May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.
Psalm 20:4 NLT
We can learn a lot about the character of God by observing how others interact with Him. Psalm 20 reveals the expectations of David when he as King represents his people before God. Imagine for a moment that you have arrived at our Christian bookstore, Het Goede Boek in Leuven, and you discover a wealthy businessman in the area has offered to pay for whatever your family wants from the coffee bar that day. And one of your children says they want a deluxe hot chocolate. And the barista replies, “Yes sir we have that and I will make it for you right away, would you like that with a free delicious vegan brownie or super yummy lactose free big chocolate chip cookie? You have learned a lot about what’s on offer from the coffee bar. You have not learned everything we have on the menu but some items have been revealed to you. When they come you can inspect further the very nature of what HGB Leuven thinks is yummy or deluxe. So is it with the Psalm 20’s blessings prayer of David. Because David askes that it may be so we can know that it is on the menu of God’s character.
Main Point: We can learn about the character of God by seeing what David asks of him and expects from him. God's character is revealed in the requests of His children.
I’ll just take this prayer of blessing and re-word to reflect David’s presuppositions and expectations based on his understanding of God's character and ways of working.
God answers in the day of trouble!
God’s name sets you securely on high!
God sends you help from the sanctuary
God supports you from Zion!
God remembers all your offerings (Hebrews)
God finds your sacrifices acceptable!
God grants rest Selah.
God can grant you your heart’s desire.
God can make your plans succeed.
God can fill you with joyful songs.
God gives you victory
God’s name is victorious and worthy of celebration.
God answers prayers.
God saves His chosen one, His king, Jesus.
God answers.
God is in heaven.
God has saving strength.
God is worthy of praise and our confidence in him.
God raises up His own.
God can save.
God is the king who answers and hears us call.
If we look at the prayers of Jesus in the New Testament, we have a perfect view of God the Father. We know that Jesus knew His Father perfectly and He would only ask in accordance with God's will.
God reveals who He is by showing us what He can do and what we can ask of Him.
John 17 is a prayer that reveals much about the character of God. Or the Lord’s Prayer, that He taught His disciples to pray, is a rich work of theological revelation. Matthew 6:9–13, Luke 11:2–4.
Conclusion:
Look at the blessings and prayers of God’s people in the Bible and you’ll discover more about the character of God.
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