Psalms 20 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Traditionally the reign of David, roughly 1010 to 970 BC, at the point when Israel's army was about to march out
Location
The sanctuary in Jerusalem, with Zion named as the place help comes from, and the battlefield in view
Audience
The assembled worshipping community, praying for their king before a campaign
Situation
The congregation prays for the king before battle, asking that God accept his offerings and grant his plans. A single voice then announces that God will answer, and the people declare that they trust in God's name rather than in chariots and horses.
Key Background
Sacrifices before a military campaign were standard practice across the ancient Near East, and this psalm reads like the liturgy spoken while those offerings burned, with different voices taking different lines. Chariots and horses were the expensive, decisive military technology of the age, held by Egypt and the northern powers, and Israelite law had discouraged the kings from stockpiling them, which makes the contrast in this psalm a policy statement as much as a devotional one. Calling on the name of the God of Jacob roots the prayer in the ancestor stories rather than in the current king's record.