Let's open our Bibles again to
Psalm 20. You may remember that last Sunday
morning, we looked at Romans 8, verse 26, where Paul wrote
that the Spirit himself also helped with our infirmities.
For we know not what we should pray for, as we ought. I would
say most believers very, very readily identify with that verse. Many times, if not most times,
we feel like we don't exactly know what we should pray for
in a certain situation. We usually don't even feel like
we're really praying, just going through the motions. But if you
ever wonder what we should pray for, David gives us some very
good ideas here in this Psalm 20. We should always pray for
mercy and grace and forgiveness We should always thank the Lord
for who He is and everything that He's done for us. We never
have to wonder if we should pray for those things. Those are always
good. That's good ground to pray. And the Spirit helps believers
do just that by showing us our infirmity. That word infirmity,
you remember, means inability. We're completely lame on both
of our feet. So if the Spirit convinces us
of our sin so that we see that we can't do anything but sin,
then we'll automatically pray right. We'll automatically pray
for forgiveness and mercy and grace. We'll automatically pray
that Christ be our Savior and that He not leave us to ourselves
because of our inability. We'll surely stumble and fall
every time. And Psalm 20 is a good example
of that. If we see our inability, our
heart's desire will be that Christ our Savior be successful. Our
heart's desire will be that he is successful in doing what he
came to do, which is to save sinners from their sin. And if
we can pray that way, it'll lead us to rejoice because Christ
is always successful. If the true desire of your heart
is that Christ the Savior be successful, you're going to rejoice
because he's successful. And that'll lead us to trust
in Christ and to rest in him. That's what happens to David
in this Psalm. And that's why I pray for all of us this evening
that we'll leave here rejoicing, trusting, resting in Christ our
Savior. David begins here praying for
the success of Christ our Savior. In verse one, he says, the Lord
hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. Now, this is just always a good
way to pray. We don't know how, what to pray
for as we ought. Just pray that Christ the Savior
be successful, that he saved his people. David is, is praying
that the father helped Christ the son be successful in his
mission for his people. He says, may the Lord help thee
in the day of trouble. Now we pray that for each other,
don't we? One of our loved ones is going through a severe trial.
We pray, the Lord help thee in the day of trouble. The Lord
comfort your heart. The Lord heal. The Lord be with you. But
I tell you, we especially pray that for our Savior. He knew
what it was to be in the day of trouble. From the moment he
appeared in the womb, till the moment he gave up the ghost on
the cross every day. Every one of those days was a
day of trouble to him. When he was formed in the womb
of the Virgin Mary, that had to be a day of trouble, a day
of humiliation. What a day that was for him to
appear in the womb of the Virgin as an embryo. Almighty God became
a man so that he could be the representative of his people.
Boy, I sure want him to be successful when he appears, don't you? He's
come to establish righteousness for his people. And every day
he lived as a man under the requirements of his own law was a day of trouble
and turmoil for him. The law demands upon him, the
hatred and ridicule of the religious world around him. But there he
lived under that law to obey it, to make a perfect righteousness
that he could give his people. Well, I sure want him to be successful,
don't you? So he could produce a perfect
righteousness that I can't produce. And then he went to the garden.
