Psalm 20

(ESV)

Title: Powerful and Effectual Prayer

INTRODUCTION

I am of the firm belief that the single largest discouragement that we all experience from time to time is a powerless and ineffective prayer life, and I am excited to share with you that this Psalm provides the solution to this problem.

“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.”

CONTEXT: This Psalm is an ancient prayer that Israel and king David prayed prior to going into battle, and David compiled the prayer in a Psalm of corporate worship. Since we are 3,000 years removed from this prayer and are not headed off into battle, not to mention the fact that Jesus is now our king, how are we to understand and apply this Psalm to our lives? We must avoid treating this as a historical artifact rather than the living word of God.

The theological principles of this Psalm are not to be transposed onto our country and its leaders; rather, this it is to be applied to God’s people as a whole, i.e., the church.

TRANSITION: There are 3 things that we must do to realize a powerful and effectual prayer life.

BODY

I. We Must Pray Corporately For Those With Righteous Causes (1-5)

NATION PRAYS FOR KING DAVID

A. Supportive intercession for the faithful is encouraging and edifying (1-4)

A. Protection by God (1)

These verses emphasize 4 aspects of their intercession, which reveals 4 aspects of the faith of the king:

1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you![Jacob set up altar after God answered in his day of distress c.f., ]

Parallelism that points out the tight spot that the king is in, and uses military language to describe how God is requested to set the king safely out of the battle.

Names convey characteristics in OT. To pray in the name of the Lord meant to do so by faith in his power and authority.

B. Intervention by God (2)

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

Sanctuary represented God’s dwelling among his people, which means they prayed for him to be the source of help.

C. Intention of Heart (3)

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

In other words, if his heart was right with God, his sacrifice was accepted.

D. Action Plan (4)

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

The heart is where ideas are transformed into projects which end in action.

B. Supportive intercession is powerful if prayed with confidence (5)

E. Jubilation (5)

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

While Christ followers may not be about to go off to a physical war, we are all in a spiritual war of some sort as we live for Jesus.

II. The righteous find greater confidence in praying by meditating on the nature of God (6-8)

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed” ().

Preparing for any task in the Lord’s name has two aspects: organizational and spiritual.

All plans must be coupled with prayer.

This church is in a battle for the kingdom of God. We have made plans for this battle, but we must couple them with prayer.

“Commit your plans to the

I wonder what would happen if we all brought our kids to SS every Sunday at 9am and then flooded this room with fellowship and corporate prayer?

A. The prayer of faith can anticipate the answer with confidence (6, 8)

II. We Must Respond Confidently Based Upon God’s Nature (6-8)

KING DAVID RESPONDS

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

B. The certainty of faith is based on the nature of the Lord (7)

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses [ie, resources], but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

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

Not only is David encouraged by the prayer support of the people, but also by the remembrance of the nature of the God to whom he prays.

These verses provide instruction for the kind of faith necessary for effectual prayer.

Mark 11:23–24 ESV

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 14:14 ESV

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 14:4 ESV

And you know the way to where I am going.”

jphn 14:4

Former French prime minister Georges Clemenceau fought many duels with various rivals. On one occasion, he surprised his assistant by asking the attendant at a Paris railroad station for a one-way ticket to the duel. “Isn’t that a little pessimistic?” asked the assistant.

“Not at all,” Clemenceau replied. “I always use my opponent’s return ticket for the trip back.”

You must exercise faith that God will answer the request that has been made.

III. We Must Pray Continuously Until God Answers (9)

NATION RESPONDS

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

1st Example of persistence: Jacob wrestling with the Lord and would not stop until the Lord blessed him ().

Two frogs fell into a can of cream,

Or so I’ve heard it told.

The sides of the can were shiny and steep,

The cream was deep and cold.

“Oh, what’s the use?” croaked number one.

“Tis fate, no help’s around.

Good-bye, my friend!

Good-bye, sad world.”

And weeping still, he drowned.

But number two, of sterner stuff,

Dog-paddled in surprise.

2nd Example of persistence: parable of the persistent widow ().

The while he wiped his creamy face,

And dried his creamy eyes.

“I’ll swim awhile at least,” he said,

Or so I’ve heard he said;

“It really wouldn’t help the world,

If one more frog were dead.”

An hour or two he kicked and swam,

Not once he stopped to mutter,

But kicked and kicked and swam and kicked,

Then hopped out, via butter!

While you may view your repeated prayers as redundancy, the Lord sees them as persistency.

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

If we desire an effective ministry for the kingdom of God, we must first desire an effective prayer life.

We must:

pray corporately for the cause of Christ,

respond confidently in the name of Christ, and

pray continuously for the answer from Christ. Whenever we call upon the name of the Lord, he answers.

The Bible also states, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Has he saved you?

Futato, M. D. (2009). The Book of Psalms. In Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (p. 94). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.