The 20th psalm is one of the
shortest psalms but a psalm full of praise of the Lord Jesus Christ
and his wondrous salvation. A psalm of great hope, great
trust and great faith in God. A psalm in which David shows
forth that settled assurance he has in his Lord. who saved him and his Lord, who
upheld his Saviour in his hour of need. Psalm 20, to the chief
musician, a Psalm of David. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary
and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah. Grant thee according to
thine own heart and fulfil all thy counsel. We will rejoice
in thy salvation and in the name of our God we will set up our
banners. The Lord fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth
his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust
in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name
of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen,
but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord, let the King hear
us when we call. 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 now know I that the Lord saveth his
anointed he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving
strength of his right hand we will rejoice in thy salvation
oh what a cry of David this is. What a triumphant cry. We will
rejoice. David had reason to rejoice.
And all those who know David's saviour and who have experienced
something of David's trials and circumstances likewise will know
what it is with David to say we will rejoice. Like David,
they too have been through the day of trouble. They too have
known the oppression of the enemy, both those that hate them, the
enemies without, and also the sin and the rebellion and the
evil that lurks within their own heart, the enemies within.
Like David, they have known help, sent of God from His sanctuary
and they have been strengthened out of Zion and like David their
offerings and their burnt sacrifice have been remembered of God because
like David they've come to know that they have no offerings and
they have no burnt sacrifice which is acceptable unto a holy
God except the one offering and the one burnt sacrifice which
is Jesus Christ and they know that their God will remember
him and when he remembers him he will remember them and all
will be well they rejoice in his salvation As with many of
his Psalms, David writes from his own point of view. He writes
for the good of others, but he also writes in prophecy of his
saviour. He speaks of the king, he speaks
of the anointed. And of course he himself in Israel
was the anointed king. but he knows that there was one
to follow he knew there was a king to come he knew there was an
anointed one to come by whom God would save his people and
when he writes, now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed
he means not just himself but that one that great King, that
great Saviour to come, the Lord's Anointed, who would endure a
day of trouble way beyond any day of trouble which David had
passed through, who would endure persecution far more acute and
evil than any that David had suffered. who would be hated
and despised and spat upon more than David ever was. David knew
that the Lord would save his anointed. Now know I that the
Lord saveth his anointed. At one time he hoped he would
Now one time he cried, Lord hear me, Lord help, save me. But now knows he that the Lord
will. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. some trust
in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name
of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen,
but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord, let the King hear
us when we call. We will rejoice in thy salvation. And in the name of our God, we
will set up our banners. We will. Can you join in with
that cry? Can you cry with David and say,
we will rejoice in thy salvation. We will. Or is it something you
know nothing of? Is it just something you've heard
of second hand? Do you know people who rejoice
in God's salvation? But you cannot say it yourself.
Because you've heard of Jesus Christ. You've heard of his death. You've heard of his resurrection.
You've heard the Gospel. You've heard that you are a sinner. You've heard that you are in
need of salvation. You've heard that one day you
will stand before a holy God under whom you will give an account
for every deed and every thought that you've ever done or thought
in this world. You've heard and you know in
the head, you've heard. But you do not know the Saviour
yourself. You cannot say with a certainty,
with a sure hope of faith that He has saved you. You cannot
claim that that blood has washed away your sins. You know it would
be presumptuous to say so? Or where are you? Can you, with
David, rejoice in his salvation? Or is it but a hope? Or is it
even something that you tread underfoot? Something that you
despise? Something that you reject? Something
that you turn away from? Is this salvation something that
you have no time for? It does not matter to you. You
do not care whether you are saved. You say, why do I need to be
saved? I'm just fine. Or perhaps you
simply bury your head in the sand. In reality you know that
you need to be saved, in reality you know you're a sinner but
you don't care. Your love of the world, your
love of pleasure is too great to be bothered. You don't want
your conscience troubled, you don't want to take time out from
your mad career through life. seeking and gaining and grabbing
and striving for this that and the other you don't want to stop
to consider. So it all washes over you, you
hear but you don't hear. But David could say we will rejoice
in thy salvation. Because though there was a day
when he cared not for it, as with all men, and though there
was a day when the world and the lust of his heart took him
another way, there came those days when God
intervened. There came those days when God
spake under David. and brought him through circumstance
in order to show him what he was, in order to show him his
need, in order to show him his great need of salvation. And
though he, naturally speaking, would have fled from it, though
he, naturally speaking, would have shut his ears to it, though
he had no time for it like you have no time for it, God fought
otherwise. God would have him know. God
pursued him. God brought his word unto him. God arrested him. God sounded
the gospel in his ears. And God said unto David, you
will hear. You are dead in trespasses and
