Psalms 20:3
in Psalms 20May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Remember all thy offerings, And accept thy burnt-sacrifice; [Selah
KJV
Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
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This verse in Psalms 20
Commentary
9 notes on this verseRemember all thy offerings,.... The spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise which Christ, as the great High Priest, offers up for his people; or which they offer by him, and are acceptable to God through him, by virtue of the incense of his mediation; or the offering up of himself, which answers to, and is the body, the sum and substance, of all the offerings of the law; they were types of this, and what they could not do this did; and therefore it is expressed in the singular number in the next clause; and accept thy burnt sacrifice.
This site's exposition
May He remember all your gifts
on Psalms 20:3-4
The prayer rests on what has already been brought. God is asked to remember the gifts and to look favorably on the burnt offerings. Then He is asked to give the desires of the heart and make the plans succeed.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Be mindful of all Your sacrifice" [Psalm 20:3]. Make us mindful of all Your injuries and despiteful treatment, which You have borne for us. "And be Your whole burnt offering made fat." And turn the cross, whereon You were wholly offered up to God, into the joy of the resurrection.
"Be mindful of all Your sacrifice" [Psalm 20:3]. Make us mindful of all Your injuries and despiteful treatment, which You have borne for us. "And be Your whole burnt offering made fat." And turn the cross, whereon You were wholly offered up to God, into the joy of the resurrection.
The Medieval Church1 voice
The third cause is that one's works may be pleasing to God; hence he says, "May he be mindful of all your sacrifice." Every good work is like a sacrifice, because all things ought to be offered to God: 1 Cor. 10: "Do all things …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah." Before war kings offered sacrifice, upon the acceptance of which the depended for success; our blessed Lord presented himself as a victim, and was a sweet savour unto the Most High, and then he met and routed the embattled legions of hell. Still does his burnt sacrifice perfume the courts of heaven, and through him the offerings of his people are received as his sacrifices and oblations.
"Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah." Before war kings offered sacrifice, upon the acceptance of which the depended for success; our blessed Lord presented himself as a victim, and was a sweet savour unto the Most High, and then he met and routed the embattled legions of hell. Still does his burnt sacrifice perfume the courts of heaven, and through him the offerings of his people are received as his sacrifices and oblations. We ought in our spiritual conflicts to have an eye to the sacrifice of Jesus, and never venture to war until first the Lord has given us a token for good at the altar of the cross, where faith beholds her bleeding Lord. "Selah." It is well to pause at the cross before we march onward to battle, and with the psalmist cry "Selah." We are too much in a hurry to make good haste. A little pausing might greatly help our speed. Stay, good man, there is a haste which hinders; rest awhile, meditate on the burnt sacrifice, and put thy heart right for the stern work which lieth before thee.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Remember all thy offerings - The minchah, which is here mentioned, was a gratitude-offering. It is rarely used to signify a bloody sacrifice. Burnt sacrifice - The olah here mentioned was a bloody sacrifice. The blood of the victim was spilt at the altar, and the flesh consumed. One of these offerings implied a consciousness of sin in the offerer; and this sacrifice he brought as an atonement: the other implied a sense of mercies already received, and was offered in the way of gratitude. David presents himself before the Lord with offerings of both kinds. This prayer of the people is concluded with Selah, which we have taken up in the general sense of so be it. Hear and answer. It will and must be so, etc.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Remember all thy offerings - On the meaning of the word here used, see the note at Isa 1:13, where it is rendered oblations. The word occurs often in the Scriptures, and is sometimes rendered offering, and sometimes oblation. The word means an offering of any kind or anything that is presented to God, except a bloody sacrifice - anything offered as an expression of thankfulness, or with a view to obtain his favor. It is distinguished from bloody sacrifices, which are expressed by the word in the following clause. The word here employed occurs in the Psalms only in the following places: Psa 20:3; Psa 40:6; Psa 96:8; where it is rendered offering and offerings; Psa 45:12, rendered gift; Psa 72:10, rendered presents; and Psa 141:2, rendered sacrifice. The use of the word in this place proves that such offerings had been made to God by him who was about to go forth to the war; and the prayer of the people here is that God would remember all those offerings; that is, that he would grant the blessing which he who had offered them had sought to obtain. And accept - Margin, turn to ashes, or make fat. The Hebrew word - דשׁן dâshên - means properly to make fat, or marrowy, Pro 15:30; to pronounce or regard as fat; to be fat or satiated, or abundantly satisfied, Pro 13:4. It conveys also the notion of reducing to ashes; perhaps from the fact that the victim which had been fattened for sacrifice was reduced to ashes; or, as Gesenius supposes (Lexicon, see דשׁן deshen), because “ashes were used by the ancients for fattening, that is, manuring the soil.” The prayer here seems to be that God would “pronounce the burnt-offering fat;” that is, that he would regard it favorably, or would accept it. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
from His sanctuary From His Holy Temple, in which He dwells.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
your meal offerings..burnt offerings They are the prayers that you pray in battle.
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִזְכֹּ֥ר | yizkor | may he remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מִנְחֹתֶ֑ךָ | minchotekha | offerings your | H4503 → | 211 times |
| וְעוֹלָתְךָ֖ | veolatekha | and burnt offering your | H5930 → | 287 times |
| יְדַשְּׁנֶ֣ה | yedasheneh | may he accept ! | H1878 → | |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
יִזְכֹּ֥רmay he remember
yizkorH2142 →230 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מִנְחֹתֶ֑ךָofferings your
minchotekhaH4503 →211 times
וְעוֹלָתְךָ֖and burnt offering your
veolatekhaH5930 →287 times
יְדַשְּׁנֶ֣הmay he accept !
yedashenehH1878 →
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 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
Acts 10:4Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
it leads to
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Malachi 3:16
At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD…
- Acts 10:31
and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God.
- Psalms 141:2
May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
- Philippians 4:6
Through
Genesis 4:4while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he…
- Proverbs 3:9
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Hebrews 11:4
Through
2 Chronicles 7:1When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:38
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 18:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; 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, Vol. 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.