Psalm 3 Confidence in God

 

Introduction

When troubles come where is your confidence? In who or what do you turn to when life just seems too difficult?

In Psalm 3 we learn that our confidence must be in God through Christ. In Christ we turn to God as our provider and protector- the One who has saved us and will bring us to Glory. Whatever we may face we rejoice in the blessing of salvation and rest in the God who keeps His People and His Promises.

To truly appreciate this Psalm and its deeper meaning we must take note of the title of the Psalm: A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. In these words, we learn that David, the anointed King, wrote this psalm at one of the lowest points of his life and his reign.

We can read of this terrible and dramatic episode in 2 Samuel 15 to 16- David’s handsome, self-centred son, Absalom, had stolen the hearts of the people and led a popular rebellion to take the throne. In response David had to flee Jerusalem in disgrace- chased barefoot across the Kidron Valley.

David’s life had been turned upside down- forced from his home and his throne by his own son. David, and his beleaguered band, sought refuge across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives. And it is there that David probably penned Psalm 3.

 

 

These words, then, are the divinely inspired cry of a man facing a major life crisis. The faith of Psalm 3 is forged in the hot furnace of death and betrayal- David writes of a literal deliverance that points us to our ultimate deliverance.

David felt utterly overwhelmed by the sheer weight of opposition. But, as David looks to God, he is strengthened. David can sleep peacefully when he remembers who God is and what He does. David, calmed and strengthened by God, finishes with a prayer for personal deliverance and national blessing.

And so, we can understand Psalm 3 like this:

A Desperate Cry (verses 1 to 2)

A Declaration of Confidence (verses 3 to 4)

A Deep Sense of Security (verses 5 to 6)

David’s Prayer (verses 7 to 8)

Psalm 3 provides a model of faith for us to follow when we face times of turmoil and disorientation. But, more importantly, Psalm 3 takes us to Christ and the confidence we have in God through Him.

So, let us turn and consider, firstly… A Desperate Cry

In verses 1 to 2 we read:

¹ Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
² Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”

Here we read of a king under terrible pressure. David is completely outnumbered and overwhelmed. Notice how the pressure rises with the threefold repetition of ‘many’.

Firstly, David has many foes. At the start of Absalom’s rebellion, a messenger comes to David and says, ‘The hearts of the people are with Absalom’. In other words: Your ratings are at rock bottom; you are on your own; you are heavily outnumbered. David’s enemies came out of the woodwork. Anyone who had a grudge against him rallied to Absalom to get their revenge. And the general population was carried away in the emotion of it all.

Secondly, we see that these ‘many’ enemies are now active- they ‘rise up’ in rebellion. They act on their hostility. In a way, the cosmic hostility to God’s King that we read of in Psalm 2 is now given concrete expression in Absalom’s rebellion.

But the climax is in verse 2. The worst thing that these ‘many’ foes are doing is speaking. David faced betrayal and death, but worst of all was the accusation that God had abandoned him. The very worst thing about the king’s pressures, the thing that causes him to cry out desperately, is the suggestion that God will no longer keep His covenant with His anointed King.

Why would David feel this way?

Well in 2 Samuel 16 we learn that as David fled a man called Shimei pelted him with stones and shouted something like: Don’t bother praying, God won’t listen to you after all you’ve done. Now you’re getting what you deserve you murdering scoundrel. With a conscience already fragile after the Bathsheba episode this taunt must have compounded David’s feelings of doubt and desolation. This was a serious attack- poisoning the very roots of the Davids’s confidence in God’s covenant with him.

When you and I have sinned, it is easy to fall into this trap of our ultimate foe. We may be tempted to think God no longer wants anything to do with us. This is the taunt of the Enemy- his ploy to make us desperate and hopeless, to poison our confidence in God’s gospel promises.

Notice that David’s complaint ends with the little word ‘Selah’. Here we are mean to pause and consider.

