Reflections on Psalm 3
Salvation and The Kings constant strength
3:1-2 “Oh Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “ There is no salvation for him in God.””
The Enemy
This is coming from a man who has grown up as the youngest of his brothers. A man who was chosen as future king. A man who was chased by the current king, king Saul. A man who made grievous sinful choices. He stole a mans wife. He killed her husband. And now his own son, Absalom, has conspired against him.
The thing that is very clear in this, is the destruction sin causes in a man’s life. The sin that offered David pleasure grew to be more than a few minutes of pleasure. It grew to be a lifetime of pain. Proverbs 6:32 brings great insight when it says, “He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.” The irony of this is that Davids son, Solomon (Bathsheba’s son, who was the one involved in the adultery.) wrote this. It could be noted that Solomon knows personally the damage of sin. Sin is deadly.
Not only is sin deadly, it grows hatred in man. Foes and uprisings are a result of sins grip in our lives. Sin causes the Cains to kill the Abels. Sin is violent. And not only that, it hates God. The sin that causes the man to kill is the same sin that cause the heart to say, “God won’t save you!” This is Davids reality and it is the reality of every man and woman on the earth. We live with sin and it destroyed Davids life and will destroy ours.
The Hope
3:4-5 “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill.”
Sin is a giant. It can crush a man. It can make life seem hopeless. It can bring ridicule and pressure. Indeed it has caused men and woman to even take their own lives.
David has shown in this psalm a light. A real hope. His life was one of intense pressure. Being a king is a tough job and we can only imagine all the other things that were on his plate. But we can note some things from these couple of verses. Let us examine them:
“But You”
This little phrase says it all. It’s a hope-filled package of a phrase. Sure, people and sin are at our door. Sure it lives and infects every aspect of our lives. “But you.” That’s a saying that says, “There’s hope.”
But we have to understand who the “you” is. It can’t be just any “you.” Indeed the “you” that we choose determines everything. Men choose lots of “You.” The list is rampant. There are the “you” of self, of hobbies, of sports, of money, of health, of parents, of lovers, of leaders, of technology. The “you” matters. This little word is what determines a mans salvation. A mans hope to carry on.
But how do we decide which “you”? Well, the you has to be powerful. It has to be above us. It can’t be us.
Why?
Because the problem is us. We are the carriers of sin. We are the rebellious ones. The ones who have rejected God. We have rejected the author of life. We are the ones who are evil. Who lie, steal, murder, hate, envy, lust, manipulate for our own pleasure. This is us. We contaminate everything we touch. The you can’t be able to be contaminated by us. Like all the things in the list above.
And that means that the “but you” that we choose can’t be finite. It has to defeat the greatest enemy that sin has as a friend, the enemy of death. If it can’t carry us past this enemy, it still leaves us hopeless at the end.
For example, if a man thinks that money and stuff is the “But you.” He will find that he has to protect his hope. HE has to manage and guard it. This is already a red flag that he chose wrongly. He will find that he will inevitably contaminate it with his sin. Indeed sin will grip his hope or his “but you” and cause it to kill him. It will cause him to raise himself above others. It will make him feel autonomy. It will deceive him and the very thing that he thought would deliver him will be found to be chains around his hands and feet.
If we are bigger than our “you” we are hopeless. If he says in his heart, “Ah! But you, money will make my life great! You can get me out of everything!” But he is enslaved to work and to the management of his income. He’s a salve to his “you” and therefore he will one day lose it. When he grows old or when he loses control or when he dies. His “you” will not carry him through. It will die with him. It will even kill him. So our “You” has to be bigger than us. It has to be infinite. Not of our own creation but outside of us. Not contaminated by us.
“Oh Lord”
This is a very broad term in our culture. There are many “lords.”
When David is speaking of the “Lord” here, he’s speaking of the God of the Bible. This is controversial to some, indeed most, but if you have the wrong “Lord” you have again, the wrong “but you.”
