Psalm 20 is the 20th psalm of the Book of Psalms.

The 70 words in this psalm are a reference to the 70 years of exile between the first and second temples. It has been inserted into daily prayer following the loss of the second temple to symbolize the somber period prior to the construction of the third temple.

Uses in Judaism

The religion of Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 uses this Psalm in several ways:

• The psalm is recited in its entirety as a part of daily prayer (except on Shabbat
  Shabbat
  Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
  
  , Yom Tov, Rosh Chodesh
  Rosh Chodesh
  Rosh Chodesh or Rosh ḥodesh is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the new moon. The new moon is marked by the day and hour that the new crescent is observed...
  
  , Chol Hamoed
  Chol HaMoed
  Chol HaMoed, a Hebrew phrase meaning "weekdays [of] the festival" , refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. During Chol HaMoed the usual restrictions that apply to the Biblical Jewish holidays are relaxed, but not entirely eliminated...
  
  , Tisha B'Av
  Tisha B'Av
  |Av]],") is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date...
  
  , Hanukkah
  Hanukkah
  Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
  
  , Purim
  Purim
  Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
  
  , Shushan Purim, the 14th and 15th of Adar I, and the days before Yom Kippur
  Yom Kippur
  Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
  
   and Passover
  Passover
  Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
  
  ).

• Verses 2 and 10 are part of the opening paragraph of the long Tachanun
  Tachanun
  Tachanun or , also called nefillat apayim is part of Judaism's morning and afternoon services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services...
  
   recited on Mondays and Thursdays.

• Verse 10 is the 11th verse of V'hu Rachum in Pesukei Dezimra, is the final verse of Yehi Kivod
  Yehi Kivod
  Yehi kevod is a prayer recited daily during Pesukei Dezimra prior to Ashrei...
  
   in Pesukei Dezimra, is found in Uva Letzion
  Uva Letzion
  Uva letzion are the Hebrew opening words, and colloquially the name, of the closing prayer of the weekday morning service, before which one should not leave the synagogue...
  
  , is the second of two verses recited as an introduction at Maariv
  Maariv
  Maariv is a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel. It is second in sales after Yedioth Ahronoth and third in readership after Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel HaYom. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Maariv saw its market share fall slightly...
  
  , and is part of Havdalah
  Havdalah
  Havdalah is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and holidays, and ushers in the new week. Shabbat ends on Saturday night after the appearance of three stars in the sky...
  
  .

• It is also considered appropriate to recite in times of stress.

External links

• Psalm 20 at Wikisource
  Wikisource
  Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...