The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Series on the Psalms

Text: Psalm 20

Title: The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Introduction

Its been a while since we sang it in our worship but we once learned the song , “The Battle Belongs to the Lord.” I remember the children liked that song. Our Psalm in this study is a battle song to be used as Israel went to war. Somehow my Scotch-Irish heritage has imbued me with the sentiment that if you march into battle with bagpipes you can’t lose. It’s not true of course, but in Israel of old God fought their battles. God fought for them. And in fact If you look in II Chronicles 20 you will see a wonderful example of the Lord doing this as Israel went forth to battle with its singers at the head of the ranks. The armies of Ammon and Moab were coming up against Israel when Jehosephat was king. And in the actual account of the battle it says v.20-23, Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. I also remember that Mark in his account of the last supper reminds us that before Jesus and his disciples left they sang a hymn (Mark 14:26). Actually the traditional ending of the Passover celebration involved the singing of Psalms 115-118. All of these Psalms celebrate the greatness of God in delivering his people. Psalm 115 mocks the futility of idols in contrast to the trustworthiness of Yahweh. Psalm 116 celebrates God delivering from death, Psalm 117 focuses on the nations acknowledging the true God and Psalm 118: 15 and 16, declares, Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!” These Psalms could have been conventional to Jesus disciples, but the Lord himself knew He was going to do battle against sin and death and obviously when He sang He sang of the deliverance that God would bring. It is good to sing of the Lord’s deliverance before it comes because we express our confidence in him. This Psalm does that and it has both an historical and a prophetic significance in assuring us of God’s saving work. It contains a plan for victory, a proclamation of victory, and a plea for victory.

I. A Plan for Victory

In verses 1-4 the Plan for victory is prayer, 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 sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. Would to God that we had the same enthusiasm as the Psalmist for prayer. The prayer here is for the king who is God’s representative, even thought of as God’s son in a unique sense, who leads his people into battle. The king is identified with God as wanting what God wants and desiring what God desires. They pray for his plans to succeed and for the desires of his heart to be fulfilled in verse 4. This is anchored in the king’s own prayer to the Lord. Obviously, in verses 2 and 3 he has worshipped God in preparation for the battle. This is not to be thought of as twisting God’s arm or somehow meriting his approval by the offerings that were made. The offerings are made because the king is persuaded that only God can triumph. Liberals with their unbelief would try to make this out to be a kind of primitive religion in which God, being persuaded by their sacrifices decides to help them. This falls far below the level of Biblical piety. They know that unless God goes with them defeat is certain and God will go only because it is His will. When David went out to meet Goliath he said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. He said to Goliath, You come to me with a sword and a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. The psalm says, May the name of the God of Jacob defend you. It rests in his character. So the Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 to put on the full armor of God in our spiritual battles and he says in verse 10, Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. The Battle belongs to the Lord.

II. The Proclamation of Victory

There is extraordinary confidence expressed in this Psalm as well in verses 5-8, because they believe they are fighting the Lord’s battles, We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests. Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving 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. They are envisioning the great celebration that will take place. The editors of the New Geneva Bible say Israel’s trust is rooted in God’s promise to protect his people in warfare when they are obedient to His commands. Thus they are confident; confident because the King is the Messiah, that is, the appointed deliverer. We cannot escape the obvious application to Jesus Christ our great king and captain who delivers us from sin and death. In spiritual battles we are to be as confident as they were of the victory. But notice again the mention of the name of the Lord. Just as the name of the Lord is to protect the king so they will remember the name of the Lord according to verse verse 7. This suggests that in order for God to fight for us, the battle must be the Lord’s battle. His name implies His character and His counsel or decree, and that is His purpose. I am repeatedly astounded at the battles that some Christians choose to fight in the name of the Lord. At the personal level we may fight spouses or other relatives or friends or even brothers in Christ over selfish concerns and think that the Lord will be on our side. At the level of the church, the people of God are torn asunder by battles fought over trivial differences, and regardless of who is right or wrong the question remains, “Is this the Lord’s battle?” There are battles to be fought, but not unless they are truly in the name of the Lord. Not unless his character and his purpose are at issue. If that is so, then we may have the same assurance that David and Israel had. There is wisdom in saying, “choose your battles.” Even with your children be sure that the battles you choose are God’s. Then we can really say, May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

III. The Plea for Victory

After such expressions of confidence, doesn’t it seem strange to you that the Psalm should end on a plea such as, O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call! Now the king is not on earth, but the king of heaven and the singers are properly humble in their request. There is a kind of confidence that is very presumptuous. Preachers tell people to claim the promises of God for health, or prosperity, or success, and they say just claim it and don’t give way to any doubt. Well, there is still doubt that God will fight the battle for us even if it is His battle, if we have been disobedient. God told Israel to go up and possess the land of promise. Their first victory was a glorious triumph in which God stood out as the winner. Mighty Jericho was destroyed by marching around it and blowing the trumpets. But when Israel went up against the city of Ai they were so confident that they said don’t weary the whole army just send 2 or 3 thousand. And they were put to flight and the people’s hearts melted. The reason is given in a story in Joshua 7. A man named Achan had stolen some of the booty of the battle and hidden it in his tent. The treasure had been placed under the ban, that is, dedicated to the Lord. The crime and the transgressor were discovered and punished and they went up again and Ai fell and not a single man of Israel was lost. The battle was the Lord’s but the people were not right with him. Thus let us always trust the Lord and express our confidence in him, but do not blame him if the battle is lost. Look in the right place for the problem.

Summary of Psalm 20

In Psalm 20 David gives a prayer for victory in battle to all of God’s people. They pray for their anointed king who desires God’s glory and seeks God’s blessing on the struggle. They express their supreme confidence in victory through the Lord. If it is not God’s battle they are fighting they know they cannot expect victory. Furthermore they are not presumptuous. They know that even God’s battles may sometimes be lost because of faithless soldiers. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:18 of the importance of prayer in our spiritual struggles. We must apply this Psalm to our spiritual battles. Christ is our king and deliverer who has conquered sin and death. In all our battles with the true enemies of God we are assured of His fighting for us. We make our way singing as we fight the good fight of faith.