Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 76 · March 17
Said Out Loud
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
Psalm 20 was said out loud by a whole crowd to one man, their king, as he went out to face a battle.
Read the whole psalm and you can see its shape. "The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble." "Grant thee according to thine own heart." "The LORD fulfil all thy petitions." For five verses in a row the people speak straight to "thee," the king. Picture a congregation standing in front of him, praying over him out loud so that he hears every word.
Then comes today's verse: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God." That is the crowd's line, and they say it before the battle has even begun. They go on, still before any fighting: "They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright."
So the psalm is a sentence handed to someone for the road. Somebody near you is going out this week into something they cannot control. You can do for them what Israel did for its king. Stand close enough to be heard, and tell them where your trust is: in the name of the Lord our God, who hears in the day of trouble.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 76 is The Comforter (John 14:26).