Hebrew word study – petitions – sha’al   שאל shin aleph lamed

Psalms 20:5: “We will rejoice in thy salvation and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners and the Lord will fulfill all thy petitions.”

This Psalm was written just before David went to war against the Assyrians.  The Assyrians were considered invincible with their chariots and their specially bred horses. It took 20 years to breed these horses and they were bred for one purpose only, to pull their war chariots. No nation had such war material and all were 20 years away from producing such war material, even Israel. No nation, not even Israel, had an army that could stand against such advanced weaponry. But David declares that some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but “we will remember the name of God” (verse 7).  

This Psalm is written in a dialogue form. As David offered up a sacrifice in the tabernacle the people prayed in David’s behalf in the first three verses. The fourth verse is spoken by the priest and the fifth verse by David with the last clause: “The Lord will fulfill all thy petitions,” spoken by the high priest.  

Keep in mind that the word salvation here is not in reference to our soul salvation but in the deliverance from the oppressive enemy who seemingly had the advantage. David is saying that they will rejoice in this deliverance. The word rejoice is from the root word ranan which means to shout with joy. But the verbal form of the word is in a Piel imperfect form with a paragogic Hei. This implies not only a shout for joy but dancing and singing for joy. I will leave it to the imagination of my former Advanced Hebrew students to find a proper rendering for this. For you who have not been in my Hebrew class think about the idea of shouting for joy and then intensify that shout for joy and once you find something to describe that intensity of joy think about a joy more intense than that and you have a Piel with a paragogic. Esoteric rabbis tend to take David’s use of the paragogic Hei in a mystical direction. They see that Hei at the end of the word as the manifestation of God. Ancient Jewish sages indicated that the use of the word ranan with the paragogic Hei is telling us that in this rejoicing there is the knowledge that right here, before you and in you is the expression of the manifestation of God.” In other words David is declaring that when victory comes they will not just simply shout for joy, they will declare that this victory is an expression of the manifestation of God.  It was the coming victory that David was getting excited about, it was the opportunity to declare to the Assyrian army: “You see there, your mighty chariots and horses, mean nothing when they come against the manifestation of God Jehovah.”   

Sometimes when I present my petitions to the Lord I have to really ask myself: “Do I want a response to my petition for my own sake or am I seeking an opportunity to showcase the God that I love and serve. To David victory was secondary to his desire to show off the might and beauty of His God.

With that in mind David declares that he will set up his banners.  The banners are the battle flag. These flags would bear symbols or words that would declare who or what they were fighting for. We do not know what was inscribed on the battle flags or banners 

that David’s army carried, but from this verse we do know it declared the name of God.  We know that the Maccabees inscribed their name on their battle flag (mem, kap, beth, yod) which is an acronym for Exodus 15:11 “Who is like Jehovah among the gods.”   Perhaps that is what was on the banner or battle flag that David’s army carried into battle.

Upon making this statement the high priest then declared: “The Lord will fulfill all your petitions.” If we go into battle in the name of the Lord and with the desire to bring all the glory to God, He will fulfill all our petitions. The word petition is mishalotheka from the root word sha’al. This is in a construct state to kol which is the word for all. Note the prepositional prefix Mem on mishalotheka and the 2nd person singular (not plural) masculine ending. This is very significant for the high priest was not referring to the petitions of the people or the nation, but to David’s own specific petitions. Look a the spelling of the root word sha’al. You have a Shin which speaks of God’s passionate and Divine power. This followed by the Aleph which is the letter for God.  This ends with a   Lamed which encourages us to learn and know. This combination of letters suggest that the petition that David is asking for is the power of God to be demonstrated for the sole purpose of learning or knowing God. 

When David offered his petition to God for the sole purpose of bringing glory to His name and to know Him, the high priest could confidently declare that God would fulfill his petition.  Perhaps there is a lesson in this that when we offer our petitions to God for the sole purpose of bringing glory to His name to help us know Him, our High Priest, Jesus Christ can declare that God will fulfill all our petitions.

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