Psalm 20 is the Church’s prayer for the king before the day of trouble. Historically it belongs to royal intercession: the people pray that the Lord would remember sacrifice, send help from Zion, and save His anointed. Spiritually, the Psalm becomes a prayer concerning Christ the true King, for His Body under pressure, and for every soul that must choose between trust in God and trust in chariots and horses. In the Coptic Agpeya it stands in the Third Hour, whose prayers remember the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the apostles. There we ask for the living aid God gives to His people.
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 20 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Psalm 19. After the Septuagint combines NKJV Psalms 9 and 10 as LXX Psalm 9, this section is shifted by one. |
| Accepted author | David by superscription: “For the end, a Psalm of David.” |
| Period in author’s life | No precise Davidic episode is given. The Psalm fits a royal/liturgical setting before battle, crisis, or national distress. |
| Christ prophecy status | Royal-Messianic and typological. The Psalm prays for the Lord’s “Christ,” that is, His anointed king. It is fulfilled in Christ the true Anointed One, whose victory becomes the Church’s salvation. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | Agpeya Third Hour, Psalm 19 (20); Holy Fifty Days Saturday of the third week Liturgy, printed Psalm 20:5,6; First Sunday of Abib Vespers, printed Psalm 20:6,9. The July 12, 2020 feast-coincident Sunday is a distinct dated witness. |
| Numbering issue | The Agpeya displays Psalm 19 (20). Service verse labels and English wording are not always identical to Brenton’s; the actual selections are explained below. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 20 reads like a congregational prayer spoken before the king enters danger. The people ask the Lord to hear, defend, remember sacrifice, and grant victory. This likely belonged to the public worship of Israel before battle or crisis, not to a private devotional moment only.
The Psalm stands beside Psalm 21 as a pair. Psalm 20 prays before deliverance; Psalm 21 gives thanks after royal victory. Together they teach that battle and thanksgiving belong under God. The king is not self-saving. The people are not saved by military strength. Help comes from the sanctuary and from Zion.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
Zion is the important place. Help comes “from the sanctuary” and “out of Sion,” not from the battlefield’s visible power. In the Old Testament setting, Zion is the place of God’s worship and royal presence. In the Church’s reading, Zion opens onto the Church gathered around Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the altar from which God strengthens His people.
The Characters 👥
David. The accepted Psalmist by superscription. The prayer concerns the anointed king, but it names no particular battle in David’s life.
The king / the Lord’s anointed. Historically, the king facing trouble. In Christian fulfillment, Christ the true Anointed One, whose victory sustains His Body when the Church stands in distress.
The praying people. The congregation that intercedes for the king. This matters because the Psalm is not individual heroism. It is corporate prayer.
The enemies. Real opponents in the royal setting, whose chariots and horses embody the visible strength contrasted with trust in the Lord.
Christ. The King whose Passion looked like defeat but whose Resurrection revealed His victory, and who sends help to His Church through the Holy Spirit.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 20:1-3 (LXX 19:2-4), help from the sanctuary
The opening block includes the superscription, numbered as verse 1 in Brenton.
19:1 For the end, a Psalm of David. 19:2 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. 19:3 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and aid thee out of Sion. 19:4 Remember all thy sacrifice, and enrich thy whole-burnt-offering. Pause.
The first word is intercession. The people do not first ask for strategy, numbers, horses, or cleverness. They ask that the Lord would hear in the day of trouble. The protection named here is “the name of the God of Jacob,” meaning God’s revealed faithfulness to His covenant people, not a phrase used as a charm.
The sanctuary and Zion are central. Sacrifice is remembered; the people ask God to receive the king’s offering favorably. The king’s cause is placed before God before it is placed before the enemy. Orthodox spirituality needs this order. We often want God to bless plans that prayer did not shape. Psalm 20 teaches the opposite: worship comes first, then action. Yet sacrifice does not purchase victory, and our religious activity does not put God in our debt.