sins. You are full of iniquity. You
are unrighteous, David. your good works, your offerings,
your sacrifices. I will not receive, they're polluted
David. David you will stand before me
one day and you must be perfect. He came unto him and he spake
unto him. and there may come that day when
God will pursue you and where he will speak unto you and he
will show you what you are and show you your need of salvation
and though you shut your ears and though you are apathetic
by nature and though you don't want to hear he will say otherwise
and you will hear and you will listen and you will look within
and see the filth within and you will be brought to know that
you are in need of salvation and if you are God's and he pursues
you with his message then flee as much as you can he will have
you here he will bring you into a day of trouble a day of trouble
from whence no man can save you in which your strength and your
ability is of nothing worth a day of trouble in which you sink
as it were into the mire into the deep waters and you feel
yourself to be sinking and you know that you need to be saved
and you begin to cry and the only one that can answer your
cries is the God of heaven God will bring you to here and he
will bring you to here by bringing you to the day of trouble. Now
you may say that you've had a number of days of trouble in your life
but if you've not been brought to this point then you know nothing
of this trouble. But David knew the day of trouble. a day of trouble so great that
he knew he was lost, that he knew he was fading away, that
he knew he would sink without trace except God heard his cries,
except God came to save him. The psalm opens with, the Lord
hear thee in the day of trouble. And it ends with, Save Lord,
let the King hear us when we call. It's wrapped up in these
two phrases. Here David is, writing, having
known the day of trouble. Not just days of trouble, but
the day, the worst day. When the conviction of sin and
the wrath of God came into his heart and he knew that he could
not stand, he knew the desperate straits he was in, he knew that
he needed God to save him. And having exhausted all his
own strength, all his own help, having exhausted all the strength
and the help of men, having exhausted the strength of horses and chariots,
Having exhausted all, he knew that his only hope was God. God could save him and no one
else. Save Lord! Let the King hear
us when we call. Have you been brought to that
day? And have you called? Have you
cried? Save Lord! the religious man takes the words
speaks much of salvation speaks much of Christ and his death
but never really comes to this point his cry is never purely
save Lord he's never really brought to the day of trouble there's
too much trust in himself but David knew what the day trouble
is. In these first three verses he
writes, The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, the name
of the God of Jacob defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary
and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah. Selah. He pauses at this point The Lord
hear thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary. Strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifice. Hear, defend, send help, strengthen,
remember and accept. Now David writes these out of
his own experience. He writes these in such a way
as to address them to others who have been where he's been.
And he writes these things with his mind set upon the Saviour.
the anointed Christ. The Lord hear thee, O Lord Jesus,
in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee, send thee help from the sanctuary, strengthen thee
out of Zion, remember thy offering and accept thy burnt sacrifice. What's true of David is true
of Christ, and what's true of David is true of his people in
Christ. All in Christ will be brought
to the day of trouble as Christ himself was brought to a day
of trouble on their behalf. All will be brought to know the
judgment and the wrath of God against their sin and the desperate
state that they're in and left in that state If they pass from
this world to the next, they will pay forever the price for
their sin. Eternal suffering. An eternity
of wrath. A day of trouble. But Christ's love for David and
Christ's love for his people. was such that he who was perfect,
he who was without sin, he who was the righteousness of God,
came into this world, went to the cross, took upon him David's
sin and corruption, bore all the sins that David ever committed,
and entered into a day of trouble beyond that which David ever
felt. He bore the judgment of God. He suffered the anguish. He felt
the fires of God's wrath. He was cut off from the Father. He was alone in the darkness. He endured eternity. in the three hours of darkness
on the cross. And the Lord heard him in the
day of trouble. He cried out out of a heart of
faith, Lord save, save Lord. And the Father heard him. He paid all the price. He was
not spared. The Father did not tear him and
take him away off the cross before his work was finished. But when
all had been completed, when every sin of David's had been
judged, when Christ gave up the ghost and hung up his head, when
he died, having been laid in the grave, he rose again. and stood up. And all his people,
David included, rose and stood up with him. They are brought
down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord. Let the King hear us when we
call. The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. The Lord heard
the Lord Jesus in the day of trouble. He heard his son. he judged David's sin he would
deliver his people from their sins but he heard him the name
of the God of Jacob defend thee the name of the God of Jacob
Jehovah God sent a Saviour to deliver David He sent a Saviour
to deliver His people from their sins and He called that Saviour
Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. Joshua, Jehovah's
salvation, the Lord saves. That's the name which defended
David. That's the name which defended
Christ in his hour of need. That's the name which defends
all his people. Jehovah saves. Joshua. God is our salvation. Our hope
is not in man, not in our strength, not in our works, not in our
wisdom, not in our knowledge, not in our intellect. It's not
in words, it's in Christ, it's in God. The name of the God of
Jacob defend thee. Just as Jacob had known the salvation
of God. Had known the promises of God.
