The book of Psalms is not just a collection of scattered poems and hymns. There are discernable groupings of psalms, and Psalms 20 and 21 form a bridge between two of these groups. What do Psalms 1-19 have in common? And what connects Psalms 22-31? Come discover a fascinating underlying order to the arrangments of the Bible’s prayer book.
To the conductor. A Psalm of David.
1-3 Adonai will answer you (s.) in the day of distress! The name of the God of Jacob will set you on high! 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! 3 May He remember all your thanksgiving offerings and regard with favor your elevation offerings! Selah
יום צרה (yom tzarah)
הקדש (mikodesh) = “the holy”
4-5 May He grant you according to your heart and fulfill all your plans! 5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May Adonai fulfill all your requests!
6-8 Now I know that Adonai saves His anointed; He will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of His right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Adonai our God. 8 They slump and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
משיח (mashiach) = “anointed”
9 O Adonai, save the king! May He answer us on the day we call.
REFERENCES:
Alignment of the Shemoneh Esrei with Psalms 1-19
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 31:5 Into your hand I commit my spirit…
For whom did David write Psalm 20?
Verse 1
Genesis 35:3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Verse 2
Jeremiah 2:3 Israel is holy (קדש, kodesh) to Adonai, the first (ראשית, reishit) of His harvest…