishing mark
from the rest of the world. In other words, God's people,
what distinguishes them from the rest is not their building,
it's not their choir, it's not their name, it's their Christ.
It's their gospel. And you don't have to go around
wearing it. It'll leak out on you. What you preach and what
you believe. Like our Lord. Remember we looked
at that in Isaiah 42, John? He won't cry. We looked at it
here, too. It says he won't cry or cause
his voice to be lifted up in the street. Christ didn't go
around trying to get people to believe on it. He said, my sheep
will hear my voice. And he went about confidently,
purposely, calling out his sheep. And we do the same thing, just
deliberately, confidently, preach the gospel. God will bring his
people in. They'll hear his voice. God will
save his own. Sure, we talk to whom we will,
but not until the Lord opens the door. Right? So the banner we fly is the truth.
This is the distinguishing color of God's army. See, the weapons
of our warfare is not carnal. We're not wrestling with flesh
and blood, and we don't use fleshly means. And the wearing of these
slogans and so forth don't mean a thing. I think they pretty much show
a person's ignorance, especially when they use God's name, taking
his name in vain. We make mention of his name as
exalted, and we only use that name in fear and reverence and
trembling. All right, read on. He says, The Lord fulfill all
thy petitions. Once again, at Lazarus' tomb,
our Lord said, I thank thee, Father. that thou hast heard
me." And he said, I know you always hear me, but for their
sake, for these that hear me, I said this. Our Lord didn't
have to utter anything out loud, did he? I'm glad he did. And
we have it recorded, such as that high priestly prayer, such
as their Lazarus tomb. He said, I thank you, Father,
that you heard me, but I know you hear me. I know you always
hear me. But I said, for their sake, for Joe Park's sake, he
always hears his prayer. The Lord fulfills all of Christ's
petition. Everybody that the effectual
fervent prayer of this righteous man avail of everything. My salvation. Now, these words. Verse six beginning
there are almost it's almost as if these were written after
Christ was was crucified, buried, and then risen and ascended on
high. Look at what it says there. Now know I, let the Lord saveth
his anointed. Now I know this is Christ. Not
like that centurion that stood over to the side and watched
all these goings on, and Christ ordering all things from the
cross, even though apparently helpless, yet he was in full
control. And when he and the centurion
saw him bow his head and give up when he said he was going
to die. He said he was going to give
up, commend his spirit, and then majestically and deliberately
just bowed his head and gave up the gospel, walked out of
his body. The centurion said, surely this
is the Son of God. Surely. Now I know. This is as
if these words were written as Christ died, was buried, and
then they saw him come out of that tomb and ascend up on high.
Now I know. This is him. Who do men say that
I am? Who do you say? Simon Parks. Dialect of Christ. Now I know.
You're the Christ. You're the anointed. And he will
hear him from his holy heaven. Where's Christ now? He's in his
holy heaven. He's seated at the right hand
of God, where he ever lives to make intercession for us. That's
where he hears from now, with the saving strength of his right
hand. Christ is the saving strength
of God's right hand, the Son of the right hand, who is ever
at the right hand of the Father. Now, let's look at these verses
as they apply to us very quickly, OK? There's a prayer for the
Church. This was the Church's prayer.
to God the Father to, as a prayer of faith, to accept
us in the Beloved, to accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. That was the Church's prayer,
all right? Now let's look at it as us praying for ourselves
here. Look at it again. The Lord hear
thee in the day of trouble, and he will, he has, and he will. Man is born of woman a few days
and full of trouble. How much trouble you been through?
How many years now? How many years of trouble have
you gone through? How often have you called on
the name of the Lord? How often have you cried out
for help to him who said, I'm a very present help in time of
trouble? Has he heard you? He has and he will. We've got
a lot more trouble to come. Abraham faced his greatest trials
when he got up into his later years, didn't he? I've got more
trouble to come. Severe trials. Weighty trials.
The Lord hear thee. He will hear thee. His ear is
always open to the righteous. Those that are righteous in Christ.
Always. He bows down his ear. Read on. The name of the God of Jacob,
defend thee. I love that. Don't you? Happy is the man, blessed is
the man who hath the God of Jacob for his help. He said in Malachi, he said in
Malachi 3, 6, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore, you sons of Jacob will not consent.
See, when he talks about the God of Jacob throughout the scriptures,
he's talking about a covenant keeping God, a God that came
to an old worthless wretched, hell-deserving, undeserving sinner
and just chose him and set his love on him and said, here's
what I'm going to do for you. That's what he means. Every time
he says the God of Jacob, we ought to rejoice. The name of the God of Jacob. That's the covenant-keeping God. That's the sinner-saving God.
That's the unchanging, immutable God. He never changes. He said,
I've set my love on John Sheasley. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. But he's an old sinner. It doesn't matter. I'm the unchanging
God. And what I've said is done. And I've decided to save him. And I'm going to save him. Ain't
nothing going to stop me. The God of Jacob, that's your
defense. You will not be moved. You will not be moved. Creed
on. He says the God of Jacob sends
you help from the sanctuary. Read over, look over Psalm 73
quickly, OK? I'll hurry. Psalm 73. David,
he was in trouble like the rest of us. He said over here, he's
envious of the foolish. Prosperity of the wicked when
he was full of trouble. Psalm 73. Look at verse 2. He
says, for me, he said, my feet were almost gone. Steps had well
not slipped. I thought I was a goner time
and time again. Verse 14, all day long I've been
