In Psalm 20, God's people prayed that the Lord would give their king his heart's desire (v. 4) and victory in battle (v. 5). The rest of the psalm was David's confident reply that the Lord ″gives victory to his anointed″ (v. 6). Now, in Psalm 21, David thanks God for answering this prayer. He rejoices that ″you have granted him his heart's desire″ (v. 2) and, ″through the victories you gave, his glory is great″ (v. 5).

The psalm is in two parts. In verses 1 to 7, David is thankful to God for what He has done. He has given him rich, unending blessings, kingship, long life, victory in battle, and ″made him glad with the joy of your presence″ (v. 6). David knows that these blessings are the result of a relationship between God and him. From David's end, he has continued to ″[trust] in the Lord″ (v. 7). On God's part, which is the foundation of the relationship, ″through the unfailing love of the Most High″ (v. 7) David rests secure.

In the second part of the psalm (vv. 8-12), David speaks confidently of what God will do in the future, when He finally puts an end to all His enemies.Psalm 21 is about God's king rejoicing in the Lord's strength. We can identify with much that David sings about. The Lord has blessed us abundantly, given us long life-eternal life even-and made us glad with the joy of His presence. But more than that, this psalm describes God's goodness to His anointed king.

Now, read this psalm again. As you do, see how all these words will be perfectly fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. He knows joy in His Father's presence, deeper than any other person. God has placed on His head a crown; indeed, on Jesus' head are many crowns (Revelation 19:12). One day, all His enemies will be destroyed, ″for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet″ (1 Corinthians 15:25).

Where are you and I in Psalm 21? We are the wonderful benefactors of all God's blessings to His king. Our loving Lord won all these victories for us! So, Jesus invites us to ″come and share your master's happiness″ (Matthew 25:21).