May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!

Psalm 20 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Prayer for Victory over Enemies.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high!
² May He send you help from the sanctuary
And support you from Zion!
³ May He remember all your meal offerings
And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah.

⁴ May He grant you your heart’s desire
And fulfill all your counsel!
⁵We will sing for joy over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners.
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 the saving strength of His right hand.
⁷ Some boast in chariots and some in horses,
But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.
⁸ They have bowed down and fallen,
But we have risen and stood upright.
⁹Save, O Lord;
May the King answer us in the day we call.

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!”   Many today are faced with trouble of many kinds. Financial troubles, relationship troubles, issues with health, addictions; the list of troubles we face is a vast and diverse as the people who have them. The heading of this Psalm is a prayer for victory over enemies. As believers, as those who live on this side of the cross, under the new covenant in Christ, we need to keep in mind who or what our enemies are.    For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)   The focus of the victory we seek should not be primarily over a human enemy or adversary, but rather against the spiritual darkness, the evil, which pits them against us or causes them to hinder us.  

Here the psalmist says: May He remember all your meal offerings And find your burnt offering acceptable!   In Psalm 51:16-17, he says:  You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.   This is the attitude we need to have. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. We cannot give enough or do enough good to stand before God and ask that if give us anything on our own merit. The only sacrifice that matters in the eyes of God is the sacrifice Jesus made for us, giving His life in exchange for ours, redeeming us from sin and reconciling us to God. If we are in Christ, when we ask anything of God, He will remember Christ sacrifice and see us as righteous and deserving of all we ask, in His name.

Here the psalmist says: “May He grant you your heart’s desire”  In Psalm 37:4, he says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.    David was one who uniquely lived as a man before the cross, under the old covenant, yet saw spiritually to this side of the cross and the new covenant.   We, who are on this side of the cross, need to resist the temptation of living and struggling primarily in this physical realm, in the ways of the world. As we delight ourselves in God, our wills and our desires become aligned with His. Jesus says:   Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?... for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!”   Jesus says:  Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14) He will answer. He already has. Remember who or what is your real enemy. Colossians 2:8-15 says:  See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority… ¹² having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your transgressions… He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, ¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.   Our enemy, our adversary has been defeated! Christ has won the victory!

1 Peter 5:8 says: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.     The devil may roar, as a lion, but he seeks whom he “may” devour, he needs permission. We sometimes grant him that permission, but Christ in us will not. He says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)   The devil may roar like a lion, but as believers we have Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the one at whose name:   every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11), on our side and He has already won.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May He grant you your heart’s desire. May this be your prayer and confession today:  I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer me from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. ⁷ Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But I will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. ⁸ They have bowed down and fallen, But I have risen and stood upright. ⁹Save, O Lord; May the King answer me in the day I call. And I will sing for joy over my victory. Thank You Father, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit; I stand victorious in Christ through the finished work of the cross and the power of the resurrection.    Amen.