Pslam 20 – The Banners of Christ

Pslam 20:
1 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.

At work on Wednesday I decided I will take a break and it has been a while since I sat in the canteen (it was raining outside.) I leave a Bible in the canteen sitting amongst a collection of books in a sort of library they created. So I took the Bible and I do not typically do this but I prayed that God will stop the opening of the Bible on a Psalm He has chosen for me to feed on. I really wanted to allow God to take control. So I opened the Bible and I landed on Psalm 20 and I did feed much. So much that I could write about every verse in this Psalm with a Christian perspective but I will not. I will focus on that which I put in bold.

My meditation started when I read the word ‘Banners’ and I paused and had to go back and read the verse again and …. then again. I was drawn to setting up our banners in the name of our God. I thought – Banners of Christ – we should raise up our banners in the name of Jesus! The Lord will answer all of our petitions – if we ask according to His will. But listen for a minute.

Remember when Israel was in the wilderness and they camped around the tabernacle on all sides? The banners on each side were “A Lion, A Man, An Ox and an Eagle”. These banners point to God’s throne and this is how: An Angel presides over the throne of God, it is a Cherubim – the Cherubim has four faces… “A Lion, A Man, An Ox and an Eagle”. Cherubim are created to be angels of Light. Just as we should be a Light.

Just as these four Banners point to God on His throne – the Church is to be the Banner of Christ. How? We are the bride of Christ, that means we are to be in Christ and Christ in us, we are one with Christ and we are to reign with Christ. God said he will write His ‘New Covenant’ on the tables of our hearts and that is how we become His Banners, by receiving the Holy Spirit who reminds us of all things. We need to put up our Banners and point to our Lord Jesus. And if you are thinking “Hmm but this is the old testament a Psalm meant for Kings.” Just remember Jesus is the King of kings and sits on the throne. Not only do the Banners point to God’s throne but the Israelites were camped in the shape of a Cross. The Cross formation was formed by a body of men in fleshly bodies, just as God took the form of a man in the flesh – to be brutally nailed to the Cross. I can see a picture here, a body of men in their sinful flesh forming the shape of a cross, can be representative of those that Jesus came to save? I think it can represent the body of Christ, the Church Jesus gave birth to when His blood was poured out after being speared in the side.

Revelation 1:4-6
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Being Christians washed in the precious blood of Jesus qualifies us for crowns. And so we are made to be like kings ruling with and for this great King of kings. We give the crowns back to our Lord, placing them at His feet. Why? Because Jesus crushed the Head of the serpent and I believe in doing so we are acknowledging Him to be the King of kings and that all the works we might have done was all His work, not our work but He is the one who declared “It is finished”. Whatever we accomplish on Earth in His name is by His grace. That does not change the fact these crowns are given to us and we are to reign with Him as little kings. We will reign higher than the Angels and judge them. We might even judge the Cherubim.

On one particular bad day at work I went to the canteen and satan followed in disguise, because whilst getting a coffee a guy I have spoken to previously, about God, saw my tattoos on my arms. He was shocked, in disbelief, he could not fathom I have tattoos. Not because he is against tattoos but it simply did not fit who he perceived me to be. Seeing those tattoos to him is like looking at someone else and so he remarked “I can never ever look at you the same way again, you are a dark horse”. This remark bothered me because I want to reflect Jesus, I want to be a Light, I do not want to be described as Dark. Satan made me feel like a terrible sinner. Yes I have been a terrible sinner. But God made me see Good in what this guy said. Chris is his name meaning “Bearer of Christ” and although he is not saved what he said is evidence that my old life is dead and I am someone else – Born again. If I am born again then I should become the Banner of Christ. The tattoos he saw were before I knew God. God can use non believers to speak to us, by turning what satan intends for bad into a blessing. Hopefully one day this guy will realise that my bodily flesh is the old me and the me that he has known me to be is actually him seeing Christ in me. Hopefully God has used me as a Light to show him that he too can radically change.

Leon