Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 20:9
Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
9. Concluding prayer of the people.
The rendering of A.V. and R.V. follows the punctuation of the Massoretic text. The prayer for the earthly king is addressed to the heavenly King whose representative he is. But Jehovah is not elsewhere styled absolutely the King (Psa 145:1 and Isa 6:5 are not complete parallels); and the verse appears to correspond to Psa 20:6. It seems best to follow the LXX and Vulg. in reading O Lord, save the king; and answer us &c. The rendering of the Vulg. Domine salvum fac regem is the origin of the familiar God save the king. See note on 1Sa 10:24. The P.B.V., Save Lord, and hear us, O King of heaven, when we call upon thee, is a free combination of the Heb. and Vulg. (LXX).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Save, Lord – Yahweh, save. This is still an earnest prayer. Confident as they are of success and triumph, yet they do not forget their dependence on God; they do not forget that victory must come from his hand. There was, indeed, exultation, but it was exultation in the belief that God would grant success – an exultation connected with, and springing from prayer. Prayer is not inconsistent with the most confident anticipation of success in any undertaking; and confidence of success can only spring from prayer.
Let the King – That is, let God, spoken of here as the Great King. The connection and the parallelism demand this interpretation, for to God only is this prayer addressed. He is here invoked as the supreme monarch. A king going forth to war implores the protection of a greater king than himself – the King of all nations; and who, therefore, had the disposal of the whole result of the conflict in which he was about to engage.
Hear us when we call – As we now call on him; its we shall call on him in the day of battle. Thus the close of the psalm corresponds with the beginning. In the beginning Psa 20:1-4 there is an earnest desire that God would hear the suppliant in the day of trouble; in the close there is an earnest prayer to him from all the people that he would thus bear. The desire of the blessing goes forth in the form of prayer, for God only can grant the objects of our desire. The whole psalm, therefore, is an expression of a strong confidence in God; of a sense of the most complete dependence on him; and of that assurance of success which often comes into the soul, in an important and difficult undertaking, when we have committed the whole cause to God. The psalm, too, is a model for us to imitate when we embark in any great and arduous enterprise. The desire for success should be accompanied with earnest prayer and supplication on our part; and when our friends express the desire that we may be successful, there should have been on our part such acts of devotion – such manifest reliance on God – such religious trust – that they can simply pray for our success to be in accordance with our own prayer. Never should we look for success unless our undertaking has been preceded by prayer; and when our best preparations have been made, our hope of success is not primarily and mainly in them, but only in God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Save, Lord] This verse was spoken by all the congregation, and was the chorus and conclusion of the piece.
The verse may be read, Lord, save the king! He will hear as in the day of our calling. The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, Arabic, Anglo-Saxon, read the verse thus: Lord, save the king! and hear us whensoever we shall call upon thee. The Syriac reads differently: The Lord will save us: and our king will hear us in the day in which we shall call upon him. This refers all to GOD: while the others refer the latter clause to DAVID. Lord, save David; and David will save us. “If thou preservest him, he will be thy minister for good to us.” This appears to be the easiest sense of the place, and harmonizes with all the rest.
ANALYSIS OF THE TWENTIETH PSALM
This Psalm is a form of prayer delivered by David to the people, to be used by them for the king, when he went out to battle against his enemies.
In this Psalm there are the following parts: –
I. A benediction of the people for their king, Ps 20:1-4.
II. A congratulation or triumph of the people after the victory, supposed to be already obtained, Ps 20:5-8.
III. A petition, Ps 20:9.
I. The benediction directed to David’s person. The particulars; that he may have,
1. Audience in his necessity: “The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble.”
2. Protection: “The name of the God of Jacob defend thee,” Ps 20:1.
3. Help and strength in battle: “Send thee help-strengthen thee;” which is amplified, 1. By the place: “Help from the sanctuary;” 2. “Strength out of Zion.”
4. Acceptance of his person; testified by the acceptance of his offerings and sacrifices, Ps 20:3.
5. Answers to his petitions: “Grant thee according to thy own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel,” Ps 20:4; which is plainly set down in the next verse: “The Lord fulfil all thy petitions,” Ps 20:5.
This benediction being ended, they persuade themselves that the prayer of it shall be granted, because it will redound to God’s glory; and they will be thankful, and honour him for the victory.