There he went to pray. In agony, he prayed. What a day
of trouble that was for the Savior. He was afraid he's going to die
right there. before he ever even got to the
cross. It's just the thought of being made sin. And he prayed
for help. Well, I sure want the Lord to
hear him and help him, don't you? So he can go to the cross
and pay for my sin. And then as he hung there on
the cross, hung between heaven and earth, he cried, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Oh, I sure want the Lord
to hear him, don't you? I sure want the Lord to uphold
him. so He can redeem me, so He can
finish the work. And this is our confidence the
Father did here. The Father heard Him at all times
and the Father helped Him so He could do what the Father sent
Him to do, which is accomplish the salvation of His people,
to save them from their sins. And because our Savior was successful,
because the Father heard Him and helped Him and enabled Him
to accomplish His mission, because of that, Every child of God can,
with confidence, cry to our Father for help in our day of trouble. And it will be heard. The Father
will hear His children. Listen to me. The thunder and
the roar and the turmoil, the chaos of the trouble that grips
our heart, that's all around us, is never so loud. Our father can't hear the weakest
cry for help. You cry, he'll hear you. You
cry on the day of trouble, he'll hear you. He heard his son and
he'll hear you, those he died for. Then David says, the God
of Jacob defend thee. Now again, he's referring here
to our Lord Jesus Christ. And when he talks about the God
of Jacob, he's talking about the character of God. God's a
covenant God. The only reason God would be
the God of Jacob, that he would say, I'm Jacob's God. The only
reason for that is God's a covenant God, that he promised before
time began to be Jacob's God. Otherwise, once Jacob got here,
God would never be his God, would he? The only reason God is the
God of Jacob is he's a covenant God. The father promised he would
save Jacob. He would save the worthless scoundrel
like Jacob. through the righteousness and
the sacrifice of his son. And the father promised his son
he'll accept all those elect Jacob's in the blood of his son. So now David prays that the father
would honor his promise. And that's a good prayer, isn't
it? Because we won't be saved any other way. And here's our
comfort. The father will. He will accept
his people in his son. The word defend that David uses
here means to exalt to a high place. That's exactly what the
father did for his son. After he died, he was raised
again from the dead. He ascended back to the father
where the father had highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name. And his people, all those Jacobs
that Christ died for, they're exalted in Christ. Paul said,
right now we're seated in heavenly places in Christ. And one day,
the God of Jacob, the covenant God who keeps his promises, is
going to come and he's going to bring every son, every daughter
for whom Christ died, and he's going to take them to glory.
He's going to make them just like his son, where they will
be forever with the Lord. Because God's a covenant God
who always keeps his promises. All right, verse 2. David says,
send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion.
David here is still praying for the Savior. He prays that the
Lord Jesus would receive divine help. And you know, as a man,
he needed that. He needed the help of his Father.
He needed the strength of his Father. And David asked for help
from the place where God dwells. The sanctuary is the Holy of
Holies. Zion is the city on the mount
where the temple was built. He's asking for help from the
place where God dwells, the only place there is any help. And
you know, the father heard that prayer. He always heard, he always
helped his son. The Lord Jesus Christ had the
strength and the might of Almighty God so that he was mighty to
save. There is no sinner that's so
vile that Christ can't save them. He's mighty to save. And because
of that, because Christ is mighty to save, He has saved His people
from their sins. His people can cry out for help
from Christ and they'll receive it. Our help comes not from a
sanctuary, a room in a tent in the wilderness. Our help comes
from Christ who's the true sanctuary which God built and not men.
Our help comes from Christ Himself who's already accomplished the
salvation of His when he went into the sanctuary. He took his
blood into the holiest of all. He went behind the veil into
heaven itself with his own blood and obtained eternal redemption
for us. Well, I sure want him to be successful,
don't you? See, it's no wonder David here prays for Christ's
success because there's no salvation without it. And our comfort is,
our confidence is, Christ was successful. And because of his
sacrifice, his people can cry out for help from the place where
God dwells, the church. Zion is the church. God has given us this family
to help each other. Our function as a body is to
preach the gospel and be a help to each other, to wash each other's
feet, to pray for each other, to encourage each other, to help
each other. That's how we help. Let's be
known for that. Let's be known for that. Let's
be known for helping one another by preaching the gospel. Let's
be known for helping each other through acts of kindness and
love and compassion for each other. You're not gonna get any
help out there. God is a God of means. He uses
his people to help one another. All right, verse three. David
says, remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice."
Now, this is the height of David's prayer. It's the height of every
believer's prayer. This is what the thief on the
cross prayed. Lord, remember me. Father, remember me in the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember His sacrifice and accept
me in that sacrifice. You know, we can never hope for
anything from God. until first God accepts the sacrifice
of Christ, his son. That was the day of the great
transaction. If the father does not accept
that sacrifice, we'll never get anything from him. We can't offer
a sacrifice that will please God, can we? No, we're completely
dependent upon the success of the sacrifice of Christ, our
savior. And that's the whole reason Christ
came in the first place. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Beginning in verse four. Here's
why Christ came. For it's not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering,
thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure.