St Athanasius gives a particularly fitting use for this Psalm in his Letter to Marcellinus: he recommends Psalm 19 in LXX numbering for comforting people in distress and joining them in prayer.1 This is more than finding words for our own fear. The Psalm teaches us to turn toward another person and ask God to defend and strengthen them.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “Help comes from worship.” “The day of trouble tests where we expect help to come from.”
- Emphasize: The Psalm begins with shared prayer and sacrifice, not self-reliance. Worship receives God’s help; it does not earn or control it.
- Avoid: Turning Zion into vague inspiration. In the Church, this prayer takes concrete shape in worship, life at the altar, and care for one another.
Psalm 20:4-6 (LXX 19:5-7), the Lord has saved His Christ
19:5 Grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfil all thy desire. 19:6 We will exult in thy salvation, and in the name of our God shall we be magnified: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions. 19:7 Now I know that the Lord has saved his Christ: he shall hear him from his holy heaven: the salvation of his right hand is mighty.
The prayer rises from request to confidence. The people ask that the Lord would grant the king’s desire, then the voice becomes singular: “Now I know that the Lord has saved his Christ.” The Psalm does not identify this individual speaker. What matters is the assurance confessed before the congregation: the king’s deliverance rests in God’s mighty hand.
In this royal setting, “his Christ” means God’s anointed king. Christian prayer hears its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. This does not erase David. It fulfills him. David is anointed; Christ is the Anointed One in fullness. The Father’s answer to the Son is not the avoidance of the Cross, but Resurrection through the Cross.
In his ancient Latin exposition, St Augustine reads the Psalm as prophetic words addressed to Christ, not as Christ speaking every line. He interprets the sacrifice in the light of the Passion and its answer in the Resurrection. His own petition makes the connection vivid: “And turn the cross, whereon You were wholly offered up to God, into the joy of the resurrection.”2 This concerns the incarnate Lord’s saving Passion and victory over death, not any deficiency in His divinity.
For the believer, this matters when prayer does not remove the day of trouble quickly. The Psalm does not promise that the king never faces battle. Nor does “fulfil all thy desire” make every wish a divine promise. We bring our desires to God to be heard and also to be shaped by Him. In Christ, suffering and death do not have the final word.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “David is anointed; Christ is the Anointed One in fullness.” “The Father’s answer to the Son is Resurrection through the Cross.”
- Emphasize: The Psalm is royal and Christological without pretending every line is detached from its historical kingship.
- Avoid: A shallow prosperity reading that treats “fulfil all thy desire” as a blank check for the passions.
Psalm 20:7-9 (LXX 19:8-10), chariots, horses, and the name of the Lord
19:8 Some glory in chariots, and some in horses: but we will glory in the name of the Lord our God. 19:9 They are overthrown and fallen: but we are risen, and have been set upright. 19:10 O Lord, save the king: and hear us in whatever day we call upon thee.
The Psalm names the temptation clearly. Chariots and horses are not evil in themselves. The danger is glorying in them. The soul can do the same with money, résumé, reputation, planning, family strength, intellectual ability, ministry success, or even religious activity. The false confidence may be ancient, but it is not outdated.
Trust in God does not make preparation useless. We should plan responsibly, protect those in danger, seek medical care when needed, and use the help available to us. The question is whether we receive these means as gifts under God or expect them to bear the weight of saving us.
The line “we are risen, and have been set upright” first describes the praying people’s victory in contrast with their fallen opponents. It is also striking in Christian prayer. The Church can pray it in the light of Christ’s Resurrection: He has risen and sets His people upright in Him. We stand, not because we are naturally strong, but because we glory in the name of the Lord.