1. “We will rejoice in thy salvation.” Or Do this, “that we may rejoice.”
2. “In the name of our God will we set up our banners.” We will enter the city joyfully, with displayed banners, which we still erect as trophies to the honour of God.
II. Now follow the congratulation and triumph of their faith: for they give thanks as for a victory already obtained; as to their faith it was certain. Before they prayed for audience and protection: here they testify they are certain and secure of both.
1. Of protection: “Now know I that the Lord will save,” c.
2. Of audience: “He will hear from his holy heaven.”
3. Of help: “With the saving strength of his right hand,” Ps 20:6.
The certainty they had of this victory proceeded solely from their confidence in God. And this they illustrate by an argument drawn a dissimili: they were not like others who trust more to their arms than to their prayers more to their numbers than to God.
1. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;” as the Ammonites, Ps 20:2; Ps 10:6.
2. But we do not so: “We will remember the name of the Lord our God; the Lord of hosts, mighty in battle.” Arms may be used by good or bad men; but the difference lies in the object, the end, and the confidence. A bad cause cannot have God’s concurrence: a good cause will have his countenance and support.
3. And therefore the success was according to the confidence. 1. They who trusted in their arms, c., are brought down, and fallen. 2. We who trusted in the Lord our God, are risen, and stand upright, Ps 20:8.
III. The third part contains a short ejaculation, and is the sum of the Psalm.
1. “Save, Lord!” Thou alone canst save us: in thee, and in none other, do we put our trust.
2. “Let the king hear us.” We propose to continue in prayer and faith therefore, when we call, let the king, the Messiah, which thou hast set on thy holy hill, Ps 2:6, hear us. Or, according to another arrangement of the words: 1. Lord, save our king. Make him wise and good, preserve his person, and prosper his government; that we may have peace in our time, and secular prosperity. 2. Hear thou us when we call. Let us have also spiritual prosperity, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy name.-[Anglo-Saxon] “O thou Lord, health give the king.”-Anglo-Saxon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either,
1. David. So the sense is, O Lord, preserve and assist the king, that when we are distressed and cry to him for help, he may be able and ready to help us. Or,
2. God, the supreme Monarch, the King of kings, and in a peculiar manner the King of Israel, hear and answer us, when we pray for our king and people. And for the change of persons in this verse, nothing is more common. Or,
3. Christ, called
the King both in the Old and New Testament. But this verse is by divers learned men rendered thus, Lord, save the king; he (i.e. the Lord)
will hear us (or, let him hear us; for the future tense is oft put imperatively)
when we cry or call upon him. And this version is very agreeable to the Hebrew text. For whereas the only ground of the other translation is, that the Hebrew accent called athnach is put under the word save, which is supposed to stop the sense there, it is sufficiently evident that athnach doth not always make such a distinction in these poetical books, as appears from Psa 11:5; 17:10; 19:4; 22:31, and therefore this may seem to be the better version.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. let the king hearas God’srepresentative, delivered to deliver. Perhaps a better sense is,”LORD, save the king;hear us when we call,” or pray.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Save, Lord,…. Not “the king”, as the Septuagint, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions read the words, joining the word “king” to them, which is in the next clause; but this, as Aben Ezra observes, is not right, because of the accent “athnach”, which divides these words from the following; rather the word us may be supplied; and so the Syriac version renders it, “the Lord will deliver us”; and the Targum is, “O Lord”, , “redeem us”, or “save us”; that is, with a temporal, spiritual, and eternal salvation: this petition is directed to Jehovah the Father, as the following is to the King Messiah;
let the King hear us when we call; for not God the Father is here meant, though he is an everlasting King, the King of kings; and who hears his people, when they call upon him, and while they are calling; yet he is rarely, if ever, called “the King”, without any other additional epithet; whereas the Messiah often is, as in the next psalm,
