May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your plans.
May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the Name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the Name of the Lord our God.
They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.
Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.
—Psalm 20:4-9
God forbid that I should read this psalm as though it were somehow patriotic. The proper place to thank God for one's nation is not in a military parade, but rather in the solemnity of a worship service. And such a worship service should not and cannot focus on the nation, but on the Name of the God who created it and all other nations.
Forgive me my goosebumps at anthems and marches, O God. Grant instead that I be moved by the love of your Name. In times of victory and defeat, may I thank you for your presence. For in Christ I know that defeat is no less triumphant than the longest victory march in the world. Amen.
