Psalm 20:5-7 "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. (6) 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. (7) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."
We can easily see in the first 20 Psalms that David was a man of trouble and
sorrow. He was a man who felt the pressure of life, much less the
pressure of being the king of Israel. Remember his resume consisted of
being the youngest son of Jesse and a shepherd. He had no experience at leading
people, but he did have the experience of leading sheep. Maybe he did have much
experience after all. But it seems the most important training that David
received in his early years was the experience of trusting and depending upon
the Lord.
The first few verses of this Psalm speak of the true strength that each of us
need on a daily basis. We spend a lot of time training for jobs. We place our
youth on sports teams from a very early age in order for them to learn the
basics of whatever sport, or sports, they enjoy playing. We definitely want
them to have the very best education to learn the basics of life. But my
question this morning would be this: Do we spend as much time training
them for the spiritual warfare that they will face throughout life? Do we
spend as much time for ourselves to be strengthened with the true energy and
power to get through each day and the struggles we face?
We can go back through David's early life and know that he searched the things
of God as he was on the hillsides watching his flocks. Verse two speaks of God
sending help from His sanctuary. How does that apply to us? The help that
is sent from the sanctuary of God is that inner strength and peace that helps
us to patiently wait upon the Lord to see us through each situation. So David
said in our text for today, "We will set up our banners." I see
that as being plural, "banners". In our hearts and minds, we
should set up "banners", or reminders, of the Lord's past deliverances.
As we look at those (think back on them), we can find strength and
encouragement through the past experiences of the Lord's hand upon us. As
we remember those past deliverances (David uses the word salvation), we can
begin to rejoice in the precious unconditional love of our Lord.
We then come to the conclusion: Many depend upon man's inventions and
devices, but we will trust in the Lord our God. This morning, take a
while and think back on your life. How many times can you remember when the
Lord divinely intervened in your life? How many times can you look back
and say, "If the Lord had not been on my side..... "? Rejoice
in the Lord. Trust Him. Depend upon Him. He has never, nor will He ever, fail
you.