Mensa Otabil - God Defends You
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We are in the 20th Psalm, and so we would start from verse number one: «May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you.» Psalm 20 is a Psalm of David, but it’s a very unique Psalm of David because David wrote the Psalm not from his point of view but from the point of view of the congregation of Israel, the nation of Israel, praying for their leader, praying for their king. This Psalm positions people to know how to pray for their leader-maybe a child praying for his parent, a husband praying for his wife, a wife praying for her husband, or praying for your pastor, somebody who leads you, whose welfare benefits you. This is what this Psalm is all about.
There are two things that verse one talks about-the prayer that we should focus on as we intercede for the people who lead us. The first one is, «May the Lord answer you.» This is the first thing that David wanted the people to pray for. The children of Israel knew David was a man of prayer; he goes to God to pray. He says, «When you are praying for me, pray that God will hear me when I pray and that God will answer me.» Of course, that is how we should also pray for our leaders. Pray for your pastor, pray for your parents, pray for somebody you love, and say, «Lord, answer them in prayer.» That does not mean answering their prayer no matter what it is, but when their prayers are pleasing to you and are in your will and beneficial to their nation or to their people, then, Lord, answer them. So anytime you pray for somebody whose life benefits you, one of the things you pray for is, «May the Lord answer you.»
I pray for each one of you that the Lord will answer you as you pray throughout this week and throughout this season. May the Lord answer you. So that’s the first thing David says they should pray for. The second thing he says is, «May the Lord defend you.» And I pray that same prayer for each one of you: may the Lord defend you. David was a fighter; he went to war many times, and so he’s telling his people, «As you pray for me, pray for God to protect me; pray for God to defend me.» Each one of us has people whose lives must be defended for our benefit-could be a friend, could be a spouse, could be a pastor, could be your leader- somebody who needs to do well so that you can do well as well.
David says, «When you’re praying for such people, pray that God will answer their prayer.» Second, pray that God will defend them. And so, I pray that prayer for you: that God will defend you. Each one of us, at various points in our lives, is involved in one struggle or another. We are all dealing with stuff, and sometimes we get overwhelmed by what we are dealing with. They look so big, and we don’t know whether we will come through or whether we’ll be successful. So we pray for everyone we look up to, everyone we love, who is going through a hard time, and we say, «May the Lord defend you.»
There is no circumstance in life that is greater than the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is our strong tower; the righteous runs into it, and he is safe; she is safe as well. So as you trust in the name of the Lord, as you look up to the Lord, as you go to Him in prayer, asking Him to protect and defend you, we also come together behind you and say, «The Lord will defend you; the Lord will answer your prayer; the Lord will be your help; the Lord will be your strength.» The same Lord who has brought you to the beginning of this year, the beginning of this month, will take you through to the end of the month, the end of the year, into a brand new year. May the Lord answer you, and may the Lord defend you.
Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, you are the God who answers. I know you as my defender in times of war. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.»