But what are we to consider? Our own pressures and how we respond? Well, yes. But not straight away. Instead, we must remember that these are firstly the words of David- the anointed King- God’s King to whom was promised a worldwide triumph; but who now experiences a stolen kingdom.

And then we look to great David’s greater Son- the ultimate King who knew what it was to have many foes. We have seen already in the Gospel According to Mark that Jesus endured the opposition of the religious establishment and the hostility of the political powers that be. Eventually, the occupying forces of Rome condemned Him to a shameful death. This King knew what it was to be watched by hostile eyes, to be plotted against by powerful enemies, and finally to be mocked on the Cross: “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! (Matthew 27 verses 42 to 43).

This is where you and I come into the story. On the Cross King Jesus prays; the King is given victory; and the result is blessing for His People. When the King is delivered, His People experience the blessings that overflow from His triumph. As People of the King- united to Him by faith- we identify with the King and share in His triumph. And so, we can cry out to God in our distress and seek His help in humble confidence.

In verses 1 and 2 David cries out under pressure. His experience may not be our direct experience, but as one of King Jesus’ loyal People, we must expect pressures in this fallen world. Throughout the New Testament we learn that Followers of Jesus will suffer with Jesus their King.

The pressures we face, the things that cause us to cry out desperately, may be temptations from within- greed, impure thoughts, bitterness or resentment. Or, the pressures we face may be sadness, sickness, suffering, or the sheer difficulties of keeping going as a Believer. In all these pressures we cry out to our King who has overcome.

We must not be surprised when we face these pressures. Instead, we cry out to God, and look to Him; and as we do so, we will come to… A Declaration of Confidence

In verses 3 to 4 we read:

³ But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
⁴ I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

While our reaction in times of trouble may be to focus on the problem we are facing and hope we might solve it, David has a different way. David turns his focus to his God- who He is, what He has done, and what He will do. Instead of playing scenarios around in his head, David meditates upon the truths of the faith.

 

 

 

David knows God as his Protector- He is a ‘shield around’ David. Though surrounded by a multitude who want him dead, David rests in the protection of his God. He knows that God has his back and that no harm will come to him. God has bonded Himself to David by covenant and He will let no true harm come to His chosen one- so David is not afraid but puts his confidence in his Covenant God.

David also knows God as his Provider. David declares that God will provide him with ‘glory’, or dignity. David finds his worth in his relationship with God not in his position as king or in the wealth and power he held. David found his worth in the Lord his God, the Lord was enough for him- David’s focus was on the Lord, not on the things of this world.

David knew that God would ‘lift his head’- God would publicly honour David as His anointed King. David had confidence in God’s promises and trusted that he would not be humiliated or defeated by Absalom. Instead, he would have the victory and be returned to his rightful place.

David entrusted everything to His God because he knew his God would answer him when he called out to Him- He will answer ‘from His holy mountain’. David trusted that God would keep His promise of 2 Samuel 7- that He would establish his kingdom and put one of his descendants on a throne forever. David was sure that God would answer His King, because He has made a covenant with His King.

David’s confident declaration, then, depended on the covenant promises of God to His anointed King- not on David’s goodness or circumstances. David had confidence that his God would answer him because, as the anointed King, he claimed the promise of Psalm 2 verse 8:

⁸ Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.

King Jesus- great David’s greater Son, the true Anointed King, the Messiah- likewise trusted the promise of His Father that He would be King over all the earth.

And so, we see that the blessings and promises of verses 3 and 4 come first to the King, and then to His People through Him. In Christ we inherit the promises of God, but only in Christ, to whom those promises were made.

If we suffer the pressures with King Jesus, we will share in the glory of our King; as we read in Romans 8 verse 17:

¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

In Christ we know God as our shield and protector, our dignity and glory- we are Children of God. In Christ we are brought into the covenant blessings of the Gospel. And it is in these truths that we confidently declare our trust in God in every circumstance.

This confident declaration leads to… A Deep Sense of Security

I wonder if you are a good sleeper?

