Fly the banners!

Psalm 20

There are numerous accounts of battles won and lands claimed almost as far back as time began. As soon as sin entered into the great story of life, the tale of good versus evil set roots on the earth.
Think of all the movies we watched and books we read as kids ~ Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King ... and on and on. 
Stories are still being created or retold, weaving the threads of lives wronged and lives rescued. Television shows and Hollywood movies continue to tell us in the comfort of our own living rooms. 
Real life itself is testimony to the same fact.
There are times of trouble.
Always have been.
King David was familiar with the good and the evil. He was pursued by a madman for years, and then after becoming king, was involved in many brutal battles.
He knew evil.
He knew trouble.
But, he also knew something else.

There is a conqueror. 
A victor over evil.
The Good.

Psalm 20 opens with a prayer of sorts, for safety, strengthening, favour, and the answer. 
And then the response.
"May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory, flying banners to honour our God." (vs.5)

I love that image of flying banners to honour the victor.
Numerous times in history, we have seen the same. When an enemy is defeated, the victor raises his flag as a sign of the victory. A sign of the triumph. A sign of hope claimed.
The symbol of raising something up is synonymous with victory ~ think of raised arms after a goal scored in a sports event, fists pumping the air; think of a hand held up with two fingers in the shape of a 'V'; think of people waving flags or pennants with their favourite team name during a sports game; think of a birthday party with streamers and banners that honour the one whose special day it is. 
And shouts of joy ensue.
We lift up those who we deem special; and those who we deem as victors. 

What joy for those who put their hope, their claim in the Lord. 
Our marriages, our families, our sicknesses, our weaknesses, our finances, our hurts ~ all to Jesus. 
We can raise our flags, our banners on each of those things. On each mountain we climb, on each fortress we scale.
What shouts of joy will rise from our lips, pouring out from our hearts. 
For there is one ultimate victor in this life. 

And He is The Good.

Lesson in the journey ... God's ultimate victory merits our ultimate banner-flying praise.