Psalm 20 - Jesus is our Victory in the day of trouble

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress. May the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offering. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Now this I know. The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king. Answer us when we call. Amen.

Praise God. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for another day that we can come freely in your presence because of death and resurrection of your son. Ultimately, your love on display for us.

Thank you for another day that we can come freely in your presence. Thank you for another day that we can come freely in your presence and ask for mercy and grace.

Father, I ask it for myself and for people as they hear. Father, help me to preach your words, communicate your word faithfully and help us to embrace the truth contained within Jesus name.

I pray. Amen. Let me start just by sharing how my week has been in preparing for this message today.

I'm not sure about you, but I don't think preaching is my main thing. Do you know what I mean?

I am not. I mean, it doesn't come that easily as it probably does to Steve. I mean, I only assume, right?

So this week has been particularly difficult. I haven't preached in a good while. I wonder what that says about my preaching.

But I think I was overthinking the preaching this week and I'm overburdened by it.

And in reading it, when I landed on verse 7, I was so convicted by it.

Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, and some trust in God.

Are we trusting God?

And I actually found that it's so easy to skip past this verse thinking, obviously, we trust in God.

We are in church. We sing the songs, don't we?

We know the Bible verses.

And I thought, wow, this is probably not for me.

But the reality is the biggest risk, in my opinion, in reading the text,

is that we might think that we need to trust, we can trust in God plus in chariots,

or that we think that it's only for people that trust, that's really the people in the world,

that they trust in their own strength and then that we trust in God.

But the actual risk is that we are going to trust in God plus something else,

which really amounts to not trust in God, right?

And the way it pans out in life is this, at least in my own life,

that we're looking to ourselves, that we can allow,

start wearing those lenses of hurt and pain and see God through those lenses.

And then we lose hope. We're praying hopeless prayers.

We're actually walking in life without the joy of the Lord.

And yet we might think that we trust in God.

All that to say that I feel that this spoke to me.

And because I think there's more in there, I've found fitting to go in it in almost verse-by-verse fashion,

which is not the most intuitive thing to follow.

But I ask for forgiveness in advance if it becomes a bit too difficult to follow.

But we'll hopefully get somewhere.

Let me set the scene for you.

So the people of God, the way they would worship back in the day, would be at the tabernacle, right?

So they have the tabernacle of Moses.

As you think about the tabernacle, the tabernacle had divisions and had a lot of rituals for you to actually access God's presence,

ask for his help, for his blessing.

So that's what the sacrifices, the actual tabernacle really pointed to Jesus who offered the final sacrifice,

allowing us access to the presence of God.

But what happens is the tabernacle of Moses was in place at Gideon without the Ark of the Covenant,

which symbolized the presence of God.

So do you see the problem with that?

They are offering sacrifices to God without the presence of God.

How easy it is for us to come to church and move with emotions.

Without being aware of the presence of God, we're working from a place, a work mentality.

I need to do the Christian practice.

I need to offer God my service because he needs it.

But it can't be further from the truth, isn't it?

And then I think about how easy it is for us to actually not be trusting in God.

And the analogy, I don't have many illustrations, but I felt like if I can have any illustration, it's this.

Think about a window cleaner that is working on a high-rise building.

He's dangling, tied to a rope, and he's actually trying to not die, right?

That's one of the things that's good for him to do.

And he's actually trusting in his ability and all the training that he had.

But how many of you know that his safety, it boils down to this,

his safety is actually more of the integrity of the rope than actually his ability to be connected to it

or to perform his job well.

And in the same way, trust doesn't start with us.

Trust starts without being able to see the integrity of God, right?

So that's the point of it.

So anyway, going back to it.

That's the scene.

David, so they had known their ark.

Philistines had the ark of God.

God is striking the Philistines, and they decided to give the ark back.

David sees the ark and brings it to Jerusalem.

The tabernacle of Moses is still in Gideon.

He sets up a tent, a new tabernacle there.

What's going on that's different at this time?

David invites, hires out musicians and singers to what is believed to be a 24-hour, 24-7 prayer service

and worship service around the camp, if you like.

So this is the scene.

David went there to offer sacrifices, and the worship's in the background, my voice is going.

So David goes there to offer sacrifices, a symbol saying, we need you, God.

It's for good fortune in the battle.

He's actually offering sacrifices to ask God's presence to go with him.

This is really the assurance that it would give him victory, right?

