The writer of Psalm 21 is someone I have chosen to call “The Observer”. He is recording his thoughts as he observes the king and the king’s relationship with God. I again refer to that period in my life when I was unemployed and facing disaster. What I was feeling and saying in the privacy of my conversations with God (Psalm 22) was not what MY observers saw (Psalm 21).

Here is the video link (YouTube):

Outside Looking In

The audio links to Spotify and iTunes are to the right.

Here is the transcript I used to record the podcast:

Bookends Part 1: Psalm 21

Outside Looking In

In my mind, Psalms 21 and 22 are linked. They are bookends, if you will, providing two points of view. The first point of view – Psalm 21 – is the point of view of someone who is observing the King and how God has blessed him. This is a third person point of view. They see the result of a life given to God. I am calling the writer of this Psalm the “Observer”. 

They do NOT see the inner battles and the turmoil the king had to undergo on his way to victory. THAT is Psalm 22 – more on that later. 

From the observers point of view, God and the King are intrinsically linked together. The observer is in awe of how God has blessed the King with victory after victory. He sees the king pray, and then he sees the Lord answer. This Psalm is an outsider’s view of a believer who is pursuing God. This Psalm is “outside looking in”. Psalm 22 will be “inside looking out”. May I be so fortunate as to inspire folks who observe my life to think like this observer does.

The Observer’s Point of View – “Outside Looking In”

1 The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.
    How great is his joy in the victories you give!

2 You have granted him his heart’s desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips.

The observer had heard the king pray, and saw the Lord’s answer.

In perhaps the darkest period in my life, midst the greatest personal failure of my life – which I am now calling my Psalm 22 period – I experienced my Psalm 21. While I agonized internally, I worshipped and declared God’s sovereignty and grace externally. At one point during this period, my son and daughter-in-law were living with us as their house was being built. I had just been fired, and was entering bankruptcy. There were no jobs in my industry forthcoming, and I was undergoing a seismic shift in the direction my employment was taking. In the midst of all of this, I was reading the Bible, praying, keeping a “stiff upper lip” as my parents would call it. Every morning I would get up, have breakfast, read my Bible, get dressed and head out the door to look for work. My daughter-in-law saw me leaving and asked where I was going. I told her “I’m going to work.” She looked at me, surprised “You have a job?” I responded, “my job is finding a job.” Her response fueled my heart for months to come when she said “I hope your son turns out to be half the man you are.” I had to leave before she saw me cry. She saw the Psalms 21 side of me, while inside I was full-tilt Psalms 22. Later, my son would tell me that my “never say die” attitude when it comes to providing for my family is a huge inspiration to him. Wow. They didn’t see the Psalm 22 boiling deep inside me. They saw Psalm 21. To say I am humbled by that would be a huge understatement.

The Observer sees you Pray

3 You came to greet him with rich blessings
    and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
    length of days, for ever and ever.

The observer sees God give the victor’s crown to the king, and he sees and hears the king’s prayer for life, and witnesses God answering that prayer. My children and wife saw me pray. They heard me pray. And they saw God answer.

The Observer Sees Your Loyalty

5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
    you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings
    and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7 For the king trusts in the Lord;
    through the unfailing love of the Most High
    he will not be shaken.

The observer sees the king’s loyalty to God, and sees his unwavering devotion. In the observer’s eyes, the king is unshakeable. The observer sees the joy of the Lord in the king’s life in the midst of the battles the king is fighting. Much of the reputation of the Lord spills over into the reputation of the king as the king comes through his battle(s).

Step by step, over approximately two years, my family witnessed blessing after blessing as God provided food, employment, deliverance from the bankruptcy court… blessings in every area. I look back at that time and I am in awe at what the Lord did.

The Observer Sees the Future

Based on his observations of what the Lord has done to and through the king, the observer can look to the future and say:

8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;
    your right hand will seize your foes.

9 When you appear for battle,
    you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
    and his fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
    their posterity from mankind.

11 Though they plot evil against you
    and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12 You will make them turn their backs
    when you aim at them with drawn bow.

Based on the track record of the Lord in my family, we all have confidence that He will do in the future what He has done in the past – He will “surround me with His favor, like a shield” (Psalm 5:12). As we seek first His Kingdom, all we need will be provided for us (Mt 6:33).

The Observer Worships

Finally, as a result of observing the dance between the king and God, the observer himself can say:

13 Be exalted in your strength, Lord;
    we will sing and praise your might.

We all have observers in and around us. We will always have battles and struggles. Our challenge is to live in such a way as the observers are pointed to God as the source of our strength, as this observer in this Psalm is.

Blessings!

Paige