Psalms 20:2-9

2 May he send you help from ¹the sanctuary and give you support from ²Zion!

3 May he ³remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4 May he ⁴grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

5 May we shout for joy over ⁵your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our ⁶banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with ⁷the saving might of his right hand.

7 Some trust in ⁸chariots and some in ⁹horses, ¹⁰but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

9 O LORD, save ¹¹the king! May he answer us when we call.

Psalms 20:2-9 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This psalm is thought, by some, to be written by David, on account of himself, and as a form to be used by the people for him, when he was about to go to war; particularly with the Ammonites and Syrians, 2 Samuel 10:6; mention being made of chariots in it, Psalm 20:7; of which there was a great number in that war: Arama thinks it was made by him when he got the victory over the Philistines; others think it was written by one of the singers on David's account, and should be rendered, "a psalm, for David," as Psalm 72:1: but rather it is a psalm concerning David; concerning the Messiah, whose name is David; or a psalm of David concerning the Messiah, since he is expressly mentioned, Psalm 20:6; and Aben Ezra says, there are some that interpret it of the Messiah; and some passages in it are, by Jewish writers {m}, applied unto him, as Psalm 20:6; and our countryman, Mr. Ainsworth, says, the whole psalm is a prophecy of Christ's sufferings, and his deliverance out of them, for which the church with him triumphs. Theodoret takes it to be a prophecy of Sennacherib's invasion of Judea, and of Rabshakeh's blasphemy, and of Hezekiah's distress and prayer on that account.

{m} Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 18. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 44. 2.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 73:17; 2 Chronicles 20:8
• 2. Psalms 128:5
• 3. [Acts 10:4]
• 4. Psalms 21:2
• 5. Psalms 9:14
• 6. Psalms 60:4; Song of Songs 6:4, 10
• 7. [Psalms 28:8]
• 8. Isaiah 31:1; Isaiah 36:9
• 9. Proverbs 21:31
• 10. [1 Samuel 17:45; 2 Chronicles 32:8]
• 11. Psalms 48:2