Had known the fulfilment of those promises. So too did David. So too did all Christ's people.
Throughout all time. David goes on. Send thee help
from the sanctuary and strengthen the outer Zion. His help came
from above. From the sanctuary. From Zion. from heaven's glory, from whence
the Saviour came. God sent his Son into this world. The Son of God was made flesh
of the seed of David. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah. Under the law, Israel and David
made many offerings as instructed. Many fatted calves, many lambs,
many turtle doves, many offerings given, the blood shed, strictly
slain in a strict order, blood shed. The blood taken into the
mercy seat and sprinkled by the high priest. There were many
offerings and Israel looked on and saw the priests go and offer
for them. But none of those offerings,
as God makes clear in the book of Hebrews, none of those offerings
can atone for sin. The priests who offered them
were sinners. the creatures whose blood was
shed were mere beasts they were but figures of the one offering of Jesus
Christ and David says remember thy offerings
and accept thy burnt sacrifice and he knows that all the offerings
and the burnt sacrifices that he had offered up through his
lifetime and all the offerings and the burnt sacrifices which
the people of Israel offered up through their generations
could avail nothing but that one to whom they all pointed
would save Christ alone. Now to what offerings and to
what burnt sacrifices are you looking? You can speak of Jesus
Christ but do you hope that your God will be pleased with some
offering you have made? Some sacrifice you have made?
You give up this and you give up that. You're zealous in your
worship of God. You seek out the truth. You try
to search the scriptures. You turn from this evil and that
evil. You go with the right people in the right company. You suffer
the loss of many things. And do you somewhat secretly
hope that God is pleased with you because of that? You can
point out the faults and the failings of others. You come
to a better knowledge of the truth than others. You can point
out this error and that error. Do you think God is pleased with
you because you've not gone to this extreme or that extreme? Because you've not been deceived
by this or by that? Do you think God will have some
pleasure in you because of your accuracy to the truth? Or do you truly accept that you,
like they, are as blind a sinner as any are as dead a sinner as
any that you are as foolish as any that you are as much of a
child of wrath as any and that all your knowledge and all your
wisdom and all your learning is of nothing worth your only
hope of salvation is if God on your behalf remembers the offering
and the burnt sacrifice of Christ. Your only hope of salvation is
if God says this my son was slain for you. unless God in his sovereign will
and purpose of his good pleasure decided to set his love upon
you and take his son and take your sin and place it upon him
and take your sins and cause him to bear them and slay his
son unless God took his sword of divine justice and drove it
through Christ because of you and for you then you will die
and perish in your sins and if he did that to Christ for you
then that is why you're saved and for no other reason whatsoever. We will rejoice in thy salvation
and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. We will
praise the name of our God. We will praise the name of Jesus
because we say that Jehovah saves. He sent a Saviour to deliver
us from our sins. We didn't ask for Him, we didn't
seek Him, we didn't know Him, we didn't care for Him. But in
all our rebellion and all our hatred and all our confusion,
God came into the darkness of this world and the darkness of
our hearts with the light of His Gospel and sent His Son and
slew His Son for all His people. which is why they say we will
rejoice. Did he do that for you? Remember
all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice. If you have
any offering or burnt sacrifice other than Christ you are lost. But if he remembers Christ and
in Christ sees you with his Son won with his son slain with his
son buried with his son risen again with his son then he will
deliver you he will hear you he will defend you he will send
you help he will strengthen you he will remember thy offerings
and thy burnt sacrifice he will love you to the end He will save
you. The name of the God of Jacob. David goes on, grant thee according
to thine own heart and fulfil all thy counsel. He prays that
the Lord would grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfil
all thy counsel. He prays that for others, for
God's people, he prays that for himself, he prays that for Christ. Grant thee according to thine
own heart and fulfil all thy counsel. Give us the desires
of our heart. All the desires of the wicked
heart are for this world and its ways. He speaks of the heart
of the believer who longs for the things of God, who longs