The Psalm closes with renewed dependence: “O Lord, save the king.” Confidence has not made prayer unnecessary. The king still needs God’s help, and the people still call upon Him. In Christian prayer, we ask that Christ’s victorious reign be manifest, that His Church be preserved, and that every leader and servant remain under God’s authority.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “The danger is not the chariot. The danger is glorying in it.” “We stand because Christ has risen.”
- Emphasize: This is a renunciation of false security, not a denial of real danger.
- Avoid: Treating human preparation as useless. The Psalm condemns trust in power, not faithful action under God.
The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪
Coptic lectionary and service placement
The service books and readings preserve different English wording and verse divisions. Their printed references should therefore be read alongside the actual words.
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Agpeya Third Hour, Psalm 19 (20). The Psalm appears on pages 57-58 of the Agpeya edition cited below. Its prayer corresponds by content to Brenton’s LXX Psalm 19:2-10, with English wording differences. The hour’s litany remembers the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and apostles at the third hour and asks for His renewal within us. Its Gospel, John 14:26-15:4, speaks of the Helper, Christ’s peace, and abiding in Him. These give us a concrete meditation beside the Psalm’s plea for aid: help includes being taught, steadied, and kept in communion with Christ. This is a way to pray the texts together, not an explanation of why the Psalm was originally appointed.3
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Holy Fifty Days, Saturday of the third week, Liturgy. The printed reference is Psalm 20:5,6. The selection begins, “And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!” It does not include the preceding opening about exulting in salvation. By content it corresponds to Brenton LXX Psalm 19:6b-7; the service’s banner wording differs from Brenton’s “shall we be magnified.” The prayer continues into confidence that God saves His anointed. Beside John 6:47-56, the Gospel of the living Bread and resurrection at the last day, this confidence turns us toward the life Christ gives, not a guarantee of every earthly outcome.4
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First Sunday of Abib, Vespers. The July 9, 2023 readings print Psalm 20:6,9, but the body includes the intervening chariots, horses, and standing-upright clauses. Its continuous content corresponds to Brenton LXX Psalm 19:7-10. The ending also differs: the service reads, “Save, LORD! May the King answer us when we call.” Brenton instead asks the Lord to save the king and hear the people. The companion Gospel, Luke 9:1-6, shows the Twelve sent with Christ’s authority, without bread, bag, or money for that journey. Their mission makes the contrast with visible security especially pointed.5
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Feast-coincident Sunday witness. July 12, 2020 is separately titled “The first Sunday of Abib (Apostle’s Feast)” and gives the same Vespers Psalm and Luke 9:1-6. This dated coincidence should not be turned into a claim that the selection belongs to the Apostles’ Feast every year.6
Hymnography and prayer resonance
At the Third Hour, we can bring the Psalm’s request for help into the hour’s petition for the Spirit’s renewal within us. Before witness, trial, or service, we need more than an improved plan. We need Christ’s peace and the grace to abide in Him while we act.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
Psalm 20 can be paired for meditation with icons of Pentecost and of Christ Pantocrator. Pentecost directs attention to the Church strengthened from above. Christ Pantocrator presents the true King who blesses and teaches.
For teaching, these images can accompany the movement from Israel’s prayer for the king to the Church’s dependence on the risen Christ. This is a visual aid to meditation, not a claim about a prescribed icon for the Psalm.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
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Name your chariots honestly. The Psalm asks whether you glory in the name of the Lord or in visible strength. The chariot may be competence, savings, connections, control, reputation, or even religious knowledge. Ask directly: what do I fear losing because I secretly believe it saves me?
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Pray before action, not after panic. The people pray before the battle. Bring decisions, family burdens, ministry work, job searching, and conflict to God before they become emergencies. Then take the responsible next step.
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Let the Church pray with you. Psalm 20 is corporate. Fr Tadros Malaty, in his modern Coptic pastoral commentary, stresses that even strong leaders and holy people need the prayers of others.7 Ask for prayer, and pray for those carrying responsibility. Needing help is not a failure of faith.