If we read Acts 2 we hear Peter preaching to the men around him. He declares how David had seen the resurrection of Christ. He then unashamedly declares him as Lord and Christ! Because he defeated death!
So, we have a clear infinite and powerful candidate for our “but you.” David said it and indeed he saw it. Peter later declares it. If that’s not good enough, one only has to read the other witnesses of the glory of this Lord in the other men in the Bible.
David knows who is Lord. All we must do is believe him.
But more than that he mentions 3 distinct things that he clings to in his Lord.
A Shield About Me
David finds protection in his Lord. He declares it all over the psalter. He calls him a “Hiding Place” (Psalm 119:114) and God even declares it about himself in Genesis 15:1 when He speaks to Abram.
David has history to support his confidence and more than that, he has his own experience. We see this when he is a simple shepherd or when he is going up against the giant, Goliath! We see this in his battles and his passion for his God. He’s confident and even a risk-taker! What we can learn from this!
Many today find their protection and safety in the fact that they don’t live on the streets and have a stable job. (Again, things that are not able to stand or conquer death. Not a reliable “but you” ) Many find their protection in spending hours in the gym. Their “shields” are clay. They can defend only in their limits, and indeed, they are all under the hand of this Lord anyway!
David calls the Lord, “a shield about him.” And we have to admit he’s right if we want victory over sin and death.
My glory
This is something that is to be considered deeply. David is saying that the Lord is his riches, his abundance, his beauty. He considers himself well off because he has Him. He has contentment. When he sees the Lord, his heart is full. Everything about himself that he considers worthy is all the Lord his God.
This matters deeply when everything around us is falling to the ground. Indeed, if man is our glory, when they don’t approve of us, we will be crushed. We will try our hardest to please them, even at the cost of going against God. Not so with David. Everything is falling apart and his foes are against and taunting him, but he stands because the Lord is his glory.
The Lifter Of My Head
Lastly, he puts this phrase that says, “I will not be cast down. I will have my chin lifted. I will be made to look up to my only hope.”
How many sins can he be condemned with? How many can I be condemned with? The list is heavier than the earth itself. How many men can point fingers at you? At me? At David? Indeed, at every man penned down in scripture.
Without the Lord and without the hope of Christ we have no reason to lift our head. Nothing on earth has the authority to lift a man’s head. David knew this. Indeed, do we? Who’s going to lift the head of the depressed? Of the single parents? Of the loss of children or loved ones? Of those who commit the worst of sins? Who is your “but you?”
Needed Rest
3:5-8 “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!”
So far, we’ve seen the enemy who is both foe and sin itself. We’ve talked about the destruction of sin. We then saw who David turned too and talked about the “but you.”
We then recognized the need for that “you” to be the Lord of David. It has to be eternal and powerful enough to conquer death. Then we see the 3 things David clings too in his Lord. Mainly, his shield or Gods being his protection. Next his glory and then the lifter of his head.
And now, we see the result for what and why David clings to what he does. Because in the midst of all his heartache, sin, and trouble, he is able to sleep and is sustained. By the Lord. David’s “But you.”
We all can relate with not being able to rest in hard times. In painful times. Sleep is overturned by the continued anxiety that wells up in our souls. The constant nagging of guilt and shame. The awkwardness and tension from a spouse or friend when sin has fractured the relationship. This is our reality. This was David’s reality.
We have an offer here. As we listen to David recount his angst and need. We have a witness, indeed, he is one of hundreds who know the same thing about the Lord. Men and woman who have put their full trust and confidence in the Lord. We see them say, “I need you! Lord.” And then soon after, we hear, “He delivered me! He gave me peace!”
They have found true help and true hope. They found something that is more than money and sports and comfort. They have found The Lord. The “But You.” The one who answers and saves. He saves them from every hardship and he takes away their sin and the fear of death. He gives them shields, glory, and confidence. He gives rest.
The end of this psalm is fitting and filled with love and hope in who our God is and what we know He will do! Read it again!
“Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!”
Cling to Christ today!