WEB
Psalms 20
A liturgy for the day a king marches to battle. The people pray over him in a string of wishes — may the LORD answer you, send help from the sanctuary, remember your offerings, grant your heart's desire — before the army's banners go up in verse 5. This is intercession before the fact, not thanks after it. The tone shifts in verse 6 to confident certainty: "Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed." Watch the contrast it draws — chariots and horses against the bare "name of the LORD" — and the way the closing cry "Save, LORD!" hands the king's fate back to God alone.
- 1
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
- 2
send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion,
- 3
remember all your offerings, and accept your burned sacrifice. Selah.
- 4
May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your counsel.
- 5
We will triumph in your salvation. In the name of our God, we will set up our banners. May the LORD grant all your requests.
- 6
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand.
- 7
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- 8
They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright.
- 9
Save, LORD! Let the King answer us when we call!
- 1
Al Músico principal: Salmo de David. OIGATE Jehová en el día de conflicto; defiéndate el nombre del Dios de Jacob.
- 2
Envíete ayuda desde el santuario, y desde Sión te sostenga.
- 3
Haga memoria de todos tus presentes, y reduzca á ceniza tu holocausto. (Selah.)
- 4
Déte conforme á tu corazón, y cumpla todo tu consejo.
- 5
Nosotros nos alegraremos por tu salud, y alzaremos pendón en el nombre de nuestro Dios: cumpla Jehová todas tus peticiones.
- 6
Ahora echo de ver que Jehová guarda á su ungido: oirálo desde los cielos de su santidad, con la fuerza de la salvación de su diestra.
- 7
Estos confían en carros, y aquéllos en caballos: mas nosotros del nombre de Jehová nuestro Dios tendremos memoria.
- 8
Ellos arrodillaron, y cayeron; mas nosotros nos levantamos, y nos enhestamos.
- 9
Salva, Jehová: que el Rey nos oiga el día que lo invocáremos.
The companion to Psalm 21
Psalms 20 and 21 form a deliberate pair around the king. Here the people pray before the conflict; in the next psalm they celebrate after the victory God grants. Read together, they bracket a single campaign.
Verse 7's rejection of chariots and horses sits against the whole ancient Near Eastern logic of military strength — a small kingdom staking its survival not on cavalry counts but on a name.
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
Share a small range via:
/en/web/psalms/20/16-18
Or use the Passage link builder.