So the whole community is, like, lifting up their voices while he's there.

He's coming out.

The people are actually praying for him.

Music is probably in the background.

They are praying for him.

This is what you hear from verse 1 to 4 is the people's prayer for the king.

But something about it, because the prayer is really not one that comes out of a standpoint of hope.

They actually seem to be confident of success, because they are actually declaring that they trust in the name of the Lord,

probably reminding themselves about how faithful God is.

Because the name has everything to do with how much you can trust God.

The name of God reveals his will, his character, and his intentions.

So they are actually saying that we trust in who God is, and because he's good, and because he's powerful, then we're going to have victory.

This story, obviously, points us forward to Jesus, the greater king, through whom we learn to pray not just for victory, but from victory.

I've put this in various points, so just follow with me.

Verse 1 and 2, God is a shield in the fortress.

It's our shield in our fortress.

I learned from studying.

I'm not linguistic.

That this verse has been written in English, translated in English.

May is in an optative mood.

Meaning, it's something you desire, but you're not sure that's going to happen.

And that's not the best translation, apparently.

Rabbi said that the right translation would read like this.

The next slide is going to say is,

The Lord will answer you in the day of trouble.

He will send you help from the sanctuary.

As you see, this is not vague hope.

It's a covenant confidence.

They are reminding themselves of God of Jacob.

Probably thinking about the events just gone.

They've been released by God, freed from Egypt.

They've been guided by God.

They've crossed the sea in safety.

As we know, it's our Passover, isn't it?

Pointing to Jesus again.

The word help in there is really defense.

And the answer there has to do with defense.

And the word help in the passage has to do with being lifted up out of the reach of your enemy.

Look at what Psalms 18, 48 says.

He, God, lifts me up above my enemies.

So the question I had to myself, this is a question to myself,

after reading this, is,

Lewis, where do you instinctively put your trust or turn to when trouble comes?

When things feel uncertain, what is your first impulse?

Is to cry out to God or to try and carry it yourself?

Second point, God moves according to his heart.

The verse says, three and four will say,

He will remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.

It's the part A there, verse three.

The sacrifices and burnt offerings point us, point them to the holiness of God

and the cost of accessing his presence.

Just think about it.

Guess what?

Sacrifice, a sacrifice for accessing God's presence was required then and is required now.

The only difference is when we put our trust in Jesus,

we benefit from what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

The perfect sacrifice was offered.

Therefore, we now have access to God's presence.

Hebrews 9, 12.

He will give you the desire of your hearts and make all your plans succeed.

This may sound like a promise for personal fulfillment.

But as you know, I don't think that that's the case.

There would be the wrong interpretation of it.

The heart in here means the inner will.

And really what's inferring is the inner will that's aligned with God.

The word plans means the counsel.

It's either the counsel of God or our counsel.

But the right translation, the best translation as it aligns with other verses of the Bible,

would be something like this.

This is my translation though.

God works out his purposes when our hearts are prepared to want what he wants.

That's more like it, isn't it?

So the question I ask myself is, Lewis, what are you praying for right now?

Is it something that God would delight to give you?

Are you asking him to bless your plans or to shape your heart?

Third point.

We shout from victory.

Verse 5.

We will shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of God.

You see, they are planning to celebrate even before the fight.

Isn't that amazing?

If life would pan out just like that for us.

Basically, that's what the Lord is teaching us.

That's actually the Psalms being captured and written for us to sing.

So they're singing this as their truth, as what they experience.

We will experience because they believe in God.

To raise a banner meant declaring allegiance to God.

They're actually saying, we belong to you.

Our victory is actually your victory.

So the question I ask myself is,

Lewis, are you waiting to praise God once you are victorious?

Once you have what you want?

Or once you have the answer that you've been asking?

What would it look like to raise a banner right now before I have those answers?

A fourth point.

Apologies if I'm going too quick.

I'm pressure for that thing people have against Brazilians because we talk too much.

Salvation comes through the anointed.

The verse says,

Now this I know the Lord gives victory to his anointed.

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

This seems to be a turning point there.

Because now the king is praying.

He might be talking to himself.

But as I mentioned in the kids Bible slot,

There is inevitably this link between his life and Jesus' life.

Right?

In many ways,

Jesus prayed in the garden

and God answered.

Didn't he?

But it's inevitably the best assumption to think that.

David himself offered sacrifices.

Came out.

The people are praying for him.

And because they say the words,

they mention the name of God.

