I may be allowing myself too much freedom in application of Psalm 20, but let’s see how it goes . . .

I know it’s a song of David to the choirmaster, but I wonder if it could not have been sung long after David by a chorus of angels. I know it’s written as a plea by those involved in some earthly circumstance, but I’m imagining it as a petition from an army of mighty beings as they watch another drama play out from their heavenly balcony.

If it is only a song of David then it is the people of his kingdom who petition on behalf of their king as he prepares to enter some great conflict. But if it was brushed off centuries later as a remix for another King, the greater King, then might the angels have sung it too? Could it have also been a song for Jesus as He prepared for a coming crucible?

After one of their ministering spirit cohort returns from the garden, having strengthened Jesus as He prayed in agony in anticipation of the cup that lay before Him (Lk. 22:42-43), and though they would have preferred to have descended upon earth as mighty legions sent to rescue God’s Son from the mission before Him (Mt. 26:53), did they instead take up the song of David on behalf of the suffering Savior?

“May the LORD answer You in the day of trouble,” they cry. May He protect You, send You help, and support You. May He remember all Your offerings and regard with favor Your sacrifices. O, that He would grant Your heart’s desire and fulfill all Your plans so that we might shout with joy over Your salvation. May the LORD grant all Your requests. “O LORD, save the King! May He answer us when we call.” (20:1-5, 9).

And though they would petition earnestly, sing the song passionately, yet they would not petition desperately. For their confidence would have been the same confidence Jesus had in Gethsemane as He submitted to the Father’s will. The same confidence David had.

Now I know that the LORD saves His Anointed; He will answer Him from His holy heaven with the saving might of His right hand.

(Psalm 20:6 ESV)

And isn’t that what happened on the third day? The mighty right hand of God raised Jesus in victory as conqueror, once and for all, over sin and death. The God of heaven having answered in the day of trouble. Remembering His Anointed’s offering. Accepting His Beloved Son’s sacrifice. Granting the Savior’s heart desire, fulfilling all His plans to make way for a people to be delivered from bondage to sin and welcomed into the holy of holies.

To be sure it was David’s support song, but might it also have echoed through heaven as the angel’s resurrection song?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

(Psalm 20:7-8 ESV)

But we rise! Just as the Anointed rose. We stand upright. Just He stands at the Father’s right hand. And one day, we will join the heavenly chorus declaring, “Worthy is the Lamb,” having shared in the victory of the Anointed because we also trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Hey!  Maybe it’s our song too!

By His grace. For His glory.