Psalms 20:5-6

20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your ¹  victory;

we will rejoice ²  in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all your requests!

20:6 Now I am sure ³  that the Lord will deliver ⁴  his chosen king; ⁵ 

he will intervene for him ⁶  from his holy heavenly temple, ⁷ 

and display his mighty ability to deliver. ⁸ 

[20:5]  ¹ sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).

[20:5]  ² tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).

[20:6]  ³ tn Or “know.”

[20:6]  ⁴ tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the Lord typically delivers the king.

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.

[20:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “he will answer him.”

[20:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”

[20:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).