The Climb (A Journey Through Psalms for Men)

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

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 sanctuaryand grant you support from Zion.May he remember all your sacrificesand accept your burnt offerings.May he give you the desire of your heartand make all your plans succeed.May we shout for joy over your victoryand 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 sanctuarywith 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!

At many points in our lives, we find ourselves having put our trust in something other than God.

That’s the reality of imperfect people living in a broken world. I don’t know what you trusted in, whether it was how much you had in your bank account, the level of responsibility you carried in your job, or what type of family you were raising. For the people back during the times of this Psalm, it’s clear they were trusting in the military might of chariots and the high societal status and good financial security that came with owning horses. For me, I’m prone to trust in my own self-sufficiency. I’ve grown up fighting to prove to myself that I am strong enough and smart enough to break through any barriers that might stand in my way.

But as David explains, which I can verify from my personal experience, it’s dangerous to trust in anything other than God. Because when we do, we are heading down a path that only has one destination: falling into total collapse.

Though we will all be tempted to misplace our trust, we can take courage that there is a source of full trustworthiness, someone who has never once failed to enact His promises or carry out His Word. In fact, His trustworthiness goes beyond simply following through on His claims. If we put our trust in the Lord our God, Scripture says that we will rise. Don’t miss this. His trustworthiness is actually the catapult that sends us higher and, as a result, closer to Himself. We rise and stay standing, fully secure with both feet on solid, unshakable ground.