Some people have that amazing ability to fall asleep anywhere, at any time. Others will struggle for sleep even in the most comfortable of beds in the dark of night. And I am sure most of us have experienced a sleepless night that comes from the stresses of work, or parenthood, or waiting for results of tests.

In the context of Psalm 3 David had every reason to struggle for sleep- his throne taken from him by his own son, he was on the run, and hunted by an apparently endless supply of foes. And yet, in verses 5 to 6 we read:

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.

David’s confidence in his Covenant God brought him a deep sense of security. David declares the truth about God and then he enjoys the assurance of that truth.

David’s sleep is stunning evidence that he is trusting in God and resting in His promises. Overcome with threats, outnumbered by enemies, David lies down and sleeps- confident he will wake again. He allowed his body to rest because his soul was at peace- he knew that the His God was the eternal Helper and Keeper. As we read in Psalm 121 earlier:

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

David knew the great God of the universe as his helper and protector- what a blessing!

 

 

 

And this was a blessing that great David’s greater Son knew also. In the Gospels we see another King, surrounded by great pressures, resting in trust. In Mark we saw Him sleeping on the boat as the storm raged. We also see Him sleep night after night as many seek His life and His great Enemy prowls like a lion seeking to devour Him. Finally, at just the right time, we watch Him give Himself up to His enemies, sleep the sleep of death, confident that the Lord will awaken Him, as He did that first Easter morning.

And so, our sense of security when the pressures of life weigh heavy on us comes from our union with the King who has endured and overcome the ultimate pressures of this life. In Christ we enjoy the assurance that comes from belonging to the One who has conquered death and dealt with sin. We rejoice in all circumstances because we have that deep sense of security that comes from the forgiveness of sin and welcome into the Family of God.

And this deep sense of security will lead us to pray as David did… David’s Prayer.

When we look around at life both personally and globally it can be tempting to lose our confidence in God. So, we must take the words of Psalm 3 to heart.

Remember, David is still in the midst of dire circumstances- Absalom is still pursuing him and his life is still under threat. And yet, David does not lose his confidence in God. In verse 7 we read:

⁷ Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

David echoed the war cry of God’s People: Arise, Lord! He prays for God to deliver him, to break the teeth of his enemies. David sees his enemies as wild beasts and he wants God to de-fang them so they can no longer devour their prey.

Here we are reminded to trust in the Lord and take our worries, concerns, and relational strife to God- to allow Him to work out His perfect purposes and deliver His perfect justice in His perfect timing.

David trusted God would rescue him, and He did, although the rest of David’s reign was in many ways disappointing. So what David affirmed here would find its true fulfilment in the reign of a later King who would also be mocked, killed, seemingly defeated; and yet finally vindicated in His ultimate victory.

Jesus is the King who was delivered, raised from death itself, lifted up in glory, ascending to the Father’s right hand, and given all authority, and the name above every name. In Christ, our enemies- the world, the flesh, and the devil- have been defeated. In Christ we are set free to live for our King.

In verse 8 we have a truth that is worth pondering:

⁸ From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

This is not simply a nice little ‘add-on’. Instead, it ties the whole Psalm together. God would bless His People through the King they had rejected.

 

 

By delivering David from their foolish rebellion, God did them good: He kept His promises to His Anointed King. In a more glorious way, by delivering Christ from His foes at the Cross, God did all His People the greatest good: He worked salvation for His Chosen People through His Chosen King. The blessing of Salvation is now ours all because of what God has done.

 

Conclusion

When troubles come where is your confidence?

If you are in Christ then you can answer this question with these marvellous words: From the Lord comes deliverance.

In Christ we should expect to encounter overwhelming pressures that cause us to cry out desperately. But, in Christ, we can confidently declare that the Lord is our Protector and Provider- the One who keeps His People and His Promises, the One who has defeated our enemies through His Anointed King. In Christ we enjoy the assurance of sin dealt with and death defeated- we share in His ultimate victory. In Christ today we rejoice with confidence in our God who has won for us every spiritual blessing in the age and the age to come.