Psalms 20 - Introduction

XX.

This psalm is addressed to a king going to battle, and was plainly arranged for part-singing in the Temple. The congregation lead off with a prayer for the monarch’s success (Psalms 20:1). The priest, or the king himself, as priest, after watching the successful performance of the sacrificial rites, pronounces his confidence of the victory (Psalms 20:6), upon which the shout, “God save the king! “is raised by the whole host, which acclaim again sinks down into the calmer prayer, “May he hear us when we cry.”

The transparent language of the poem and its simple arrangement, the smooth symmetry of the rhythm, and the quiet advance in thought, are all in favour of its being a hymn carefully composed for a public occasion and not a poetical effusion of the feelings of the moment. It is not therefore necessary to discuss the authorship or the question of what particular king it was intended for. It may be taken as a type of the sacrificial hymn. There is, however, a strong Jewish tradition which connects its use, if not its composition, with Hezekiah (Stanley, Jewish Church, ii. 461).