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Receive help from Zion concretely. Make room for prayer, Eucharistic life, confession, counsel, fasting, and worship. These are ways of receiving God’s grace, not payments for protection. Do not reduce His help to a comforting thought.
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Stand upright in the risen Christ. The Psalm says, “we are risen, and have been set upright.” When trouble persists, this hope need not become forced cheerfulness. You can lament, accept support, and still entrust yourself to the King whose victory death could not undo.
Teaching Notes
- Timing: 8 minutes for context and metadata, 20 minutes for the three textual units, 10 minutes for Coptic worship placement, 10 minutes for discussion and spiritual fruit.
- Where to linger: Stay with “chariots and horses.” Ask how a good and useful resource becomes a false source of security.
- Where to compress: Explain the historical royal setting briefly. Do not build a specific battle setting because none is given.
- Discussion question: Why does the Psalm return to asking for help after confessing confidence in God’s salvation?
- Pastoral warning: Do not shame people for planning responsibly or seeking protection and treatment. Continuing hardship is not evidence that someone failed to pray well enough.
- Accuracy note: Augustine reads the Psalm as addressed to Christ. Keep this distinct from saying Christ speaks every line. Preserve the service’s printed references while explaining the actual selections and edition differences.
Glossary
- Anointed / Christ: The king set apart for his royal office. Brenton’s “his Christ” names God’s anointed; Christian interpretation hears its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
- Zion / Sion: Jerusalem’s place of worship and Davidic kingship; “Sion” is the spelling in the embedded Brenton text.
- Third Hour: The Coptic Agpeya hour whose litanies remember the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the apostles and ask for His renewal within us.
- Chariots and horses: Ancient military strength; spiritually, visible power in which the heart places saving confidence.
Translation and Source Notes
Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX). The title uses the familiar NKJV/Masoretic chapter number first: Psalm 20 corresponds to LXX Psalm 19. Brenton numbers the superscription as verse 1; the prayer itself begins at verse 2.
The Agpeya and dated lectionary readings use their own English wording and printed verse labels. The worship section preserves those labels and identifies the corresponding Brenton content without treating the editions as interchangeable.
Sources
Scripture: Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, Psalm 19.
Ancient interpretation: St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus, practical guidance concerning LXX Psalm 19; St Augustine, Exposition on LXX Psalm 19, §§1, 4, 7, presented online under the title Exposition on Psalm 20.
Coptic worship: Agpeya, Third Hour, Psalm pages 57-58, Gospel pages 75-76, litanies pages 76-79; CopticChurch.net readings for May 9, 2020, July 9, 2023, and July 12, 2020.
Modern Coptic pastoral interpretation: Fr Tadros Yacoub Malaty, A Patristic Commentary: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 20, “God Saves the King,” printed pages 113-119.
Footnotes
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St Athanasius of Alexandria, Letter to Marcellinus concerning the Psalms, practical Psalm recommendations concerning LXX Psalm 19, fisheaters.com. ↩
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St Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on LXX Psalm 19, §4; see §1 for the Psalm’s address to Christ. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8, newadvent.org. ↩
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Agpeya, Third Hour, Psalm 19 (20), pp. 57-58; John 14:26-15:4, pp. 75-76; litanies, pp. 76-79, saintbishoy.ca. ↩
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CopticChurch.net, “Saturday of the third week of the holy fifty days,” May 9, 2020, Liturgy Psalm and Gospel, copticchurch.net. ↩
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CopticChurch.net, “The first Sunday of Abib,” July 9, 2023, Vespers Psalm and Luke 9:1-6, copticchurch.net. ↩
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CopticChurch.net, “The first Sunday of Abib (Apostle’s Feast),” July 12, 2020, Vespers Psalm and Gospel, copticchurch.net. ↩
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Fr Tadros Yacoub Malaty, A Patristic Commentary: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 20, “God Saves the King,” printed p. 114, myorthodoxbooks.org. ↩