Daily Lesson for May 8, 2020

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 20:

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!

The name of the God of Jacob protect you!

2 May he send you help from the sanctuary,

    and give you support from Zion.

3 May he remember all your offerings,

    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.Selah

4 May he grant you your heart’s desire,

    and fulfill all your plans.

5 May we shout for joy over your victory,

    and in the name of our God set up our banners.

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;

    he will answer him from his holy heaven

    with mighty victories by his right hand.

7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,

    but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.

8 They will collapse and fall,

    but we shall rise and stand upright.

9 Give victory to the king, O Lord;

    answer us when we call.

As we continue along in our year of reading the Bible the Lesson today corresponds with a battle between the Israelites and a coalition of both the Ammonites and the Arameans.  The coalition, armed with chariots and mercenary cavalry from Mesopotamia, grows mighty and fierce, but is routed not only once but twice by the Israelites.

The psalm is a psalm which might have been prayed over David and his generals before the day of battle.

The point of the Lesson is to encourage the warriors to fight with courage and bravery, even in the face of grave odds.  For as the psalmist says, it is the Lord who gives "mighty victories by his right hand."

The battle before us seems so difficult.  The forces of anger, and malice, and destruction so great.  But do not give up, little flock, for the battle belongs to the LORD. And while others take pride in chariots, or war horses, or whatever the latest technological weapon of mass chaos there may be, our trust is in the LORD who made heaven and earth and will make us to rise and stand upright at the end of the age.

This is the day of trouble.  But the God of Jacob protects us. And in this God we can already -- even now -- shout for joy over our victory.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible in chronological form this year.  Monday's Lesson will come from Psalms 65-67, 69-70; 2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chroiicles 20; Psalms 32, 51, 86, 122.