The Grand Connection

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

May he grant you your heart’s desire
    and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save the king!
    May he answer us when we call.” Psalm 20

David writes a blessing based on personal experience. He’s known intimate communion with the Lord, the exquisite connection of communication from heart to heaven, and the divine response of the Holy One to earthly need. He has learned to articulate his trouble and pour out his heart’s desire, and received the Lord’s answers, protection, and granting. He has known need and offered sacrifices, and been blessed by God’s help, support, and pleased favor. He deeply trusts in his God who saves, in the might of His right hand and the power of His name. As he delineates the Lord’s goodness to him, he sings with joy and confidence, bestowing the same for all who would join the song. (Psalm 21:1-7)

And we can. We can welcome days of trouble that send us to the throne of God. We can rejoice in His name that is our firm foundation. We can offer Him our meager, knowing it’s regarded with honor. We can bring him our heart’s desires and plans as petitions, and trust Him to answer. We can establish and hold high banners of identity and victory in His name, because it can be trusted. Whatever our circumstances that cause others to faint and collapse, we can rise and stand upright in the name and presence of the Lord.

How is all this possible? Through the rent veil. Through the spilling of Christ’s blood that opens access to the throne of grace. All because of Jesus can we know and relish and abide in the grand connection. (Mark 15:37-38; Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-23)

Is this our experience? How would we describe our communion with God? What intimate give-and-take experiences have we in remembrance that can bless and encourage others? Where and when has the Lord Jesus our hope? Is His name our shield and confidence and security? (Psalm 71:5; 124:8; 1 Samuel 2:2; Lamentations 3:24)

“My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.

When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay;
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless I stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand.” ~ Edward Mote (1834)

Father, keep me ever connected to You in prayer and praise.