Psalm 3

Background to the Psalm:

Back in what was is often referred to as the ‘Golden age of Hollywood’ the English actor David Niven shared a house with Errol Flynn.  His summing up of Flynn’s nature was interesting to say the least.  “You can count on Errol Flynn; he’ll always let you down.”  No doubt that was based on Niven’s experience of living with Flynn as over time and by observing a person’s nature we gradually get an idea of what to expect, or in Niven’s case, what not to expect.  When we read this Psalm based on David’s experience when his son Absalom rebelled against him we get a very clear idea of what David expects from the Lord when he turns to him in prayer.  But here, rather than the fickle nature of a notorious Hollywood star, we see David’s expectation is based on the steadfast and faithful nature of  God’s character.

Before we look at the text of the psalm we need to understand the events leading up to the writing of it. David’s reign had been an unqualified success. Yet just when he should have been continuing to take care of business he’d let himself become idle and open to temptation! This resulted in his adultery with Bathsheba. The sorry story of deceit and murder and God’s judgment can be found in 2 Samuel 11-12 but the upshot was that although David had been forgiven, there were going to be consequences (2 Samuel12:11). This starts with the death of the son born to him and Bathsheba! The next few chapters reveal what else this judgment entails. David’s family is a mess and the rape of David’s daughter Tamar by her brother Ammon and his subsequent murder by her brother Absalom, David’s favourite son, is just the beginning of David’s woes (2 Samuel 13:1-33). To cut a long story short, after a time of exile Absalom comes back to Jerusalem and, knowing how to win friends and influence people, he plans a rebellion (2 Samuel 15:12-13).

David is now fleeing Jerusalem as: “The hearts of the men of Israel had gone after Absalom” (2 Samuel 15:13). Absalom has all but declared himself King and the brightest and best of David’s counsellors have allied themselves with him! Unsurprisingly we are told that: ‘David went up the ascent to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered’ (2 Samuel 15:30).

 The structure of the Psalm:

• David is in a desperate situation (vs1-2) but things are not what they seem (v3-4).
• David has complete confidence in the LORD and so has a real sense of peace (vs5-6).
• David calls on the LORD to act (v7).
• David makes a statement which contrasts with the statement of others made in verse 1.

Some obviations on the text (all quotations ESV):

The situation looks desperate. David notes: ‘Many are rising against me’ (v1). His wisest counsellor Ahithophel, whose council was: ‘as if one consulted the word of God’ (2 Samuel 16:23), has joined Absalom’s rebellion. The situation looked at the best very difficult and at the worst impossible! Indeed, verse 2 shows this sentiment was shared by many people. The language is interesting as the name for God here is ‘Elohim’, meaning ‘Creator’ rather than ‘Yahweh’ God’s covenant name.[1] These people were alluding to God deserting David and maybe he was thinking of the words of Shimei a relation of Saul’s who cursed him and his family and men as they fled with the words: “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! The LORD has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom” (2 Samuel 16:7-8). In short, people were saying David was finished!

Rather interestingly this is not the attitude David takes. The Lord had preserved David in past. David may have been the Lord’s anointed one, but Saul had different ideas and had spent considerable time and energy trying to kill him! Why hadn’t he succeeded? Because the Lord had protected David due to the promises he made to him concerning his future (2 Samuel 7:4-17). What is clear as the Psalm proceeds is that David trusted these promises. To David God was ‘Yahweh’ (that is the word used in verse 1 when David is writing in the first person), the covenant God, who keeps his promises!

Bishop George Horne up observers that: ‘Affliction and desertion are two very different things, often confounded by the world.’ He then continues noting that: ‘The fearful imaginings of our own desponding hearts, and the suggestions of our crafty adversary, frequently joins to help forward this most dangerous temptation, in the hour of sorrow.’[2] In times of trouble we can so easily become immersed in the situation that we do not find the ability to step back and view the situation as David does. But that is what we are encouraged to do. For the first time in the book the word: ‘Selah’ is used. But what does it mean? It has been suggested that use of the word: ‘Selah’ was used to emphasize a point in the Psalm where there was an interlude of some kind so that: ‘the singer or reader of the Psalm in order that the statement last made or the thought as a whole just developed may be reflected upon before the next turn of thought appears.’[3] So at this point we are to take a step back and consider David’s situation. He will invite us to do this twice more as his prayer develops.

