Psalm 20

Read this first: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+20&version=NIV

How are you doing? I’m not certain how these are dated but it’s already May 4th. I don’t know how that’s possible and covid exhaustion where everyday feels the same has set in. What are those things that are keeping you going right now? Faith, food, friends, fitness, and creativity have been keeping me going. Sadly creativity killed my alliteration but it’s the proper term. Perfectionism in work is something I’ve had to give up. When you’re video editing for 7 weeks there’s things you have to give up or I’d spend all my time working. If you’re living alone I’m sure that’s a temptation for you. If you have kids I pray to God they’ve made you give up perfection long ago. Just enjoy the time as best as you can regardless of the state you’re in.

Regardless chapter 20. As it’s star wars day- May the fourth be with you- it is interesting that each line in the first half of the Psalm begins with May. It’s a prayer for someone else. A prayer likely for the king. Who do you need to pray for right now? Pray for my friends Gary and Grace. Both had issues that came out of nowhere last week. One was sleeping and one was just getting out of the shower and then they had unknown medical issues that meant they passed out. Hospital visits happened for both. Both made it back home by the end of the day but both are scared as to why. They’re doing fine now. So what happened what brought this on. I’m sure you have people you need to pray for too. It’s helpful to pray for others. The fancy church word for it is intercessory prayer and at times in my life they’re the most common and other times they’re the least common. Prayer can become a list for friends. Prayer can also become a list for yourself. Neither is great, but both can be good.

Intercessory prayer means we’re thinking beyond ourselves. When we get stuck praying for our crap it’s helpful to pray for others. It changes our perspective and can move us to action. To text or talk to our friends in need.

This psalm does have a balance of the two parts prayers for others that’s like a benediction- what we might see at the end of a service and then there’s the prayer for the king and in a sense his nation and then what we know God will do for the king. This is a very true pattern for my prayers. I typically start with what I want then switching to what God wants. It’s a natural pattern. It’s one of the big reasons prayer is super helpful for me. I almost always begin with a need. What I need from God or what a close friend needs from God- healing or insight or a change of their spirit. But then the more I pray the more I realize it’s not about my needs but Gods. And sometimes I realize God’s ways through it.

(Here’s how out of it I am. The more I’ve written here- the more I’ve realized I already wrote this devotion on Saturday. Somehow it never posted. I’ve had technology issues for all of last week so I have no idea how that has happened. Yet this isn’t that big of a deal. The song- be kind to yourself by Andrew Peterson has been replaying for a while to help me on a spotify playlist that I love: the song is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYiM-sOC6nE The playlist is called “Ultimate Christian Alternative” and is like made for my musical tastes.)

Anyway Psalm 20 it starts with a prayer than moves to a proclamation of what is known about David or whomever is being spoken to- and here’s what it says: God gives victory to his anointed. I just did a google search and found no evidence that David ever lost a battle, except for the one he had to keep his son with Bathsheba. He did lose his best friend Jonathon- but I can’t think of any other examples- I’m curious about that. Can you think of a time David- the anointed one lost a battle? If not this prophecy also points to him, but I think it’s more fulfilled in Jesus our anointed one. Christ is unstoppable. In Christ we are more than unstoppable more than conquerors! That doesn’t mean we will win every basketball or that every meal we make will be tasty- but it does mean that when we fail that is not the end of the story. We’ve already the victory and the win knowing Christ is by our side. Lord give victory not to us nor to America, but give victory to the true king of kings- you. Amen.