That their trust is in God.

They actually,

He is reminded and stirred up.

And he declares,

Now I know.

It's really a settled conviction, isn't it?

Because of who God is,

it's easy to infer that he is going to be faithful

and he's going to fulfill his promise.

God had promised David to give him victory.

It's really important to bear in mind

that they say they will have victory in God's name.

So they knew there was nothing about them

that was going to give him victory

other than they carried,

they trusted the name of the Lord.

This really points us to Jesus.

The true anointed one

was raised in victory

in seats at the right hand of the Father,

which symbolized authority, isn't it?

So the question I ask myself is,

Lewis, are you living through Christ's victory?

Are you living as if it's already yours

or you're still trying to win the battle

he's already won?

Verse 7 and 8 talks about

it's the most used verse,

angle from which people preach.

Self-reliance or God dependence.

Some trust in chariots,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They collapse and fall,

but we rise and stand upright.

They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

I explained this in my brief introduction.

Charity and horses would probably mean

a lot of different things here.

They probably mean,

could mean money, credentials, influence,

all the things that are not necessarily bad,

are they?

It's the positioning we put them in.

When we trust in God,

he will give us favor,

and that's the thing.

Where we cannot trust

that we need favor to win,

we have the victory in God.

And whatever we go through,

it's not about winning or losing,

it's about the presence that we care.

Remember the Psalms that would say,

even though we'll walk through the valley

of the shadow of death,

I'm not sure if you get the picture,

but it doesn't look like victory, right?

If, if, I mean,

I've just been to Greece.

I'm not sure if you've been to Greece.

We have a Greek man in here.

I can tell you.

I mean, I've been,

we've been to 16 islands so far.

We don't go anywhere else.

It feels great, right?

And in a way,

we can think that that's heaven.

I mean, just,

in some of the sceneries,

you can say,

wow, God is probably replicating heaven in here.

And that's the victorious life

that some preach.

But how many of you know

that sometimes we're going to go through

the valley of shadow of death?

That's life on earth, isn't it?

But it's not about that.

It's not about turning life around

so he becomes Greece.

It's about who is with you,

who is with me.

And that's what changes it.

We cannot glorify God

without fully trusting in him

to the exclusion of everything

and everyone else.

So a question that I ask myself,

is there something of someone

you've been relying on more than God?

Is it your ability, Lewis?

Probably not.

Certainly not.

Your network, your knowledge.

It might be that you don't think

you trust on these things,

but the fact that these things,

the lack of these things,

affect your life

to the point you're hopeless

means you're actually

putting your trust on these things.

I might finish myself in 20 minutes.

And this is the real question

I ask myself in this point,

was what would it look like

for me to lay down

everything that you put your trust in loose

and choose to trust God instead?

As I mentioned,

I had a rough week.

One is self-imposed pressure to perform.

Self-imposed pressure,

that's to do with sin in my life

and in my flesh.

Because I grew up in a broken home.

So my dad was absent.

This inevitably affected me

to the point where

I started to think

I needed to please people

so they wouldn't leave.

And I can see worth in my life

because after all,

my dad laughed.

There must be a reason,

something I've done wrong.

And that framed

how I saw God,

especially when people would tell me

God is like a father

to you.

Oh,

I guess when

it's about time,

he's going to leave

because I am so ugly.

My life,

there's nothing that I can offer.

And that is true.

Some of that is true, isn't it?

It's like there's nothing

we can offer.

Sometimes,

I think about this thing

that we actually need

is God's presence

and his peace.

Because Jesus warned us,

life in this world

will be hard.

When I read that verse

that talks about

the peace of God,

for example,

that the peace of God

will go beyond

your understanding,

the way I really learned it

in my heart

from experience with God

is this.

When you find God,

you realize

that he's been looking

for you.

And once he finds you

and you surrender,

you'll be overwhelmed

by a peace

that will mean

that you don't anymore

need answers

to the very many traumas

you had in your life

and the questions

that you carry.

Because the superseding glory

of knowing God

is so much greater.

So finally,

verse 9 is going to talk

about the final confidence

and it says,

O Lord,

save the king.

May he answer us

when we call.

So the psalm is really

ending where he began.

Began with the prayers,

isn't it?

But remember,

this is a prayer

laced with confidence.

And for us Christians today,

we know that the king

has already been saved

from death

and now reigns.

So that's why

we don't pray

for victory.

We pray from his victory.

victory.