plagued and chastened every morning. Verse 16, when I thought upon
this, thought to know it was too painful for me, until I went
into the sanctuary of God, and I got some help. I went to where
the word of God was being proclaimed, where the gospel was being preached,
and I got some help. You see, God sends you help from
the sanctuary. That's the only place you're
going to get it. Christ is our sanctuary, isn't
He? But the sanctuary is the church.
It read on, it says, strengthen you out of Zion. That's the church.
That's where—this is the only place you're going to get strength.
Meet Dr. Elijah of old, who was fed by
the raven, and he went in the strength of that need for several
days. And that's why we come here. Some of you are tired,
been working all day, and you come in here and you need a little
something to carry you through. Well, this is it. Got milk, got
anything you need, whatever station you're at. Got milk for babes,
got meat for strong men, got honey for old who don't have
any teeth, and butter, and wine, and fat things, wine on the lease
for all, and bread for all. And this is where we get our
help. in the sanctuary where the gospel
is preached, and this is where we strengthen our soul and nurture. Read on. The Lord hear thee,
the God of Jacob, remember all thine offerings. And David did
say in the Psalms, he said, I'll offer unto thee the sacrifice
of what? Praise. Thanksgiving and praise. God will accept that now. In
the name of Christ, God will accept that offering. The offer
of praise. Imperfect as it is, still in
the blood of Christ, it's made perfect, and God receives it.
He'll accept—what is our burnt sacrifice? What is it we plead
with the Father as our burnt sacrifice? It's singular, isn't
it? Christ. Christ. We plead him. Verse 4, the God of Jacob, the
Lord, grant thee according to thine heart. What is your heart?
Let's ask Paul. What's your heart, Paul? What
is it you want more than anything? Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found in him. Oh, that I might know him, the
power of his resurrection. Well, God, grant thee according
to thine heart and fulfill all thy counsel. Read on. We will
rejoice in his salvation. In the name of our God. Now I
know that the Lord saveth his anointed, and I believe I'm one
of them. I believe the Lord saves. I believe
the Lord hears. I believe the Lord has mercy,
and I believe it endures forever. How do you know that? Well, I
just started, turned over 41 years now, and mercy's still
going strong. It's been merciful to me for
this long. It keeps on enduring. I just
expect it will for another twenty-nine or more. I just expect it will. I'll never forget one time when
I was feeling particularly low down and no good and worthless
and sinful years ago. I was just thumbing through the
scriptures trying to find something. And the Lord just seemed to give
me some inner peace and help from this verse right here. I
know that the Lord saveth his anointed. David said, the Lord
saved the simple. He saved me, David said. I know
he saves his Lord. He will hear from his holy heaven.
He will, with the saving strength of his right hand. Read on. Some
trust in chariots, and some in horses. This world that we live in is
just full of its devices and strength of the flesh and wisdom,
and it relies upon the words of men. and the devices in religion
and so forth, but we, here's what we, here's the folks who
have the banner of truth. We will remember the name of
the Lord our God. And what are we trusting in?
Not horses, not chariots, not we don't lean on the arm of the
flesh or we don't resort to mean, the fleshly means, but we trust
in the Lord our God. The name of the Lord our God. Verse 8, they're brought down
and fallen. We're risen and stand upright. They're brought down and fallen.
We're risen and stand upright. Let's see who stands in the end,
all right, before we get to, you know, it's who's standing in the end
that matters. Not now. See, we've fallen down now. We're
fallen and broken because of sin. Blessed is the man who mourns. Blessed are they that mourn.
or the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit. We fall down
now. We're broken now. We're contrite
now. We fall down at his feet in fear
and worship now while the world stands in pride and presumption,
right? But in the end, we will someday
stand with the assembly of the saints while they're falling
down beneath his feet. It's who's standing in the end
that matters. Read on. I'll save Lord, save Lord, and
he will. He has and he will. Let the King
hear us when we call. Let the King hear us when we
call. And he says he will. He says
he'll ever live to make intercession for the saints. Just call. Lord, here and there, in a day
of trouble, in the name of the God of Jacob, set you on a high
place, a high rock. Christ Jesus. All right, let's
stand and be dismayed. Brother Bob, would you mind dismissing
this in prayer for me? Our God and our Father, we are
grateful to You by words. We are grateful for the blessed
privilege of hearing Your gospel preached. We are grateful, Father,
for an oasis in the dry, weird land. So thankful that we might
come together and talk to You around by words, that we might
sit before Your faithful hands and preach Christ and the Kingdom
of God. We're thankful for Brother Paul
and his faithfulness and studies, and to be diligent in preparing
this preacher's offerings. We pray your blessings upon him
and his group in Asia here, and the wisdom and direction and
understanding to do thy will and to hold thy will. probably
giving them the great and wonderful mercy to us in Christ. In the
name of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 20

What does the Bible say about the coronation of Christ in Psalm 20?

How do we know that God hears our prayers?

Why is the concept of sovereign grace important for Christians?

What does it mean that Christ is our help from the sanctuary?

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Psalm 20

What does the Bible say about the coronation of Christ in Psalm 20?

How do we know that God hears our prayers?

Why is the concept of sovereign grace important for Christians?

What does it mean that Christ is our help from the sanctuary?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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