Psalm 3: Part I

Psalm 3

The context

This Psalm begins with a note of context. ‘A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.’ Almost as an accessory to the Absalom story, David wrote this prayer to the Lord while under an incredible attack on his kingship in the land of Israel. There is far too deep a plot to outline here, but the story on David’s flee from his son Absalom’s conspiracy to overthrow David’s rule (~ 2 Samuel 13-19) is well worth the read and gives us a far greater perspective on Psalm 3. The full story does an amazing job of outlining the details of David’s abdication as a father, the rape of his daughter Tamar at the hands of her half brother, David’s son Absolom’s fury over the event, and the drama that ensues as David flees Jerusalem.

David’s trust amidst adversity

And that’s where David is as he writes this prayer. A nation of millions has turned against him (v.1), and small group from his court have come to protect and support him during this time. Despite his fear, conviction, and shame, David unwaveringly trusts in God. Even as he’s leaving town people are throwing rocks and dirt, cursing him (saying ‘there is no salvation for [him] in God’ (v.2), but David knows that God holds the cards and will deal what he will (2 Samuel 16:5-14). David has a peace in God’s sovereignty. He cries out to the Lord, and freeing him of his anxieties, the Lord allows David to rest in comfort (v.4-7).

David is restored

Just as David had prayed (v.7-8), God strikes his enemies on the cheek and brakes the teeth of the wicked. David is restored as Israel’s king and comes back a changed man. God used this trial as a time for David to wake up to a big mess he had created…

Through his inactive leadership of his family, his son was allowed to rape his daughter without consequence; he ignored the situation and his position as king was threatened..

When David returns to the throne, over 20,000 men have died over David’s sin. God’s justice has rained down - he has broken the teeth of the wicked - and now David prays ‘Salvation belongs to the Lord, your blessing be on your people!’ in thanksgiving for God’s continued faithfulness and restoration (v.8). Now, changed and effected by God’s grace on him, he sees what he has done, extends grace, and pardons his remaining enemies (2 Samuel 19).

David is not our ultimate example
(v.1-4) Though David ultimately trusted in God, looking to him as our example falls short - our ultimate example is Jesus, as in all things. Jesus had far more foes rise against him than David could have imagined. I am reminded of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and praying ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ (Matthew 26:39) As that night went on, his friends either outright denied him (Matthew 26:69-75) or effectively denied him in their passive abandonment. The chief priests and elders then turned him over to torture and execution like no one has ever known - while he carried the weight of having literally become the sins of us all (2 Cor 5:21)! All of this was brought upon him not as a result of his actions but out of the Father’s wrath which Jesus willingly accepted in spite of asking that it be removed.

(v.4, 7) ‘I cried allowed to the lord and he answered’…in Jesus’ case, the answer was not what He had requested, but rather, the clear message from the Father was ‘I will not remove this cup from you’. Jesus even cries out on the cross ‘My God, My God why have you forsaken me’, but the Father has turned His back on the Son.

(v.5) ‘I laid down and slept’…Jesus also laid down and ‘slept’ and the Lord sustained him. For God’s love did not stop at Jesus’ death. But Jesus ‘woke’ again, for the Lord sustained him and would have likely prayed a psalm similar to this one after his triumphant resurrection: ‘Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be on your people!’ (v.8 ). In this we find the second most important reason that Jesus gave himself as an offering - to bless the people that love the Lord and seek after Him with unconditional grace.

(v.6) Jesus, living by the Spirit in full submission to the will of the Father had nothing to fear in what was the most terrifying of human experiences: He was abandoned everyone; he was wrongfully tried and sentenced to the most gruesome punishment man has concocted; and most importantly, the Father turned his back on the Son and laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). What could be more terrifying? What could be a heavier weight to carry? Yet he could pray this Psalm ‘I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around’ - due to his complete trust in the Father - and go in silence to His death, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7)!