for God's salvation, who longs to know the Saviour and to hear
His voice, who longs to be one with Him, who longs to know the
power of His resurrection, who longs to know His life within,
who longs to hear His voice. who longs to know the love of
God the love of Christ shed abroad in his heart these desires what
are your desires? what does your heart want? well if God grants you the heart
the desires of this heart the desire for Christ and his salvation
then you will have all you could ever wish for all you could ever
wish for In Titus in chapter 3 we read
of the kindness and the love of God. But after that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He
saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
that being justified by His grace we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. the kindness and love of God. Under who? Unto those who themselves
were also sometimes foolish and disobedient, deceived, serving
diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. Now is that you? Would you set yourself apart
from that? Have you at some time been foolish, been disobedient,
deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice
and envy, hateful and hating one another, is that you? Well
it is. That describes you. It describes
me. It describes every son and daughter
of Adam that's ever lived. That's the heart and the character
of the natural fallen man. We're full of hatred, one for
another and for God. But unto such people God sent
his Son. After that, the kindness and
love of God, our Saviour, toward man appeared. After that the
kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, not because
of anything we've done. And it wasn't our working of
righteousness that made him appear. It's not our zeal and our Bible
searching and our reading of the Scriptures which makes him
appear. But according to his mercy he
saved us. by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost he will come unto his own and
he will open their eyes and he will make himself known and he
will make his kindness and the love of God our Saviour known
grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfil all thy
counsel Has He granted you according to your heart? Does your heart
long to know the kindness and the love of God, our Saviour? If it does, and if it's been
heard, then you with David will rise up and say 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 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 I know
now I know it's one thing to know in the head it's another
thing to know as a reality in the heart how many there are
who have sought salvation who've come to know their wretched state
before God but who have had to endure such a state such conviction
For months, for weeks, for years. Knowing that they by nature are
lost. Knowing they cannot save themselves. Knowing that God must send help. Knowing that God has a saviour. Knowing his name is Christ. Knowing
he died and rose again for sinners. But not knowing him as theirs. How many have endured? And they
know of the Saviour. They know of His love. They know
of His kindness. But they don't know if He saved
them. And then there comes the day
when the Gospel so comes in power and God sets them free. And God
opens their eyes to see their Saviour crucified for them. And
they can say, now I know. Now I know. Now I know that the
Lord saves. And now I know that the Lord
saves his anointed. He saved Christ. He saved David. And he saved me with Christ.
He will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength
of his right hand. the saving strength of his right
hand the right hand is always pictured in the scriptures as
the hand of power, the hand of strength and at the right hand
of God stands the saviour, the anointed who having done his
work of salvation who having suffered and endured the wrath
of God who having conquered his enemies who having taken away
sin who having destroyed the devil, Satan, the adversary,
who having loosed his people and set them free, who having
wrought a great victory, he stands, he's risen and stands at the
right hand of God. And here in Christ we see the
right hand, the strength of the right hand of God. God's strong
right hand is Christ's. and he sent him forth into this
world to deliver his people. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. We have a
mighty Saviour, a mighty Conqueror. None can stand in Christ's way. We do not worship a weak Saviour. Though he is meek, though he
was born a babe in Bethlehem, though he turned the other cheek,
though they took him and he offered himself as a lamb and did not
answer back and meekly accepted the judgment and though they
led him to the place of execution at Golgotha and though they caused
him to carry the cross and though they nailed him to the tree,
he is a mighty saviour. If he had wanted, if he had willed,
he could have brushed all his adversaries aside in a moment
but he came to deliver his people from their greatest enemies.
