Псалом 20

Ps.20:2. God! The king rejoices in Your power and rejoices immensely in Your salvation. “The king rejoices in Your power” - the king rejoices at the almighty power that You, Lord, showed in granting him an extraordinary victory. Lord, You heard the king and placed the crown of the enemy on his head (2–4). You crowned him with glory! and because of his faith in You he will not be shaken (5-8). You have put the enemies to flight, for which we will glorify Your power (9-14). Ps.20:3. You gave him what his heart desired, and you did not reject the request of his lips, “You did not reject the request of his lips.” You fulfilled his prayer. Ps.20:4. for You met him with the blessings of goodness, You placed a crown of pure gold on his head. You, Lord, accepted David's prayer graciously and gave him victory so that he put on his head a crown of pure gold from the head of his enemy. Ps.20:5. He asked You for life; You gave him longevity for ever and ever. Ps.20:6. Great is his glory in Thy salvation; You have placed upon him honor and greatness. Ps.20:7. You have bestowed blessings upon him forever, you have made him glad with the joy of Your countenance, The Lord rewarded David with great mercy: he not only saved his life in this war, but also granted him “long life for ever and ever.” His fame and glory depend on God’s favor towards him, who sends success to all of David’s endeavors. By eternal life we ​​mean here not David’s fame in history as a great conqueror, since biblical figures and pious people did not value such fame, valuable in the eyes of people, but his fame in posterity as the bearer of a great promise; the last was a prediction to David about the descent from him of a descendant - the Messiah. Ps.20:8. for the king trusts in the Lord, and in the goodness of the Most High he will not be shaken. Ps.20:9. Your hand will find all your enemies, your right hand will find [all] those who hate you. Ps.20:10. In the time of Your wrath You will make them like a fiery furnace; in His wrath the Lord will destroy them, and the fire will consume them. Ps.20:11. You will destroy their fruit from the earth and their seed from among the sons of men, Ps.20:12. for they undertook evil against You, they formed plans, but they could not [carry them out]. Since the king always hopes in God, he will not be deprived of His mercy, and therefore the hand of the Divine will be directed against all those who appear as opponents of the king, and thereby his patron - God. His enemies will be destroyed as if in a fiery furnace, their crops will be destroyed, their children will be beaten, and not one of their plans against David will be carried out. Obviously, David’s brilliant victory over powerful enemies filled his soul with extraordinary joy and jubilation; In this victory, David and his people saw the guarantee of their invincibility in the future. Ps.20:13. You will set them as a target, from Your bows You will shoot arrows at them. “You will set them as a goal” - The Lord Himself will make enemies an object to strive for, so they are threatened with inevitable death. Psalms 19 and 20 are part of Matins. Since the well-being of the people is closely connected with the success of the undertakings of their rulers, who care about this good, the church, on behalf of the believers, prays for the king with the words of these psalms, asking for blessings from God for him. You might be interested in: