Psalms 20:2
in Psalms 20May He send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Send thee help from the sanctuary, And strengthen thee out of Zion;
KJV
Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
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This verse in Psalms 20
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe second cause: "May he send you help from the sanctuary," that is, from the assembly of the saints. And there is a twofold assembly of the saints. One reigning with God in glory; the other fighting on earth; and from both we are helped, …
This site's exposition
May the LORD answer you
on Psalms 20:1-2
The psalm is prayed for someone else, the king of verse 9. The LORD is asked to answer him in the day of trouble, and the name of the God of Jacob to protect him. The help comes from the sanctuary and from Zion.
This site's exposition
send you help from the sanctuary
Barnes took the sanctuary as the tabernacle where God was worshipped, where the king had brought the offerings of verse 3. Calvin wrote that God comes down to meet men on Zion, the flesh being too weak to rise to heaven.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Send You help from the Holy, and from Sion defend You" [Psalm 20:2]. Making for You a sanctified Body, the Church, from watching safe, which waits when You shall come from the wedding.
The Reformation1 voice
That is to say, may he succor thee out of mount Sion, where he commanded the ark of the covenant to be placed, and chose for himself a dwelling-place. The weakness of the flesh will not suffer men to soar up to heaven, and, therefore, God comes down to meet them, and by the external means of grace shows that he is near them.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Send thee help from the sanctuary,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"Send thee help from the sanctuary." Out of heaven's sanctuary came the angel to strengthen our Lord, and from the precious remembrance of God's doings in his sanctuary our Lord refreshed himself when on the tree. There is no help like that which is of God's sending, and no deliverance like that which comes out of his sanctuary.
"Send thee help from the sanctuary." Out of heaven's sanctuary came the angel to strengthen our Lord, and from the precious remembrance of God's doings in his sanctuary our Lord refreshed himself when on the tree. There is no help like that which is of God's sending, and no deliverance like that which comes out of his sanctuary. The sanctuary to us is the person of our blessed Lord, who was typified by the temple, and is the true sanctuary which God has pitched, and not man: let us fly to the cross for shelter in all times of need and help will be sent to us. Men of the world despise sanctuary help, but our hearts have learned to prize it beyond all material aid. They seek help out of the armoury, or the treasury, or the buttery, but we turn to the sanctuary. "And strengthen thee out of Zion." Out of the assemblies of the pleading saints who had for ages prayed for their Lord, help might well result to the despised sufferer, for praying breath is never spent in vain. To the Lord's mystical body the richest comes in answer to the pleadings of his saints assembled for holy worship as his Zion. Certain advertisers recommend a strengthening plaster, but nothing can give such strength to the loins of a saint as waiting upon God in the assemblies of his people. This verse is a benediction befitting a Sabbath morning, and may be the salutation either of a pastor to his people, or of a church to its minister. God in the sanctuary of his dear Son's person, and in the city of his chosen church is the proper object of his people's prayers, and under such a character may they confidently look to him for his promised aid.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Send thee help from the sanctuary - This was the place where God recorded his name; the place where he was to be sought, and the place where he manifested himself. He dwelt between the cherubim over the mercyseat. He is now in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. This is the true sanctuary where God must be sought. Strengthen thee out of Zion - The temple or tabernacle where his prayers and sacrifices were to be offered.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Send thee help - Margin, thy help. So the Hebrew. The idea is, such help as he needed; such as would make him safe. From the sanctuary - From the tabernacle, or the holy place where God was worshipped, and where he was supposed to reside, Exo 28:43; Exo 29:30; Exo 35:19; Exo 39:1. This was his seat; his throne; where he abode among the people. Here, too, it would seem that he had been worshipped, and his aid implored, in view of this expedition; here the royal psalmist had sought to secure the divine favor by the presentation of appropriate sacrifices and offerings Psa 20:3. The prayer here is, that God would accept those offerings, and hear those supplications, and would now send the desired help from the sanctuary where he resided; that is, that he would grant his protection and aid. And strengthen thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, support thee. The idea is, that he would grant his upholding hand in the day of peril. Out of Zion - The place where God was worshipped; the place where the tabernacle was reared. See the note at Psa 2:6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
from His sanctuary From His Holy Temple, in which He dwells.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִשְׁלַֽח־ | yishlach- | may he send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| עֶזְרְךָ֥ | ʾezrekha | help your | H5828 → | 21 times |
| מִקֹּ֑דֶשׁ | mikodesh | from [the] sanctuary | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וּ֝מִצִּיּ֗וֹן | umitziyon | and from Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| יִסְעָדֶֽךָּ׃ | yisadeka | may he support you | H5582 → | 12 times |
יִשְׁלַֽח־may he send
yishlach-H7971 →845 times
עֶזְרְךָ֥help your
ʾezrekhaH5828 →21 times
מִקֹּ֑דֶשׁfrom [the] sanctuary
mikodeshH6944 →469 times
וּ֝מִצִּיּ֗וֹןand from Zion
umitziyonH6726 →154 times
יִסְעָדֶֽךָּ׃may he support you
yisadekaH5582 →12 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 12:6Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
it leads to
- Zechariah 2:5
For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
- Zechariah 2:10–11
“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 9:11
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim His deeds among the nations.
- Zechariah 2:5
Through
Isaiah 14:32What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
it leads to
- Psalms 87:5
And it will be said of Zion: “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her.”
- Psalms 102:16
For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory.
- James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Psalms 87:1
He has founded His city on the holy mountains.
- Psalms 87:5
Through
1 Kings 6:16He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:6
Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
- 1 Kings 8:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 20; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.