There's a way for us

to think about

another story

as you remember Peter

because I'm going to share

with you that there's probably

two possible translations

for this passage.

But we're going to get there

and if you think about Peter,

he's stepping out of the boat,

faith in Jesus.

He's rocking it.

He's the super Christian.

He's going towards Jesus.

How many times

do you feel like that, right?

It feels like

everything is working out

and eventually

he starts drowning.

Well, I can relate

to that more

than what you would think.

And what does he do?

Does he start swimming?

Does he start,

well,

the Bible is going to teach us

that he cries out to God.

And what does Jesus do?

Punishes him?

Oh, look at you.

Bad swimmer.

You should know by now

how to swim.

No, Jesus comes

to the rescue.

God is pleased

to rescue us.

So it would be

a good thing

to sing this new song

to God

where our lives

change to the point

that where we know

that whatever happens

we can always call

on the Lord.

Isn't it?

That would be amazing.

That's the Christian life.

There's never a promise

that everything

would be perfect

but rather that

he would be with us,

he would help us.

And how do I know that?

It's because of his name.

His name is his covenant

with us.

Anyway,

my closing points

are this.

There's two things

that I think

this passage is teaching us

that must shape our prayers

and one thing

that we need to pray for.

The first one is this.

Pray in his name.

It says in verse 1,

In the name of God,

of Jacob,

we'll protect you.

We'll set up banners

in the name of our God.

It's really important

for us to understand Jesus.

Jesus came and told us

because we were not

praying things in his name

so therefore pray in my name.

Like I said,

God's names tell us

about who he is.

Tells us what he wants to do.

Reveals his heart

and his will.

Many people think

that God's will

is really mysterious.

Therefore,

they're living through life,

coasting.

Whatever happens,

oh,

good thing happened,

God.

Bad thing happened,

oh,

this is the enemy

or this,

that's not how it works.

We can see

and know the will of God

revealed in Jesus.

There's nothing

we're going to know more

that we need to know more

for salvation,

for us to be saved.

Everything has been told.

God is not hiding

anything from you.

Everything is in the Bible.

His word,

his will has been fully expressed.

There's certainly things,

answers we're going to have

in heaven.

Whoa,

where are the dinosaurs?

Why did they exist?

I don't even know

if we're going to have those answers

but that's not the point.

We're praying in his name

because his will,

this is what they did,

isn't it?

They were going,

not in their own strength,

in the name of God.

In the name of God,

for example,

how we ought to shape our prayers.

God,

one of the names of God

is Jehovah Rapha,

for example,

which means

the God who heals.

Guess what Jesus did?

How many of you know

that Jesus only did

the will of the Father?

A few people.

Great.

You know, right?

Jesus talking about himself

quoting a prophecy

over him.

Jesus went about

doing good,

healing all.

Why did he heal?

Because that's the will

of the Father.

Whether things are going to be

completely healed now

or in heaven,

they are going to be fulfilled

in heaven when we get there

because the Bible says

that day,

he will wipe every tear

from our eyes.

There will be no more pain

or suffering,

no more death.

So that's the idea.

We ought to pray in his name

but there's a way

we can religiously pray

and say in Jesus' name.

That's not what's saying.

Second point is

pray from his victory.

That's really striking

in there.

And they say this,

now I know

the Lord gives victory

to his anointed.

There's a way for us

to think that he is,

David is prophetically

speaking about Jesus

who was to come,

the final,

the king of kings

in the final victory

on offer

for us to enjoy.

But again,

the reality is

Christians shouldn't pray

hoping for victory.

we pray

from resurrection ground

because

we know

that the victory

is ours

because that's the thing.

David would go out

as a king

win his battles

and when he would come back

he would go back

to his palace,

right?

In a way,

yes,

people's lives

were spared,

they joined in the victory

but they would go back

to their lives.

But the king of kings

is different.

he came

and I say this

and this was researching

something else

but anyway,

just think about

what a Christian life

it really is.

This is not about

winning those battles

only because

Jesus did it differently.

The world will tell us

that winning life

is about this

is the strongest

and the fittest

and the wisest

will prevail

but the gospel

really is

that the strongest

lays down his life

so that the weakest

can live

but that's not all.

Jesus gave

the crown that was his

the crown of righteousness.

He clothed us

with the crown of righteousness.

So he came back

and shared the spoil

of his victory

with us

and not only that

he went to heaven

to prepare for us

a place.

