Day 42: Set on High by the Name
Read: Psalm 20:1–5
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
— Psalm 20:1 (ESV)
Reflect
Psalm 20 is not a prayer for yourself. It is a prayer spoken over someone else. The people are blessing their king as he heads into a day of trouble.
A blessing is a word pointed at someone.
Look at the verbs. "May the LORD answer you." "May the name… protect you." "May he send you help" (v. 2). Every line is aimed at "you." This is a whole congregation aiming the good of God at one person.
The word our Bibles render "protect" is yesaggevkha, "may he set you on high." It is a picture of lifting someone up out of reach — onto a high wall, a cliff, a tower where the enemy cannot get at them. The same family of words gives us the "stronghold" and "high refuge" elsewhere in the Psalms.
And notice who does the lifting: "the name of the God of Jacob." Not the king's army. Not his own strength. The name of God himself.
When you bless someone this way, you are not wishing them luck. You are asking God to lift them where trouble cannot reach.
Across Scripture
"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10). That word "safe" is from the same family: set on high. "The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress" (Psalm 46:7, 11). On the night before the cross, Jesus prayed this kind of blessing over his own: "Holy Father, keep them in your name" (John 17:11).
Sit With It
Someone you know needs this blessing today. Say it over them by name — out loud if you can, or in a text, or in your prayers.
Pray
May the name of the God of Jacob set us on high.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.