Psalm 3: Trusting God When Darkness Falls – Pt.2

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Psalm 3:1–8 (ESV)

1 O Lord, how many are my foes!

Many are rising against me;

2 many are saying of my soul,

“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4 I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord!

Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;

your blessing be on your people! Selah

Opening Prayer

Up to Speed

Last Sunday we began looking at Psalm 3...

In Light of Ps. 1 & 2 and the Davidic Covenant.

We looked at the historical context including...

King David’s children:

Specifically, Amnon, Tamar, & Absalom

King David’s advisors:

Ahithophel and Joab, in particular.

We looked at how the Circumstances that led to Psalm 3.

We looked at how:

Suffering can often cause confusion.

Suffering brings scoffers out of the woodwork.

Sin in our life Distorts our thinking, reasoning, & discernment.

Sin allows us to start allowing falsehoods to lay hold of our mind & heart.

Suffering, most of the time, causes us to give too much attention to our circumstances...

And, we take our eyes off God.

This morning, I want us to look at...

What brought King David back to having his eyes fixed on God?

Now, remember, this is...

A Psalm of Lament

As stated last Sunday, Psalm 3 is a psalm of Lament.

A Lament is a way:

To express present sorrow & confusion.

To present your lament to God.

To express your difficulties to God.

To strive to further trust in Him, His help, & His justice.

To strive to understand/believe that God is all you need.

We Need Clarity to Lay Hold of the Cure

Psalm 3:3–6 (ESV)

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4 I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

who have set themselves against me all around.

What King David is doing is...

Trusting God Based on Past Providence

He’s recalling the time he fled for his life when King Saul wanted to kill him.

1 Samuel 16, where God anointed David King of Israel...

And the following chapters describe in detail what David is recalling...

All the way until the end of 1 Samuel...

And, 2 Samuel is when David is anointed and crowned King of Israel.

Here in...

Psalm 3:3–6 (ESV)

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4 I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

who have set themselves against me all around.

Do you hear the imagery that David is using when he thinks about his Lord?

Imagery is so important when we meditate upon the Lord.

It gives insight and expresses intimacy to our relationship with God.

God is a shield to him, David says...

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

Why not simply say, “He protects me”?

God didn’t just place a forcefield around David and then leave him.

God being a shield, not only speaks to God’s protection and power...

But, God’s nearness…His imminence...

His everyday presence with David.

A shield is used in special circumstances…in battle.

A shield is lifted when a blow from a sword, spear or arrow is coming.

It’s protection comes from being there at the right time.

God is all of these things to David.

God doesn’t just say He will protect His people...

He proves it throughout our lives.

David knows His boast is in the Lord

3 But you, O Lord, are my glory,

God is my glory, David says...

God gets all the glory...

David will only boast in Him.

God is the reason David is King...

God sovereignly chose David the shepherd...

The least likely to succeed from the family of Jesse.

And, God is the reason David assumed the throne of Israel...

And, God is the reason David will remain King.

Yet, with or without a throne, David’s glory is not the throne...

But, the ever-presence of God with David.

God is the one who lifts David’s head.

3 But you, O Lord, are the lifter of my head.

God is the One and Only that can restore joy to David...

In spite of the circumstances David finds himself in a fallen world.

Circumstances, good and bad, cause us to take our eyes off of God...

To stop depending upon God...

To stop resting in the promises of God...

David knows that only God can restore joy.

Look at how...

Suffering, also, Causes Believers to Cry Out to the Lord

4 I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

This may be one of the most beautiful statements of the psalm.

So beautiful is this statement that it gives proper perspective to the current circumstance...

If nothing else comes from suffering but this beautiful thing...

Then the suffering is worth it.

To recognize that God is your glory...

That God is all that you need.

That the Lord is the only One who can truly help you.

That is a beautiful picture of what our life should look like...

Crying out to the Lord.

Depending upon the Lord.

Trusting in the Lord.

God answered that crying out...

5 I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

the Lord sustained David while he slept.