and if he had done that then the work of deliverance would
not have been wrought. His greatest victory was to offer
himself. He may in the eyes of the world
at that point have seemed to be the weakest man but in fact
he was the strongest. when they nailed him to the cross,
when he was slain and suffered in the darkness, when he died,
he was the strength of God's right hand. Here was the saving
strength of his right hand enduring death that he might deliver his
people from all their enemies. Their strength isn't in man,
it isn't in the appearance of strength that men worship. Men
would have said do this or do that, send a legion of angels
to deliver thyself if thou be the son of God. Do this or do
that, they'd have tempted and enticed to another way and in
doing so they'd have brought corruption and damnation upon
their heads. They'd have ruined it all because
they don't understand the gospel and they have no love of the
truth and they have no wisdom by nature. But God's wisdom is
seen in the cross, in Christ, in his laying down his life,
his wisdom, his power, his strength is seen in that which men say
is weak. When men laugh and scorn, when
others laugh and scorn and cause you to be tempted to turn from
Christ or to turn from the gospel, when they laugh at it and mock
it as something that is weak, remember that in the weakness,
the greatest strength was made known. In the darkness, the light
of God delivered his people from their sins. In death he brought
life to his people. when men go to battle with their
chariots and their horses when they ride to battle and there's
their enemy and they come upon him and they slay him with the
sword and they see him crushed to the ground and covered in
blood and he's dead and his last breath has gone out of him they
think they've won and they dance over him and say we've won and
that's exactly what this world and the prince of the power of
the air of this world the prince of darkness the father of lies
thought had happened here they were they got hold of the son
of God they got hold of Christ and they took him they took him
to battle and they slew him and their chariots and their horses
and their armies and their men and their swords came upon him
and they crucified him and slew him and satan rejoiced the adversary
he's dead the son of god is dead how they laughed at his apparent
weakness but oh the folly of man oh the folly of man's religion
he thinks he can win some battle in his own strength he turns
the chariots and the horses in his own strength he goes for
that in which he appears strong and he thinks he wins by it but
he doesn't it's in the death of Christ that there is life
and there is victory we rejoice in the name of the God of Jacob
Now we know that the Lord saveth his anointed. He was slain, he
died, he really died, they put him in the tomb, they put a stone
over the entrance to the tomb and they set soldiers, Roman
soldiers, set a watch Because the Jews were afraid that Christ's
disciples would come and steal him away in the night and pretend
that he had risen again. So they did everything in their
might and their power to make sure that didn't happen. And
yet, on the morning of the third day, very early in the morning
on the first day of the week, the stone was rolled away and
the tomb was empty and the mighty Saviour had risen again, the
one that the world and which Satan says is weak. because he
offered himself up, because he allowed men to crucify him, because
he appeared weak in their eyes. The one whom they said was weak
was mighty and strong and alive. He'd risen again. Some trust
in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name
of the Lord our God. The man they put in the tomb
was Jesus. Joshua. God saves. God's salvation. He died. and he rose again. They are brought down and fallen,
but we in him are risen and stand upright. Save Lord, let the King
hear us when we call, He will. Because He saved Christ, because
Christ had the power to lay down His life and to take it again. He is the strength, the saving
strength of God's right hand. Now we know that the Lord save
of his anointed he rose again and David rose with him and all
his people rose with him and God heard their call. Some trust
in chariots and some in horses what are you trusting in? What
are you trusting in? Your strength, your wisdom, your
knowledge or Christ alone. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary.
Strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifice. Grant thee according to thine
own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy
salvation and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. You set up whatever banner you
want, you condemn whoever you want, you put everyone in the
grave however you want to, you ride over their heads with your
chariots and your horses if you will, you speak evil of every
man you want to if you will, but we, we will rejoice in His
salvation. We will rejoice in Christ, His
sovereign grace, His saving grace, His free grace, His wonderful
salvation. We will rejoice in Him and in
Him alone. We find no rest, nothing to trust
in, in our own knowledge, in our own wisdom, in our own strength,
in our own understanding. All our hope is in Christ. Go trust your chariots. Go trust your horses. Go follow
those who mock and deride. Go shut your ears. Go to your
destruction if you will. But our God hears us in the day
of trouble. He saves when we call. Let the King hear us when we
call. And we will rejoice in thy salvation. And in the name of our God we
will set up our banners. We will rejoice in thy salvation. Amen.