Preacher: “The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you!” I have to confess, I think the psalmist should have have started his petition, intersession, or invocation with the word “May”. Or, perhaps, with a question as if wondering if the the Divine will answer and protect. I suppose it is a question of translation or paraphrase; “may”, “will”, or hoping for an agreeable & pleasant outcome.
Seeker: “May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion.” What strikes me is that the psalmist would wonder if such things can or will come about. As if it is not already a foregone conclusion. What it might come done to is not “Is the Divine able?” but “am I worthy?” How much does one have to question themselves before coming up against the reality that the Lord of Love will always love humanity enough to answer when we call?
Preacher: “May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah” I think you have hit on something central, Seeker. Does the Divine have the power to do these things? Does the Divine value me? Am I worthy? And if not, what can I do to make myself worthy?
Seeker: “May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your plans.” It can also be blessing, that the Lord God bestows upon you that which you need; and that you are assured of your worth in the Sight of the Divine. Do we question the Divine? That the Divine is able? Is willing?
Preacher: “May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.” We question the Divine. And we question and worry about ourselves, and our place before the Divine. Would it not be an act of faith and belief, and of hope, to NOT question?
Seeker: “Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.” May it be, that in each day of the life of the faithful, we question less and have our hope & faith be fulfilled more!
Preacher: Shalom & Selah!
Seeker: “Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God. They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.”
Preacher: I do not know if it is possible, or really feasible, but I do hope that the psalmist had their hope and faith fulfilled when they wondered about such things. And that we who live in these modern days and times have the same confidence to call on the Lord God and know that we will always be answered and find favor in the Sight of the Divine. “Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call.” (Psalm 20)
A Simple Desire 
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