Commentary - Psalm 21:1-7

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 21 is the other bookend to Psalm 20. In the previous psalm, the people prayed for the king's victory before the battle. Here, in this psalm, they are celebrating the victory that God has granted. It is a psalm of royal thanksgiving. The relationship is simple: Psalm 20 is "we will" and Psalm 21 is "He has." The prayers offered have been answered, and the result is exultation in God. This psalm is thoroughly Messianic, which is to say that while it certainly had an immediate application to King David, its ultimate fulfillment is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Son of David. The joy, the salvation, the crown, the long life, and the glory described here all point far beyond David's own experience to the triumph of Christ's resurrection and ascension. The central theme is that the king's strength, joy, and stability are not found in himself, but are entirely a result of God's strength, salvation, and lovingkindness. The king's trust is in Yahweh, and therefore he is not shaken. This is a pattern for all believers, but it is supremely true of the King of kings.

The psalm breaks down into two main sections. The first part (vv. 1-7) is a celebration of the blessings God has bestowed upon the king. The second part (vv. 8-13) is a confident prophecy of the king's future victories over his enemies, which are understood to be God's victories. Our passage deals with the first section, a catalogue of answered prayer and lavish grace poured out upon the Lord's anointed.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 21 is a direct companion to Psalm 20. They are a matched pair. Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king before a battle, a litany of petitions for God's help and deliverance. Psalm 21 is the shout of praise after the battle has been won. You can see the direct correspondence: Psalm 20:4 says, "May he grant you your heart's desire," and Psalm 21:2 says, "You have given him his heart's desire." Psalm 20:5 says, "May Yahweh fulfill all your petitions," and Psalm 21:2 says, "You have not withheld the request of his lips." This psalm, like Psalms 2 and 110, is a Royal Psalm, focusing on the office and person of the Davidic king. These psalms are crucial for our understanding of the Bible's Christology. The New Testament authors saw these psalms not as occasional poems about David that could be conveniently applied to Jesus, but as direct prophecies about the coming Messiah, whose life and ministry fulfilled them perfectly. David was a type, a shadow, but Christ is the substance. This psalm therefore instructs the church on how to celebrate the victory of her ascended and reigning King, Jesus Christ.

Key Issues

The King's Gladness

Joy is a central theme of the Christian life, but it is a particular kind of joy. It is not a flimsy optimism based on circumstances, but a robust gladness that is rooted in the character and actions of God. Here, the king's joy is not in his own prowess, his military genius, or the strength of his armies. His gladness is located "in Your strength," and he rejoices "in Your salvation." This is a crucial distinction. If our joy is in our own strength, it will fail when our strength fails. If our joy is in our circumstances, it will evaporate when the circumstances turn sour. But if our joy is in God's strength, it is as unshakeable as He is. The king is glad because he knows that the victory was not his own achievement, but a gift from God. This is the essence of true worship: recognizing that every good thing, every victory, every blessing, flows from the hand of a gracious God, and then returning glad-hearted praise to Him for it. This is supremely true of Christ, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, and whose ultimate joy is in the salvation accomplished by the strength of His Father.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 O Yahweh, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!

The psalm opens with a declaration that directs our attention to the proper source of all royal authority and happiness. The king is glad, but the reason for his gladness is not found within himself. The ground of his joy is the strength of Yahweh. He does not rejoice in his own might, but in God's might. Furthermore, his great rejoicing is in God's salvation. He knows that deliverance from his enemies is not something he engineered, but something God provided. This sets the theme for the entire psalm. All the blessings that follow are to be understood as flowing from this source. This is a foundational principle of godly leadership. A godly king, or any leader, knows that his position and success are derivative. He is a steward of a strength that is not his own. This points us directly to Christ, the ultimate King, whose entire ministry was one of dependence on and obedience to the Father. His joy was in doing the Father's will and seeing the Father's salvation accomplished through Him.

2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

This is the direct answer to the prayer in the previous psalm. In Psalm 20:4, the people prayed, "May He grant you your heart's desire." Here, the prayer is answered. God has looked into the king's heart, seen his desire for victory and righteousness, and granted it. Not only the deep desires of the heart, but also the spoken requests of the lips have been fulfilled. This shows a beautiful harmony between the king's will and God's will. The king is not asking for selfish things; his desires are aligned with God's purposes, and so God delights to grant them. This is a promise for all believers whose delight is in the Lord (Ps 37:4). When our hearts desire what God desires, our prayers become potent. The Selah invites us to pause and reflect on this marvelous truth: the God of the universe listens to and answers the prayers of those who are His.

