Mensa Otabil - The Lord Will Send You Help (10/18/2025)
Psalm 20, verse 2: May he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion. As we said yesterday, Psalm 20 is a prayer of intercession. David wrote it for the children of Israel to pray as a prayer of intercession for their king, but it goes beyond praying for the king; it extends to praying for anybody you are related to: a friend, a spouse, your leader, your pastor, or somebody you truly wish God would bless. How do you pray for people? David says, when you’re praying those intercessory prayers, pray and say, «May the Lord answer you; may the Lord defend you.»
Now, he’s telling us that when you’re praying for people and interceding for them, pray and say, «May the Lord help you! Oh, may the Lord send you help from the sanctuary!» You know, in moments of difficulty, we all need help. We call to God for help; we go to Him for help; we stretch our hands to Him in need. Well, the Lord whom we call for help sends help. As we pray for people, we pray that God will send them help. Now, God’s help comes in many ways. Sometimes He sends us help by giving us wisdom and helping us understand how to solve a problem. Sometimes He sends us help by bringing somebody our way, introducing us to someone who helps us. Sometimes He sends us help by supernaturally making something happen.
Whatever form God chooses to use to send help to His children, our job is to pray and say, «Lord, send them help,» and God will send them the appropriate help. I pray that same prayer for you today: May the Lord send you help from His sanctuary; may the Lord send you help from His dwelling place, from His presence. May you receive the help of the Lord from the presence of the Lord. After you have prayed for God to send help, you pray that the Lord will strengthen them: «May the Lord strengthen you out of Zion.»
Sometimes, all we need in a difficult moment is for God to give us strength. It may be strength just to survive, strength not to give up, strength not to quit, strength just to stay. Sometimes, that’s all you need to do. You’re going through a difficult situation, and all you need to do is survive it because that situation has an expiry date. It’s probably supposed to last for three days, one week. You need to survive it, so may the Lord give you strength not to quit, strength not to give up, strength not to yield. When the going gets tough, may the Lord give you strength. Sometimes, God gives us strength by also giving us the ability to do things we can’t do on our own. He gives us supernatural ability; He infuses that ability into us.
If that is what we need to overcome, the extraordinary strength of the Lord gives us the power to rise above circumstances, to leap over walls, to climb mountains, to cross rivers. May the Lord give you strength. I don’t know what strength you need, but God is the giver of strength. He’ll give you help, and He’ll give you strength. Whatever you’re going through, He will help you, and He will strengthen you-not only to survive it but also to overcome it. God is bringing you into a testimony; He is about to show His glory in your life, and what you’re going through is preparing you for a declaration of God’s glory from your mouth. So today, we take up this prayer of David and say, «Lord, may you send help to your people, and Lord, may you send strength to your people.»
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you are my ever-present help in time of need. I receive your strength in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.» The Lord will help you; the Lord will strengthen you. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.