David understood the Lord’s character, the promises he had made and how that they related to him now he was King. So rather than driving him away, his problem drive him towards God. David’s description of the Lord is as: ‘a shield about me’ (v3). He looks to the Lord in prayer as he is the perfect place to look for protection. But the second part of the verse makes it clear that the Lord is not just protecting David, he is validating him. The gossip was that: ‘there is no salvation for him in God’ (v2), but to David he is: ‘my glory, and the lifter of my head.’ This verse and the verses that follow clearly demonstrate that David understood the Lords relationship with him as a believer as in verse 4 he expects and sees his prayer being answered by the Lord.

David had insisted that the Ark of the Covenant be sent back to the city (2 Samuel 15:25). Yet, despite knowing that God was still with him, there’s a sense that David saw the Ark as symbolizing God’s throne (2 Samuel 6:2), so now he looks to his: ‘holy hill’ (v4) remembering God’s kingship and sovereignty over the situation that he’s in. Absalom might think he controlled the situation, but that was not the case. These attributes of God expressed here are so real to David that he sees his prayer as being as good as answered! Having expressed his confidence in God David once again injects the word: ‘Selah’ as an invitation to the worshipers and the readers of the Psalm to again pause and reflect on what he has just written in relation to what others were saying (see vs1-2).

Such is David’s confidence in the Lord that when we get to verse 5 we see that he is capable of getting a good night’s sleep because now his mind is completely settled. He feels a great sense of security, so he can get up to face a new day because the Lord is sustaining him. A great many were on Absalom’s side (2 Samuel 15:13). But David is not afraid of these: ‘many thousands of people who have set themselves against me’ (v6). Why? It is not because he’s particularly brave or he can think his way out of the situation, but because he has left it in the Lord’s hands. The Lord is far more capable of handling what looks like an impossible situation than David or those who are loyal to him. The Lord’s presence and faithfulness in this situation nullifies any threat of the enemy. That is the answer to the taunts and the threats that were being made against David in verse 1-2 of the Psalm.

The last section starts with a note of triumph. David’s cry of: ‘Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God!’ (v7) has been compared to a battle cry. In the book of Numbers 10:33-36, whenever Israel broke camp and the Ark of the Covenant was moved: ‘Moses said “arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, let those who hate you flee before you”’ (Numbers 10:35). As the Ark was symbolically God’s throne, the start of verse 7 can be seen as a call: ‘for God to arise, as from his throne or judgment seat’.[4] As David is in a situation where he’s fighting for his throne and his life, such conclusion seems very likely. After all, the enemies of the Lord’s people are his enemies! Some commentators see the second part of verse 7 as being the equivalent of breaking the teeth of wild animal and rendering it harmless. But I think it’s more likely David is calling upon the Lord to not so much act against the enemy, but to take action: ‘against the evil which they speak and do.’[5] Therefore, what I believe this imagery conveys is that the statements of those in verse 2 are worthless to such an extent that they deserve to be insulted and ridiculed.

The last verse of the Psalm makes it clear that David is not looking for a pragmatic or self-made solution to his problem; the solution must come from God. The word: ‘salvation’ bookends the Psalm, in that it was used in a negative sense concerning David in the introduction to the Psalm, but now it’s used in a positive sense where believers are concerned.

Would you like to listen to a sermon on this Psalm?  Expectation based on Experience!

[1] J.J. Stewart Perowne, The Book of Psalms, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1976), 123.

[2] Bishop George Horne, A Commentary on the Book of Psalms, Volume 1, (London, William Baynes, 1812), 65.

[3] H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms, (London, Evangelical Press, 1959), 61.

[4] Craig C. Broyles, New International Biblical Commentary Psalms, (Massachusetts, Hendrickson publishers, Inc, 1999), 50.

[5] Peter C. Craigie, Word Biblical Commentary 19, Psalms 1-50, (Waco, Word Books Publisher 1983), 75.