Read Psalm 21 at Bible Gateway.
Psa 21 Hebrew paragraph divisions:
For the Leader. A Psalm of David.
Psa 21:1 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
Psa 21:2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
Psa 21:3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
Psa 21:4 He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—Length of days forever and ever.
Psa 21:5 His glory is great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
Psa 21:6 For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.
Psa 21:7 For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.
Psa 21:8 Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You.
Psa 21:9a, You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; {n}
Psa 21:9b, The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them.
Psa 21:10 Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of men.
Psa 21:11 For they intended evil against You; They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
Psa 21:12 Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.
Psa 21:13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power. {p}
Psa 21 chiastic structure:
1a) Psa 21:1, The king shall have joy + greatly rejoice in Your strength + salvation, O Lord;
1b) Psa 21:2-6, The good things the Lord has done for the king;
central axis) Psa 21:7, The king trusts in the Lord/ through His mercy he shall not be moved;
2b) Psa 21:8-12, The fearful judgments the Lord will do for His enemies;
2a) Psa 21:13, Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power.
There are two things that stand out in the psalm, that paints a stark contrast between the king who is receiving the blessing of the Lord on his life, and the Lord’s enemies. The while the king’s blessings are in the present, by the way, the judgments in store for the Lord’s enemies are in the future. I believe this is because the Lord delays judgment because of His love; He gives the greatest amount of time possible, so that those of His enemies who will repent, can be transformed by the new birth into someone He can pour blessings on. Even the fact that He withholds judgment is a blessing for the wicked, which they do not acknowledge.
But two things that characterize the king. He is grateful. He pays attention and is aware of the good things the Lord is doing in his life, and he is not shy or slow to remind himself and everyone else what they are, and to praise the Lord for them. And David also realizes, that when you come of the end of your list of things for which to thank Him, that He has done for you, you can start in on the list of God’s magnificent attributes (we will sing and praise Your power!). You know, this is David, who spent eight years as an outlaw in his own land, that he was the anointed king over, hunted by Saul, even though he had done nothing wrong. His wife was taken from him; he had to hide his parents in Moab to prevent Saul from retaliating against them to get to him. He even had to go live among the Philistines and serve their king because of it! Don’t let anyone tell you that David did not know hardship, suffering, and loss. And yet his gratitude, his praise was a defining trait.
He is trusting in the Lord no matter what is going on in his life. He relies on the Lord’s mercy, on the knowledge that mercy, deliverance, and good things will come, in the midst of aforementioned hardship, suffering, and loss, so that he is not moved by his circumstances, no matter what they are. This psalm praises God’s great strength and power. No matter the circumstance, God is greater still, and able to exercise His great strength and power to effect change. David was an unshaken and steadfast rock in the middle of life’s storms, because of his trust in the unshaken and steadfast rock of the Lord’s mercy and salvation. ♥
Thank you so much Christine for your inspiring and thorough work. I am an Australian living and serving in Indonesia, where the LORD called us over 30 years ago. I will really miss your work when our internet access is cut off for refusing to take ‘the mark’. I have been meditating upon Psalm 21 ever since I recognised that it has some of the same expressions as Psalm 2, which is the letter of notice to those who don’t like God and the way He does things, especially the death penalty for rebellion part, and are scheming to take over the world and displace God from his place of sovereign rule. This morning the Lord opened my eyes to see more of the design and purpose of the author, David and the One who moved him to create and write this poem. Psalm 21 reveals how all people are ultimately divided into two camps, those who can’t get enough of God and His presence, like David, (we meet those in this camp in the first half of the psalm) and those who can’t stand anything to do with God and who make their plans and schemes to find ways to put a spanner in the works (we meet these in the second half). Those in both camps get more than they ever bargained for! Those who long for Him get much more of Him and His goodness than they could ever imagine, while those who detest Him learn too late what a totally disastrous course they embarked on and lose everything. Here’s my provisional title: The foretold exact opposite outcomes for those who long for God and those who hate Him.
Here’s my provisional outline of the structure of the psalm that is intended to help us grasp securely and remember what God is saying. The overall 5-part chiastic structure follows your outline, Christine, and that of the NIV study bible commentator, John H. Stek, a 5-point chiasm, but I have added my own 2 x 5-point chiasm inserts into the structure of the 2nd and 4th elements of the overall 5-point chiasm. You will see the same emphasis on the LORD and His strength in the 1st and 5th (last) elements of the overall 5-point chiasm, and the 3rd point, in the middle (v7) is the element that David and God want to highlight, our trust in Him and His mercy towards us.
1. The king shall have joy + greatly rejoice in Your strength + salvation, O LORD; (1)
2. The good things the LORD has ALREADY done for the king; (2-6)
1. YOU have already given the king his greatest desire/request (2)
2. YOU meet him with rich blessings, YOU set a crown of fine gold on his head (3)
3. CENTRE: The king’s request for life granted forever and ever (4)
2’ YOUR salvation make his glory great, YOU bestow splendour and majesty on him (5)
1’ YOU make the king most blessed forever with gladness in the joy of YOUR presence (6)
3. CENTRE: The king trusts in the LORD/ through His mercy he shall not be moved; (7)
2’ The fearful judgments the LORD will YET do for His enemies; (8-12)
1. YOUR right hand with find out all your enemies, those who hate YOU (8)
2. YOU LORD will make them a blazing oven when YOU appear, will swallow them up in YOUR wrath, fire will consume them (9)
3. CENTRE: YOU will destroy their descendants and offspring from the earth among the children of man (10)
2’ They will not succeed though they plan evil against YOU and devise mischief (11)
1’ YOU will put them to flight, aim at their faces with YOUR bows (12)
1’ Be exalted, O LORD, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power. (13)
Oops, something failed in the 2nd half, here’s the 5-oint chiasm witihin the 4th-point of the overall chiasm:
2’ The fearful judgments the LORD will do for His enemies; (8-12)
1. YOUR right hand with find out all your enemies, those who hate YOU (8)
2. YOU LORD will make them a blazing oven when YOU appear, will swallow them up in YOUR wrath, fire will consume them (9)
3. CENTRE: YOU will destroy their descendants and offspring from the earth among the children of man (10)
2’ They will not succeed though they plan evil against YOU and devise mischief (11)
1’ YOU will put them to flight, aim at their faces with YOUR bows (12)