“The Power of the Lord”

[Psalm 21]

Lately, the gospel song “Tired and Weary” (You Are My Son) often comes to my mind.
So, I often quietly sing to myself, “When tired and weary, discouraged and fallen with no strength to rise…”
It seems there are many things in our lives that make us tired, weary, and discouraged.
Looking at the people God has placed in my life recently, I see they are struggling with various difficulties and feeling worn out.
So, what should we do when we are tired and weary like this?
I believe, just like the song “Tired and Weary,” we must meet God who “quietly comes, holds our hand, and speaks to us.”
God the Father comes to His children who are tired and fallen, firmly holds our hands, and lifts us up with His word—this is what we must experience.

In Psalm 21:1, the phrase “the power of the Lord” appears.
When we are weak due to the hardships that make us tired and weary in life, we must experience the work of being filled with the Lord’s power.
To understand this better, I want to meditate on four aspects of what kind of power the Lord’s power is.

First, the Lord’s power is “The Power of Answered Prayer.”

Look at Psalm 21:2:
“He granted him his heart’s desire and did not withhold the request of his lips. Selah.”
Here, the psalmist David is referring to whose prayer? The prayer of the “king” (verse 1).
David trusted God and prayed to Him.
He truly was a “precious king” (Park Yoon Sun).
This precious king prayed to God and received an answer to his prayer.
The content of that prayer was “the desire of his heart” and “the request of his lips” (verse 2).
These two can be understood in two ways:

(1) The first prayer request was for victory in battle.
Look at Psalm 21:3:
“You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.”
Here, the “crown of pure gold” refers to a crown taken as spoil after conquering foreign nations (perhaps the Ammonites) (Park Yoon Sun).
David wrote Psalm 21 to give thanks for victory (Park Yoon Sun).
David also composed Psalm 20:5, a psalm about victory as an answer to prayer:
“We will shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.”

(2) The second prayer request was for “life” or “long life” as a result of victory.
Look at Psalm 21:4:
“He asked for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, forever and ever.”

What is the power of answered prayer?

It is joy and gladness.
Look at Psalm 21:1:
“O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength; in your salvation how greatly he exults!”
Also, see John 16:24, a verse affirming the certainty of answered prayer:
“Until now you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
We must remember Nehemiah 8:10:
“…The joy of the LORD is your strength…”
Our strength comes from rejoicing in the God who answers our prayers.
We must keep this in mind.

Secondly, the Lord’s power is the “Power of Salvation.”

Look at Psalm 21:5:
“Through the LORD’s salvation my horn is exalted; my own God has been my fortress.”
David confessed that his victory in battle was “by the LORD’s salvation.”
In other words, David acknowledged that it was by God’s saving power that he won the battle.
So, what blessings did God give David through this power of salvation?
He greatly exalted David in glory and clothed him with honor and majesty.
As a result, David became supremely blessed by God and rejoiced and was glad before the LORD (verse 6).
We too, like David, should experience God’s saving power, enjoy the abundant blessings God gives, and rejoice before the Lord.
To do this, when we are weary and downcast due to trials and crises in life, we must seek our Savior God.
We must cry out to God.
When we do, God, who desires to hear the desires of our hearts and the requests of our lips, will manifest His saving power in our lives, greatly exalt us in glory, and grant us honor and majesty.
Then we will be able to rejoice and be glad before the Lord because of God’s salvation.

Thirdly, the Lord’s power is the “Power of Lovingkindness” (or Mercy).

Look at Psalm 21:7:
“The king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.”
David was a king who trusted in God.
It is relatively easy to trust God when one has no power, but when one has power, as King David did, there is a great danger of becoming proud, so trusting God is more difficult (Park Yoon Sun).
However, David trusted God and, by the mercy of the Lord, was not shaken.
In other words, David was steadfast because of God’s lovingkindness.

But why do we sometimes become unsettled?

The reason is that when we are weary and fallen, we earnestly seek God amid adversity, receive answers to our prayers, and are delivered (saved), but then problems arise afterward.
It’s like during the time of the Judges when the people of Israel, as a consequence of their sin, were in hardship and suffering, cried out to God, and God raised up judges and bestowed grace of salvation on them—but afterward, the people of Israel sinned again.
Similarly, we also, after pleading to God in difficult situations and receiving deliverance (salvation) through answered prayer, fail to feel the love and mercy of God the Father, and so we harden our hearts again and become disobedient to God the Father.
This is like a child who, not listening to the father and sinning by their own choices, suffers and cries out, and the father, moved with compassion, rescues and holds the child in his arms, so the child feels the father’s love.
Likewise, after experiencing God the Father’s answered prayers and salvation, we must be embraced in the Father’s arms and experience His mercy so that we will not be unsettled.
A child who does not feel the father’s love cannot stand firm.
Our firmness is based on the mercy of God we receive as we trust in Him.
The chosen king of God, the king after God’s own heart, the beloved King David, was made firm by God so that no one could harm him.
Similarly, our firmness comes only from relying on the Lord and abiding in His love.
Those who trust in the Most High God will be exalted by Him so that no one or any power can harm them—therefore, we do not become unsettled.

Lastly, fourth, the power of the Lord is ‘The Power of Wrath.’

Look at Psalm 21:9:
“When you are angry, you will make them as a fiery furnace; the Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.”
God heard the prayer of His beloved David, wanted to save him, and poured out His wrath on David’s enemies.
How did God pour out His wrath on David’s enemies?

(1) God discovered all of David’s enemies.
See Psalm 21:8: “Your hand will find all your enemies; your right hand will find those who hate you.”
This means that God Himself declares He will find all of David’s enemies.
So, who could possibly hide from God?

(2) God destroyed all of David’s enemies.
See Psalm 21:9: “When you are angry, you will make them like a blazing furnace. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.”
God swallowed up and destroyed all of David’s enemies He had found by His wrath.

(3) God even destroyed the descendants of all of David’s enemies.
See Psalm 21:10: “You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their offspring from among the people.”
This means that the enemies who oppose, persecute, and try to kill the one God delights in will not only be destroyed themselves but also their descendants by God.

(4) God prevented all of David’s enemies from succeeding.
See Psalm 21:11: “For they intended evil against you; they devised a plot, but they could not carry it out.”
How could a plan succeed if God is not with it?
How could those who plot against King David, whom God has established, ever succeed?

Those who experience the Lord’s power cannot help but praise God’s might.
David did just that. After experiencing the power of answered prayer, the power of salvation, the power of lovingkindness, and the power of wrath, he praised God’s might, saying:
“Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.” (Verse 13).

Indeed, when we are “tired and weary, discouraged and without strength to rise,” and we cry out to God, experiencing the power of answered prayer, the power of salvation, the power of God’s lovingkindness, and the power of His wrath against our enemies, we cannot help but praise the Lord’s power. Hallelujah!

With a heart that praises the Lord who gives strength when we are “tired and weary, discouraged and without strength to rise,”

Shared by Pastor James Kim

(Committed to pastoring only by the Lord’s power)