God was never satisfied with those animal sacrifices. Then
said I, lo, I come, and the volume of the book it is written of
me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings, in offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law,
Then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first that he may establish the second by the which will
were sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all, once for all. That's the reason that Christ
came. See our hope of acceptance with
the father. It doesn't come from all of our
religious activity, does it? It doesn't come from our right
doctrine. It doesn't come from our faithful service. The only
hope any sinner has is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
David prays, may the Lord remember your sacrifice. May He accept
your sacrifice. May He accept your burnt offering. What a description. Christ to
Calvary was burned off. The fire of the justice of Almighty
God burned with wrath upon him because of the sin of God's elect
charged to him. Oh, may God remember your burnt
sacrifice. See me in that sacrifice. That's
the only way God will ever see me as sinless. That's why David
prays for the success of it. And here's our confidence, our
comfort, our assurance. The sacrifice of Christ was successful. That was Christ, his sacrifice,
his blood did atone for all of the sin of his elect. And everyone,
everyone that Christ died for is going to be glorified. Their
sins put away. We have a sure hope, an expectation
of salvation because Christ the Savior died. If we would just
be remembered in that sacrifice. All right, verse four, David
says, grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all
thy counsel. Here David prays that the Father
grant Christ every one of his requests. But what does Christ
the Savior request? Well, look over at John chapter
17. We'll confine ourselves to just the verses here in John
17. We'll just look here in these
verses, but you go anywhere in Scripture, anything Christ the
Savior requests, the Father's going to give Him. Anything.
Let's just look at a few of them here in John 17, verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven. and said, Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. Here's
the request. Glorify your son that the son
may also glorify thee. I sure hope the father grants
that request, don't you? Because before God can do anything
for the likes of you and me, he's got to do something for
himself. He's got to put the sin away that offends him. He's
got to do something to reconcile us to himself. That's what the
Savior's praying for there. Well, I sure want him to get
that request, don't you? Well, he will. He will. The Father
glorified him and he glorified the Father. All right, verse
11. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world.
And I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one
as we are. Oh, I want the Savior to have
that request, don't you? I can't keep myself. I can't
keep myself faithful. I can't keep myself in the way,
but he can. And the Father's going to grant
that request. He's going to keep everyone that Christ died for.
Verse 15, he says, I pray not that thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil, from the evil one. Well, I sure want to request
that request to be granted, don't you? I can't keep myself from
I can't keep myself from the evil within, from the evil without,
from Satan, the evil one. I can't keep me. But the Father
will. He's going to grant Christ that
request to keep all of his people from evil. Verse 17. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth. Make them holy through thy truth. Well, I sure want the Savior
to have that request, don't you? I can't keep myself holy. I can't
make myself holy. I can't keep myself holy. The
Father is going to grant that request to make all of His people
holy and keep them holy. Verse 21, that they all may be
one. As thou, Father, art in me and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, that they all may be one. Oh, I want the Savior to have
that request. More than anything, I want to be one with Christ. I want Him to have that request.
Well, he will, the Father gives him everything he asks for. In
verse 24, Father, I will, that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which
thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. Oh, I want the Savior to have
that request. That is the glory of heaven, to be like Christ. to be with Him where He is. That's the glory of heaven. Oh,
I want Him to have that request. Well, He will. The Father's going
to grant that to Him. This is not pie in the sky thinking
here. Believers can expect, believers
should expect to receive all these blessings. The Father's
going to give Christ everything He asked for. And it's not because
He's doing anybody favor. He's not doing his son a favor.
He's not doing you a favor. No, he's going to give his son
all of his requests because Christ purchased them. He earned them.
