Psalms 20:2-9

2 and send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion

3 and remember all thy offerings and reduce thy burnt sacrifice to the ashes of burnt fat, Selah.

4 Grant thee according to thine heart and fulfil all thy counsel.

5 We will rejoice in thy saving health, and in the name of our God we will be standard-bearers: let the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.

6 Now know I that the LORD has kept his anointed; he will hear him from the heavens of his holiness with the saving valour of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

8 They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.

9 The LORD saves the king; let him hear us on the day 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.