Psalm 20

Lines Scansion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NASB (Verse 1 in the Hebrew Bible is the Superscription)

1 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!

5 We 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.

9 Save, O Lord;

May the King answer us in the day we call.

 

Effect of the Metric Center on the Psalm’s Development

 

Psalm 20, a Royal Psalm according to Westermann (The Psalms: Structure, Content & Message, 109)  “are those in which the king plays a role.”  See also Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms, 245. Verses 1-5 consist of a prayer for the congregation.  Following this point in the Psalm an Oracle of Salvation (Called also an “Oracle of Assurance” by Yates in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, 503) may be assumed to account for the change in conviction and tone of the remainder of the poem.  At verse [6a English] Craigie, Psalms 1-50, 186,  writes, “The declaration begins with the word now (עתה), which is the emphatic term, indicating a turning point in the ritual. What prompted the turning point is uncertain: it may have been the completion of the sacrificial acts and accompanying ritual, or it may have been the receipt of a positive oracle in the person of the declarer.”  Verses 6b-9 [English] express absolute confidence in the Lord’s deliverance. 

Summary