He purchased them. It's only right that the Father
give them to him. And he will. Do you see why? This is a good prayer. If you
don't know what to pray for as y'all, just pray that Christ
the Savior be successful. And our confidence is He is. He is. And we start to pray and
we pray that the Savior be successful. We start thinking about everything
that God has done for his people and his son. We're going to see
Christ is successful. And now our hearts are going
to start to rejoice. Here's the second point. David
now turns to rejoicing in Christ. Verse five, Psalm 20. We will
rejoice in thy salvation and in the name of our God, when
we set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. David says we're going to rejoice
in thy salvation, in the salvation that Christ has accomplished
for his people. David calls it thy salvation. It's Christ's
salvation in this sense. He accomplished it. He purchased
it. It's his. But it's our salvation
too, isn't it? It's our salvation because Christ
has given it to his people. He purchased it for them and
he gave it to them. And we could spend a whole lot
of time rejoicing in Christ our Savior. It'd be awful good for
us to do that, to rejoice in His salvation. I just put a few
things down here about rejoicing in Thy salvation. We can rejoice
in the salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. We never did anything
to deserve it. We didn't earn it. We don't deserve
it. Matter of fact, just the opposite's true, isn't it? But
He gave it to us anyway. We can rejoice in that. We never
did anything to deserve it. We can rejoice in the compassion
of it. Who'd Christ die for? Poor, dead
sinners. I can rejoice in the compassion
of His salvation. We rejoice in the freeness of
His salvation. You can't buy it, and you can't
earn it, but you can have it for free. Christ already paid
the whole debt of it. You can have it for free. We
rejoice in the simplicity of Christ's salvation. This is so
simple a child can understand it. Childlike faith lays hold
upon this salvation. We rejoice in the wisdom and
the justice of this salvation. Salvation in Christ has been
accomplished in such wisdom that the law of God, the justice of
God is satisfied. It can never be lost. We can
rejoice in that. We rejoice in the eternality
of salvation in Christ. Salvation in Christ can never
be lost because it's eternal both ways. We were saved in Christ
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, before anything
was ever created in the mind and purpose of God. His people
have always been saved. He's always seen them in Christ
our sacrifice. Then we were saved when Christ
died on the cross. He gave up the ghost. Salvation
was accomplished. Then we were saved the moment
we believed, the moment the blood was applied. We were saved. We're
being saved right now. We're being kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation. We're being saved right now.
And there's a day coming, we're going to be plumb saved. Plumb
saved. When we awaken the likeness of
Christ our Savior. Now that's going to be glory.
To awaken His likeness. and we'll spend eternity rejoicing
in the glory of that salvation. Then we rejoice in the name of
our God, the name of our God's character, the character of God
that would purpose such a salvation and give such a salvation to
sinners. We rejoice in the wisdom of God that enables him to be
both just and justifier. We rejoice in the love of God.
Only God could love sinners. and choose to save them and His
precious Son. And He's never going to quit.
This is God's character now we're rejoicing in. He will never quit
loving His people. His love is never going to waver.
It will always be perfect, pure love. Now that's going to comfort
the hearts of God's people. In the darkest of nights, He'll
never quit. We rejoice in the faithfulness
of our God, the faithfulness of this salvation. God's never
going to change His mind, no matter how many times we stumble
and fall. He's never going to change His
mind because He doesn't see us in what we're doing, does He?
He always sees us in Christ. We rejoice in the mercy and the
grace that accomplish such a salvation. Only God could be merciful to
sinners like you and me. And then we rejoice in the gospel
of Christ. that declares this salvation.
Here when David talks about in the name of our God, in the character
of our God, we will set up our banners. He's talking there about
the gospel. We proudly fly the American flag,
don't we? because we are proud of what
that flag represents. We want to identify... Today's
Flag Day. Everybody's flying their flags
all over the place because we want to identify with everything
that flag represents. We love our country. We're thankful
for it. We want to be under the banner
of that. I wouldn't want to be under any
other country's banner, would you? Oh, this is the best one.