So basically

in other words

we would live with him.

They couldn't live

with David

back in the day.

The final thing

the final point

pray for his return.

The Lord saves the king

he will answer us

when we call.

There's two interpretations

for this verse here

two possible interpretations

for this verse

but it's definitely a cry

not a desperate one

it's a confident one

because the king

who's saved

is coming again

he will answer

when his people call.

Maybe you are here

and you're not a Christian.

This is a verse for you.

If you call on the name

of the Lord

he's faithful

willing

ready to save you.

But the more accurate

translation of this passage

if you look at the Hebrew

don't

I'm not trying to be fancy here

I don't know Hebrew

and Seth

and the theologians

in the room

Seth, Steve

they shake

when someone says

in the Hebrew

but actually

I just read in my Bible

there's the interlinear

translation in there

only says the word

he answer call.

It's a rude way

of saying something

isn't it?

But

the word call in there

is be summoned

that's what it means

and it seems as though

it perfectly

is another possibility

for the translation

of this verse

whatever it is

we can call on the name

of the Lord

for him to come back

right?

We are praying

for his return

or

this is what I think

the verse is saying

1 Thessalonians

4 16 and 18

for the Lord himself

will come down from heaven

this is the second coming

of Christ

with a loud command

with the voice

of the archangel

and with the trumpet

call of God

whether he's coming back

because God

is sounding the trumpet

or because we're calling out

whatever this is

it seems that

we need to keep

on calling

the Lord

the word says

Maranatha

come Lord Jesus

okay

I'm done with the message

how this relates to us

well in many ways

you're probably here

you heard the message

and you feel like

well I trust God

great message

or not so great message

but I trust God

but I want to offer

you

a possibility

that if you fit into

any of these scenarios

here I'm going to describe

it's possible

that you're trusting God

plus something else

which amounts

not trusting God

altogether

so maybe you've lost

a loved one

and that's painful

and it's hard

and because of that

you've allowed bitterness

towards God

to quietly move in

where hope used to live

maybe it's

your marriage

that is cold

or completely broken

and the hurt

actually consumes

your thoughts

to the point

God is not

a priority anymore

perhaps you're facing

a diagnosis

and you're in chronic pain

and joy has slipped

through your fingers

or maybe

it's quieter than that

you carry a dull

disappointment in life

a sense

that things have not

just turned out

the way you hoped

and now God seems

far away

well

I said

probably

far too many times

in this message

Jesus warned us

life in this world

would be difficult

hard

ugly

and often unfair

issue is

it doesn't seem to be

getting any easier

does it

but I want to

encourage you with this

from reading the text

and learning more

about who God is

I want to tell you

this

there is nothing

you and I can go

through

we'll ever go through

that Jesus doesn't

understand

I'm encouraged to think

that he not only

is willing to help us

but he feels

our pain

so the question

I leave you with

would you

call out to him

in faith today

would you sing to him

a new song of praise

before you have

the answer to the

problems

that are consuming

your life

it's not the song

we're going to sing

at the end

but it would line up

really well

Psalm 43

this is what the Lord

is promising to do

to us

to put a new song

in our mouth

a hymn of praise

to our God

so that many

will see and fear

the Lord

and put their trust

in him

finally

up until here

talking to mainly

Christians

if you're not

Christian

you are in the room

I have two sets

of news for you

the bad news

is this

if you haven't

yet put your

trust in him

you have to fight

the battle

of life

by yourself

and for yourself

let me tell you

this

you're not going

to win

the good news

is this

he loves you

he loves you

and is inviting

you to his

salvation

the king of kings

conquered death

so you wouldn't

have to fight

yourself

if that's you

you can come

and talk to us

at the end

we'd love to

walk with you

through the bible

to tell you

more

about the

grace of God

manifest in the

life of Jesus

who died on the

cross for us

to save us

he's coming

soon

and we're going

to be with him

if that's not

victory

I don't know

what is

let me pray

for us

father I want

to thank you

for your love

and grace

father thank you

for Jesus

sacrifice

which meant

we can now

come boldly

to your presence

to your very

throne

and find

grace and

mercy

father help us

to know

you more

so that trust

will come

from a place

of intimacy

help us

to move

from self

reliance

to God

dependence

so we can

be of use

until the day

Jesus comes

to rescue us

from this

ugly

world

that we live

in right now

this is what

I pray in

Jesus name

Amen

Amen