Ps 20:1; and prayer is made to him, and he hears and receives the prayers of his people; and, as Mediator, presents them to his Father perfumed with his much incense; for he is a Priest as well as a King.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: v. 10) After this solo voice, the chorus again come on. The song is closed, as it was opened, by the whole congregation; and is rounded off by recurring to its primary note, praying for the accomplishment of that which is sought and pledged. The accentuation construes with as its subject, perhaps in consideration of the fact, that is not usually followed by a governed object, and because thus a medium is furnished for the transition from address to direct assertion. But if in a Psalm, the express object of which is to supplicate salvation for the king, stand side by side, then, in accordance with the connection, must be treated as the object; and more especially since Jahve is called , in Psa 48:3, and the like, but never absolutely . Wherefore it is, with Hupfeld, Hitzig, and others, to be rendered according to the lxx and Vulgate, Domine salvum fac regem . The New Testament cry is a peculiar application of this Davidic “God bless the king (God save the king),” which is brought about by means of Psa 118:25. The closing line, Psa 20:9, is an expanded Amen.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. Save, O Jehovah! etc. Some read in one sentence, O Jehovah! save the king; (478) perhaps because they think it wrong to attribute to an earthly king what is proper to God only, — to be called upon, and to hear prayer. But if we turn our eyes towards Christ, as it becomes us to do, we will no longer wonder that what properly belongs to him is attributed in a certain sense to David and his successors, in so far as they were types of Christ. As God governs and saves us by the hand of Christ, we must not look for salvation from any other quarter. In like manner, the faithful under the former economy were accustomed to betake themselves to their king as the minister of God’s saving grace. Hence these words of Jeremiah,
“
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.” (Lam 4:20)
Whenever, therefore, God promises the restoration of his church, he sets forth a symbol or pledge of its salvation in the kingdom. We now see that it is not without very good reason that the faithful are introduced asking succor from their king, under whose guardianship and protection they were placed, and who, as the vicegerent of God, presided over them; as the Prophet Micah says, (Mic 2:13,) “Their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them;” by which words he intimates, that their king will be as it were a mirror in which they may see reflected the image of God. To return to the present passage:— The expression, Save, O Jehovah, is elliptical, but it has greater emphasis than if the object for which salvation is sought had been mentioned; for by this means David shows that this salvation belongs in common to the whole body of the church. In Psa 118:25, there is a prayer in the same words, and it is certain that it is the very same prayer. In short, this is a prayer, that God, by blessing the king, would show himself the Savior of the whole people. In the last clause of the verse there is expressed the means of this salvation. The people pray that the king may be furnished with power from God to deliver them whenever they are in distress, and cry to him for help. Let the king hear us in the day that we call upon him. God had not promised that his people would be saved in any other way than by the hand and conduct of the king whom he had given them. In the present day, when Christ is now manifested to us, let us learn to yield him this honor — to renounce all hope of salvation from any other quarter, and to trust to that salvation only which he shall bring to us from God his Father. And of this we shall then only become partakers when, being all gathered together into one body, under the same Head, we shall have mutual care one of another, and when none of us will have his attention so engrossed with his own advantage and individual interest, as to be indifferent to the welfare and happiness of others.
(478) This is the reading of the Septuagint. Its words are, Κυριε σωσον τον βασιλεα. The reading of the Vulgate is the same. Calvin’s rendering, which is also that of our English version, agrees with the masoretical punctuation; but the Septuagint has followed a different pointing.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Save Lord . . .The Authorised Version follows the accentuation of the Masoretic text, but spoils the rhythm, and interrupts the sense. The LXX. and Vulg., followed by all modern commentators, dividing the verse differently render, Jehovah, save the king, whence our National Anthem. Jehovah thus becomes the subject of the verb hear in the last clause. May He hear us in the day of our calling. The change from second to third person is characteristic of the Hebrew manner of conquering emotion, and allowing the close of a poem to die away in calm and subdued language. (Comp. Psa. 110:7.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Save, Lord By a slight change in the punctuation of the Hebrew text, placing the Athnach after king instead of “save,” the verse would read:
O Jehovah, save the king,
He will answer in the day of our calling.
This view accords with Psa 20:6, where “anointed” answers to “king” in Psa 20:9, and both refer to the petition Psa 20:1. With this, also, the Septuagint and Vulgate agree; and in the Messianic application of the psalm, it coincides with the phrases “O Jehovah, save now,” of Psa 118:25, and “Hosanna to the Son of David,” of Mat 21:9. See notes on the last two passages quoted.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 20:9. Save, Lord, &c. Lord, save the king: He will hear us, when we call: Or, And hear us, when we call. Houbigant and Mudge.