That's the gospel David's talking about. The banner of the gospel
is the banner, the preaching, the bold declaration of who Christ
is. That's what all of this scripture
is. It's the banner that tells us who Christ is and what He's
accomplished for His people. We love to hear this gospel of
Christ that declares salvation in Him. It reveals to us the
character of God, who God is. It tells us who the Savior is. And it tells us who we are. Well,
we need to know that, don't we? So we'll run to the Savior. When
we preach this gospel, we ought to do it boldly, confidently,
with such rejoicing. Trying to find the right phrase
here. Regardless of what the enemy's
thinking, let's wave the banner. You reckon those men pushing
that flag up on Iwo Jima cared one bit what those Japanese were
thinking? No, sir. This is waving the banner of
our Savior in utter victory over every enemy. What do we have
to fear? Oh, we rejoice in man. And all
this rejoicing in the gospel, the bold, clear declaration of
the gospel. Let's never forget this. Always,
we're utterly dependent upon Christ our Savior. Anytime we
preach, anytime man stands here to preach, anytime somebody sits
out there to listen to preaching, that ought to be so abundantly
clear to us. Without Him, we can do nothing. Nobody can preach
and nobody can hear without Him. We are told as we preach the
gospel in such boldness and confidence in Christ our Savior, we never
get past this. We are utterly dependent upon
him. David here at the end of this
verse goes back to praying. He says, I lost my place here. So that the Lord fulfill all
of our petitions. He's going back to Christ our
Savior, to Christ our Mediator, the Lord fulfill all thy petitions. We can only stand in Christ. The Father will only accept us
in Christ. We'll only be accepted in the
Beloved. We'll only be heard in Him. We never forget that
Christ is our great intercessor. We always want the Father to
fulfill all of His petitions. And he will. The father always
will. He always hears his son because
his son only pleads one thing. His sacrifice. And that's all
it takes to please the father. That's our rejoicing. You think
of this. Christ is praying for me. I cannot
be lost. I cannot fail. Now that leads
us to rest. trust in Christ. Thirdly, David
rests in his trust for Christ. You see, praying and rejoicing
always is going to lead us to faith, to trust in Christ. David
has prayed for the success of the Savior, and he's rejoiced
in the success of the Savior. So look what he knows now, verse
six. Now I know that the Lord saveth his anointed. He will
hear him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his
right hand. Now that's faith in Christ. To
say, I know that the Lord saved his anointed. David's not being
a presumptuous brat. I know the Lord saves his people. The Lord's anointed are the people
that he elected to save. David said, I know the Lord's
gonna save those people. I know that he is. Because Christ
saw to it. His sacrifice purchased it. His
righteousness made them perfect. I know God's going to save His
people from their sins. David prayed that the Father
would hear the Savior, and He did. The Father heard him in
holiness. He heard him from His holy heaven. This salvation, this glorious
salvation that we rejoice in, here's something else we rejoice
in. The holiness of it. I didn't do an end around the
law to save his people. No, he saved his people through
the law, through Christ's obedience to the law. This thing has been
done in holiness. Christ brought in holiness for
his people. His obedience makes them righteous
and his blood cleansed them from every stain of sin. He made them
holy. So not only is it right that
the father hear his son, It's only right that He hear His people.
Of course He's going to hear His people. There's no reason
for Him not to. Christ has made them righteous. He made them
holy. There's no reason for the Father to reject them. And we
hear that and we say, what a salvation. And that's true. What a salvation. Because what a Savior. What a
Savior we have that accomplished this great salvation for His
people. Christ is that powerful saving
arm. He said here we'll hear Him from
His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the saving strength of
God's right hand. Who else would you trust Him?
