Psalm 21 - God and King

Psalm 21
O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad, and in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, and You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of You, You gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through Your salvation, splendor and majesty You place upon him. For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken. Your hand will find out all your enemies; Your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; the Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, and fire will devour them. Their offspring You will destroy from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men. Though they intended evil against You and devised a plot, they will not succeed. For You will make them turn their back; You will aim with Your bowstrings at their faces. Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.

Message: God and King; How we are to pray for our leaders; it is not that God would change their hearts, but that God will work.

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

This is a psalm written by David. He is writing or praying to the Lord about a king. 

David trusts in the Lord's power
He first says that the king will be glad because of the strength of the Lord and he will rejoice because of the salvation of the Lord. Salvation is an interesting word; God saves people, from themselves; He redeems man and sets Him apart. This is what I think about the word salvation. I don't think it is necessarily referring to an eternal salvation, but rather that God intercedes for this king giving him strength and help. Because of the Lord working in the king's life he can then be glad and rejoice. It is not through man's ability or control that makes himself glad and rejoicing. It is through the Lord. These words, though, refer to what the Lord will do. This passage goes back and forth between what God has done already and what He will do.

Past
You have given him his heart’s desire
You have not withheld the request of his lips. 
He asked life of You, You gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.

Present
For You meet him with the blessings of good things
You set a crown of fine gold on his head. 
His glory is great through Your salvation, splendor and majesty You place upon him. 
For You make him most blessed forever
You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord

Future Enemies
Through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
Your hand will find out all your enemies
Your right hand will find out those who hate you
You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath
Fire will devour them. 
Their offspring You will destroy from the earth and their descendants from among the sons of men. 
Though they intended evil against You and devised a plot, they will not succeed. 
For You will make them turn their back
You will aim with Your bowstrings at their faces. 

Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.

The key to this passage is that it points to the reality that God is the one who works in the lives of people, and specifically in the lives of the leaders of nations as this is referring to the king of a people. David is trusting the Lord and declaring that He is in charge.

And this passage speaks a lot about enemies which are obviously normal in a leadership, but those enemies will not have a hold on the king or his kingdom because the Lord will be in charge of them.

I don't pray like this. I pray that God would change a leader's heart. I make it seem like the leader must be surrendered to God before God is going to do a good work in the nation.

Promise: God is in charge and He can take care of His people and kingdoms no matter the leader. We are not to trust in leaders, but trust in the Lord.