The Name of Jehovah
Psalm 20:1-9
The LORD hear you in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend you;…


I. THE NAME OF JEHOVAH A CONSOLATION IN TROUBLE. No character is exempt from the ills of life. The highest dignity cannot guard off trouble; and crowns especially are often lined with thorns. Few plants, says an old writer, have both the morning and the evening sun; and an older than he has said, Man is born to trouble. But in the deepest, darkest, wildest distress, Jehovah is the refuge of His people; and His name soothes the keenest anguish and lifts up the most despairing.

II. THE NAME OF JEHOVAH AN INSPIRING BATTLE CRY. "In the name of our God will we set up our banners" (ver. 5). Banners are a part of our military equipage, borne in times of war to assemble, direct, distinguish, and inspirit the soldiers. They have been often used in religious ceremonies. It is the practice of some people to erect a banner in honour of their deity. In a certain part of Thibet it is customary for a priest to ascend a hill every month to set up a white flag and perform some religions ceremonies to conciliate the favour of a dewta, or invisible being, who is the presiding genius of the place. The Hindus describe Siva the Supreme as having a banner in the celestial world. The militant Church goes to war with the name of the Lord of Hosts on her banner.

III. THE NAME OF JEHOVAH IS THE STRENGTH OF THE MILITANT CHURCH. "We will remember the name of the Lord our God" (ver. 7). The world trusts in the material — in rifles, mitrailleuse, turret ships, and torpedoes; but the Church is taught to trust in the spiritual — the mysterious, invisible, but almighty power of Jehovah. The material fails, the spiritual never. When the saint relies fully on Jehovah, and is absorbed in His holy cause, he is surrounded with an impenetrable defence.

(W. L. Watkinson.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: {To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;

WEB: May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,




The God of Jacob
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