Who else would you want to rest in other than the saving strength
of God's own right hand? This is a sad commentary on our
nature. We trust in anything else other
than Christ, that God led us. Verse seven, David says, some
trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember
the name of the Lord, our God. Now chariots were the weapons
of mass destruction in that day. Whoever had the most chariots
and most horses, they were going to win the war. That was the
arms race, just build up as many chariots and horses as you can
get. But you know what? All those
chariots were the arm of the flesh, weren't they? That's all
they were. When the children of Israel were trapped at the
Red Sea, they didn't have a single horse and a single chariot, did
they? Pharaoh had them all. They didn't do Pharaoh one bit
of good, they say. They were all destroyed when the Lord moved
to protect his people. Well, the next time you're trapped
at the Red Sea and you feel under attack, you feel trapped, this
is what we need to remember. David says, we will remember
the name of the Lord. Israel was forbidden to build
up chariots and horses. They were forbidden to do that
so that they would trust in the Lord. Next time we find ourselves
under attack, just remember the name of the Lord. The name of
the Lord is His character. God's not going to desert His
people. What kind of character would
that be? Not a very good one. God's character
is perfect. He's not going to forsake His
people. He will preserve. He will protect. He will defend. He will comfort the hearts of
his people. No weapon formed against thee
shall prosper. Don't worry about their chariots
and their horses. No weapon formed against thee shall prosper. Well,
a physical weapon might harm your body, but the most that
can do is send you to be with the Lord. But here we're talking
about spiritual warfare. No spiritual weapon formed against
you you who believe will prosper, ever. False prophets and all
their trickery and their sleight of hand and their damnable heresies
can never, ever harm the soul of one of God's elect. Christ
has already redeemed them. And it's his character to be
faithful. He will keep them to the end. He'll keep you. In those
dark, dark, dark days, you just think on the character, the name
of the Lord, his character. He's not going to desert you.
Salvation in Christ is sure, so you can rest in Him. You just
bank on this. Every enemy of the Lord is going
to be brought low, but all of His people will be exalted. Verse
8, they're brought down and fallen, but we're risen and stand upright. They're all going to be destroyed,
but God's elect are going to be exalted. One day they're going
to be exalted. And really right now, we already
stand upright before the Lord. Upright in the righteousness
and the obedience of Christ our Savior. So now in utter confidence,
David ends right where he started, verse 9. Save the Lord. Let the King hear us when we
call. David here began in prayer for
the success of the Savior. And he ends in complete and utter
confidence. The Lord will save his people
from their sins. You know, people say, you know,
well, you believe in election, you believe in predestination,
you believe in all these doctrines, you know. Well, if I believed
that, I'd never pray for anybody. I'd never pray, Lord, save anybody
because he's just going to save them anyway. Knowing that the
Savior is successful. that He will. He already has
saved His people from their sins. He put their sin away. He will
call out all of His people. That lets me pray with David
in total, absolute confidence. Lord, save Your people. He will. He's going to save His people.
He'll hear us when we call. He'll hear us when we call. How
many times do we read that in Scripture? Then let's be sure to call. Let's be sure to call for mercy
and grace. How many times some problem come
up and we think, well, I got to do this and I got to do this.
I got a plan. I got a scheme. I got. Let's call, call, call on the
Lord for mercy, call on him for grace. Our cry is not, Lord,
give us the opportunity to be saved. Lord, give us a chance
to be saved. Give us a chance to make a decision.
We're not going to pray that way, are we? Because that's going
to fail every time. Our cry is, Lord, save me. Save me by your grace. Save me
by your mercy. Save me through your Son. Save
me for the glory of your Son. And we can confidently say, He
will. That lets us rest in Christ our
Savior. I hope that lets us leave here,
drive home rejoicing in complete and utter trust. Just rest in
Christ our Savior. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
this blessed portion of your word. How we pray that you would
apply it to our hearts, that you'd use it to glorify your
Son, that we might see Him in His glory, that we might see
your Son as all we need. If we have Him, if by your grace
you've given us your Son, we have everything. Father, cause
us to rest in Him, to trust Him and rest in Him and to rejoice
in Christ our Savior, who's worthy of all of our praise and love
and adoration. Cause His name to be glorified,
Father, and cause your people to find encouragement, to rest
in Him. It's in His precious name we
pray and give thanks. Amen.