Psalm 20 LXX/21 Hebrew, in the light of Psalm 36/37, as well as 2 Samuel 3.
This second “royal” psalm of matins extends many of the themes of Psalm 19 LXX/20 Hebrew. It has two major parts: the first speaks about “the king,” and the second part addresses that same king. The first part speaks of all the glory bestowed on “the king” by the LORD, while the second expresses confidence that this royal one will have victory, because God is with him. Finally, there is a short coda in which we turn to the “king,” and call Him “LORD,” expressing our confidence in his might. Here is the psalm in its entirety:
The king shall rejoice in thy strength, O LORD;
and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,
and hast not withholden the request of his lips.
For thou goest before him with the blessings of goodness:
thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever
His glory is great through thy salvation:
honor and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
For thou hast made him most blessed forever:
thou hast made him exceedingly glad with thy countenance.
For the king trusteth in the LORD,
and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies:
thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger:
the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth,
and their seed from among the children of men.
For they intended evil against thee:
they imagined an evil plot, which they are not able to perform.
Therefore shalt thou make them retreat,
when thou shalt make ready thine arrows as they turn their back.
Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength:
so will we sing and praise thy power.
Cassiadorus, a monk and statesman of the sixth century, explains the structure of the psalm and how it works, taking account of our trust in the God-Man:
Our belief that there are two natures in Christ the Lord, one divine and one human, is a matter of salvation. These two natures endure without change in one person forever. This statement of faith bears frequent repetition, because, when it is frequently heard and believed, it brings life. In the initial narrative of this psalm, the words of the prophet are directed toward God the Father concerning the Lord’s incarnation. The second part describes his diverse virtues and glory, describing his life from the point at which he suffered until he attained the height and peak of all things by the Father’s gracious gift. In the third, the same prophet turns to the Lord Christ, and here in the manner of those who make wishes, he asks that what he knows is to come will be done at the judgment. (Explanation of the Psalms 21.1)
Of course, the psalm had a life before the coming of Christ, and no doubt among the Jewish people expressed their desire that God bless their godly kings, such as David, Josiah, and Hezekiah. But, before the King of kings, the success and integrity of these earthly kings grow pale. They might have sought “the desire of their hearts,” and received some of the requests that they put before God. For example, Saul desired in his heart to slay David, but it was David who received the kingdom, as his heart desired, with the help of Abner and others (2 Sam 3:21). Psalm 36/37:4 tells us that if we “delight” in the LORD, God will give us our heart’s desire.
Only the Son has this perfect delight in the Father, with whom His human will was in complete alignment, and whose divine will He shares—only the Son, the King of kings, then, receives the full complement of glory and joy. In Psalm 19/20, the Psalm which we considered last episode that begins Matins, we prayed that the king would receive his heart’s desire; now we assert with confidence “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips.” What Christ requests, of course, from the Father, is that we should be where He is, and share in unity and blessedness, in echo of the holy Trinity! “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11). His heart’s desire was our blessedness, and so He prayed. This phronema of Christ is echoed in St. Paul, as he thinks of his own Jewish family, praying “My heart’s desire is that they should be saved” (Romans 10:1). May we, in these tense times, imitate the generosity and fervency of both Jesus and Paul, praying that those who do not know Him—including those descended from Israel—be saved! May the deepest desire of our hearts be the blessing of others.
Our trusting and elevated King Jesus also gives us the promise of being “little kings and queens” patterned after him. We hear that the Father has crowned Him, and answered His prayer for life—this we see in the Resurrection and Ascension, which bring hope to the whole world. And so, in the marriage ceremony, for example, husband and wife are crowned, for they are about to rule in their small domain, just as Lord Adam and Lady Eve were to have ruled before the tragedy of the Fall. After they are crowned in the ceremony, we hear this echo of our Psalm:
“Thou hast set upon their heads crowns of precious stones; they asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest it them.” The Son, who has life, like the Father, in Himself, gives life to our little human kingdoms, and shares His glory. Glory, honor, blessing, and majesty are shared by Father and Son—and so we rejoice, knowing that what the Son possesses by nature, He will give to us who belong to Him.
This includes protection against enemies, which the Psalm goes on to detail. There are those that plot against the King, but they cannot be successful. There are those who plot against those of us who worship the King, but God knows their schemes, and will, if only at the end, undo them. Because we belong to the King Jesus, though, the one who was crowned on the cross, we must remember that our true enemies are not flesh and blood. This is difficult, of course, when a human being has become like a beast in his actions, and so obscured the image of God. But, again, the wise Cassiadorus reminds us that they, like St. Paul, can be turned around. He remarks, “They are only called enemies as long as they are led astray by the devil’s enticements. But when they return to Christ the Lord, they are called servants, children, and friends” (Explanations of the Psalms 21.9)
The Psalm speaks soberly regarding those who refuse God, saying “they imagined an evil plot, which they are not able to perform; therefore shalt thou make them retreat, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows as they turn their back.” Those who refuse to repent and turn back, leave the presence of God, and go away, where there is only destruction and death. God’s judgement, as we have seen in many psalms, is a necessary corollary of His justice and refused mercy. So, then, those who have “turned away” from the face of the LORD are in a sad state, even if they have done this in error, hoping to avoid God’s judgment. St. Ambrose makes reference, in explaining this, to Cain, who sought to avoid God’s punishment: “‘Turned away’ [is] an expression properly applied to the sinner, for ‘Cain went out from the face of the Lord,’ and the psalmist says, ‘You will make them turn their back.’” He goes on to explain “One who is righteous does not turn away from the Lord but runs to meet him and says, ‘My eyes are ever toward the Lord.’” Yet still, says St. Ambrose, there is hope, because God searches those who have wandered, sending His word and His prophets to them. When all seemed lost for his people, St. Ambrose reminds us, the Lord raised up Isaiah: “And when the Lord said, ‘Whom shall I send?’ Isaiah offered himself of his own accord and said, ‘Behold, here I am.’” (all this from On Joseph 3.9. FC 65.193). If the Lord send his prophets in the time of the OT, how much more has he done for us, in sending the King of Kings, the searching and divine Shepherd, Jesus himself, who seeks every one out, and rescues him or her, and carries the lost sheep home.
For the radiance of the King, who shares all the glories of the Father, for his might and justice, and for his mercy, then, we give praise with the Psalmist, saying:
“Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength:
so will we sing and praise thy power.”
And now, we call King Jesus “the LORD,” the name above all names!
This Lord, in the days of His flesh, asked life of the Father, and He gave it to Him, because it was His due—and he gives it to us, as well, because He loves us!
Edith M. Humphrey 