3 For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head.

The word "meet" here can also be translated as "go before" or "prevent." God does not wait for the king to earn His favor. He comes out to meet the king, proactively loading him with good blessings. God is the initiator. One of these blessings is a crown of fine gold. This refers to the king's coronation, a visible sign of his authority and God's favor. For David, this was a literal crown. For Christ, it points to His ascension, when He was crowned with glory and honor (Heb 2:9) and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The crown is of "fine gold," the purest and most precious metal, signifying the supreme value and righteousness of the King's reign.

4 He asked life of You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever.

In the midst of battle, the most fundamental request is for life, to be spared from death. David asked for his life, and God granted it. But the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, goes much further. The gift of life is magnified into "length of days forever and ever." This clearly transcends the lifespan of any mortal king. David died and was buried. This is a direct prophecy of the resurrection and eternal reign of the Messiah. Jesus asked for life, not just for deliverance from the cross, but for resurrection life on the other side of it. The Father gave it to Him, and He now lives forever and ever, as the king of an eternal kingdom. He is the one who holds the keys of death and Hades, and because He lives, we shall live also.

5 His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You bestow upon him.

The king has glory, splendor, and majesty, but again, the source is emphasized. His glory is not inherent; it is "great through Your salvation." It is a derived, reflected glory. God is the one who bestows, or lays upon him, splendor and majesty. These are attributes of God Himself, and He shares them with His anointed king. For David, this meant a glorious and renowned kingdom. But for Christ, this points to the glory He now possesses as the exalted Lord of the cosmos. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. The splendor of His kingdom and the majesty of His person are the direct result of the salvation God the Father accomplished through His death and resurrection.

6 For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.

The blessings are not temporary. God has set the king to be "most blessed forever." The Hebrew is literally "you set him to be blessings forever." The king is not just a recipient of blessing; he becomes a source of blessing for his people and for the nations. This is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:2). And where is the apex of this blessing found? It is in the presence of God. God makes the king "joyful with gladness in Your presence." The ultimate reward is not the crown, the long life, or the glory, but unmediated fellowship with God Himself. This is the heart of eternal life. In God's presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:11). This is the state of our ascended King, and it is the future hope of all who are in Him.

7 For the king trusts in Yahweh, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

This verse provides the foundation for everything that has come before. Why does the king receive all these blessings? "For the king trusts in Yahweh." Faith is the channel through which God's blessings flow. Trust is the anchor of the soul. And this trust is not placed in a vague deity, but in Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God. The result of this trust is unshakable stability. But notice, it is not the trust itself that holds him steady. It is "through the lovingkindness of the Most High" that he will not be shaken. The word for lovingkindness is hesed, which means covenant loyalty, steadfast love, unfailing mercy. The king's faith lays hold of God's faithfulness. His stability is not based on the strength of his own grip, but on the unbreakable nature of the God he is gripping. Because God's covenant love will never fail, the king who trusts in that love will never be moved.

Application

This psalm is a glorious celebration of the ascended King, Jesus Christ. As Christians, our lives are to be a continual echo of this psalm. Our King has already won the decisive victory. He has been crowned with gold. He has been granted life forevermore. He is seated in the presence of the Father, full of joy. And because we are united to Him by faith, His victory is our victory.

First, this means our joy must be located in the right place. We are not to rejoice in our own accomplishments, our spiritual progress, or our favorable circumstances. We are to rejoice in God's strength and in His salvation. Our gladness must be a gospel gladness, rooted in the finished work of Christ. When we are tempted to despair because of our weakness, we must look to His strength. When we are tempted to fear because of our troubles, we must look to His salvation.

Second, we see the importance of trust. The entire structure of blessing in this psalm rests on the foundation of the king's trust in Yahweh. We are called to the same radical trust. We are to trust that God's covenant love, His hesed, is for us in Jesus Christ. It is this trust, grabbing hold of His faithfulness, that will keep us from being shaken when the winds and waves of life beat against us. Our stability does not come from our own white-knuckled efforts, but from resting in the unchanging character of our God.

Finally, this psalm should fuel our worship and our confidence. Our King reigns. He has defeated sin and death. He is blessed forever, and He is the source of all our blessings. Therefore, we can come to God with confidence, knowing that in Christ, He has already met us with the blessings of good things. We can face the future without fear, knowing that through the lovingkindness of the Most High, we, along with our King, will not be shaken.