REFLECTIONS.We have here,
1. The matter of the people’s requests: That in the day of trouble the Lord would defend their king, whether from secret conspiracies or open violence; and that Jacob’s God, whose providential care of him was so eminent, would shew the same tender regard to their sovereign, strengthening him with spiritual might, and from his sanctuary send him forth conquering and to conquer: that all his sacrifices might be accepted, and his prayers graciously answered; every desire crowned with success, and every petition granted. Note; (1.) The highest dignity cannot guard off troubles, and crowns especially are often lined with thorns. (2.) None need our prayers more than those whose height of station exposes them to so many temptations. (3.) When we begin with a sacrifice of prayer, we may hope to end with songs of praise.
The King Messiah saw many days of trouble, from the cradle to the grave, and, when he cried, was heard and holpen. His God supported him; angelic hopes attended to strengthen him; his offering was a sacrifice of a sweet smell, well-pleasing to God; and all his heart’s desire, respecting the salvation of the faithful, was thereupon granted.
2. They promise hereupon to rejoice before God: We will rejoice, when these petitions are granted; then the praise of all shall be ascribed to the glorious author of the salvation; and in his name we will triumphantly set up our banners.
The triumphs of Jesus are matters of greatest joy to the faithful; in his salvation they rejoice, see all their foes laid at their feet, and set up their triumphant banners: O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? Thanks be to God that giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord; and at his feet the faithful believer’s crown will be for ever laid, and shouting for joy he will ever cry, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive blessing and glory.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
WHO can read this Psalm, and behold to whom it refers, and then call to mind the blessed victories of our King and Saviour, but must with heart-felt joy join in every part of it while celebrating the triumphs of the Redeemer? Yes! blessed Jesus! God the Father did hear thee in the day of trouble, when thou didst stand forth as our Surety for the salvation of thy people! God, even the mighty God of Jacob, did defend thee. An angel from heaven was sent to strengthen thee. And God did accept thy sacrifice, when thou by thyself didst make thy soul an offering for sin; and by virtue of it thou hast made all thy people accepted in thee, the beloved. Here, Lord, thy redeemed upon earth set up their banners, and thy redeemed in glory are clothed in white, and have the palms of victory in their hands.
And now, Lord, while we rejoice in thy strength, as becometh all thy redeemed, do thou make us more than conquerors, through thy grace helping us, in all the remaining conflicts we have to encounter. In thy name we will greatly rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness make our boast. And surely, Lord, while thou art the glory of our strength, we shall not be like those who trust to chariots or horses: but we shall be made strong in thy power, and thou wilt finally bruise Satan and every foe under our feet. Save Lord! Jesus, hear us when we call upon thee!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 20:9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
Ver. 9. Save, Lord ] A short but pithy prayer: Quam multa quam paucis.
Let the king hear us
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Save, LORD, or, O LORD, save. Or, with Septuagint, “Jehovah save the king”. Compare Psa 20:6.
when = in the day when. See App-18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Save: etc. or, “O Jehovah, save the king; answer us when we call upon thee.” Psa 118:25, Psa 118:26, Mat 21:9, Mat 21:15
let: Psa 2:6-10, Psa 5:2, Psa 24:7, Psa 44:4, Psa 74:12
Reciprocal: Jos 1:17 – only the Lord Psa 21:1 – The king Pro 29:26 – seek
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
20:9 Save, LORD: {h} let the king hear us when we call.
(h) Let the king be able to deliver us by your strength, when we seek him for help.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The repeated intercession of the people 20:9
In view of the similarity between this petition and the one that opens this psalm, it is probable that the Israelites prayed it too. They looked to Yahweh as their ultimate authority and the One from whom victory must come.
The elect can appeal to God for victory against their spiritual enemies confidently, when they are walking with Him, because He is willing and able to subdue the powers of darkness. God has assured us of our ultimate victory (cf. 2Co 2:14). The psalm presents three essentials for victory as God’s people fight against the forces of evil. First, there must be a praying people (Psa 20:1-5). Second, there must be a confident leader (Psa 20:6-8). Third, there must be a sovereign Lord (Psa 20:9). [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., pp. 129-31.]