What happens when you sleep?

Unaware

Unguarded

Can be snuck up on without notice

David proved that twice to King Saul...

Without harming him.

But who protected David while he slept?

The One who never sleeps.

The One who upholds the universe by the power of His word.

The One who is always watching over His people.

David os not only speaking to the presence of God and the protection of God...

But, He is speaking fondly of the ever-watchful eye of the Lord upon His people.

Matthew 10:29 (ESV)

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

And, then the Lord tells the disciples to fear not for they are worth much more than many sparrows.

Matthew 6:26 (ESV)

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

What David is doing here is recalling the past faithfulness of God in His life...

In particularly, when David had to flee from Saul who was trying to kill him.

He’s recalling the safety God provided.

He’s recalling the nutrition & sustenance that God provided.

He’s recalling the victory and the throne that God provided.

And, there’s something about recalling fond memories.

They endear our hearts to the ones that share in those fond memories.

And, here King David is recalling with fondness the faithfulness of God to take care of him in every way.

But, King David wasn’t just recalling the past faithful providence of God...

Psalm 3:7–8 (ESV)

7 Arise, O Lord!

Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;

your blessing be on your people! Selah

King David is also...

Trusting God Based on His Promises to You

King David knew the promises God made to him as King...

He knew the promises that God made to him in the Davidic covenant.

And, when it seemed that people were standing in the way of God’s revealed will...

Then justice was called for by King David or the psalmist or the prophet.

They weren’t for personal vengeance...

They were in light of the promises God made with His covenant people.

David could sleep because God made promises to David.

David could trust that God would deliver him because of promises that God made to him.

Knowing God’s promises to you:

helps you sleep in the midst of danger.

helps you know that the ultimate outcome will be the salvation of your soul.

helps you trust that God has good purposes for you through the trial.

helps you rest in His ever-watchful eye.

helps your joy be sustained because the friendly presence of God with you is better than all the comforts this world has to provide.

The Big Question

What are your covenant promises?

Are you in the Davidic covenant?

Are you in the Mosaic covenant?

Are you in the Abrahamic covenant?

No.

Those are all done away with because they’ve been fulfilled in Christ.

Like Paul said in Galatians...

If you’re hanging on to any of those covenants you’re going back in salvific history...

And, altogether missing the fulfillment of them—in Jesus.

And, this as the NT teaches is why it’s so important to know the promises you have through the covenant you are in.

And, the only choice for you is:

Covenant of Works = Death

New Covenant in Jesus = Eternal Life

There’s more promises in the New Covenant...

And, it’s important to know them and meditate upon them.

We fall into despair when we meditate on our circumstances over God’s promises.

Where Are You, Right Now?

Maybe you’re suffering because of sin in your life.

Maybe you’re suffering because of righteous living.

Maybe your suffering as you watch someone you love suffer.

Maybe your suffering because you’ve lost someone or something you loved.

There’s lots of reasons that we suffer in a fallen world...

But, the cure is the same for every scenario...

Turn your eyes to Jesus.

Christ is ultimately the Son-King of the Davidic covenant...

He’s the King that deserved no punishment...

But, took the punishment for the citizens of His kingdom.

Christ builds the ultimate house for God...

His body, which is made up of all who are in union with Christ.

All the promises that are worthy of clinging to are found in Jesus.

Run to Jesus.

He will never leave you, nor forsake you.

Lament with Jesus.

Tell Him your present sorrow & confusion.

Tell Him what your having difficulties with.

Ask Him to help you further trust in Him, His help, & His justice.

Ask Him to help you understand/believe that God is all you need.

Oh, that we would learn to Lament to God...

Because here’s the thing...

As one theologian stated...

“Sometimes, at the surface, it looks like God is killing us when He’s actually saving us. And, in actuality, He may be killing parts of us. But, it isn’t until we look back that we realize those parts of us needed to die.”

G.K. Chesterton said,

“Humility is the mother of giants; one sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak.”

Oh, that God would do whatever it takes to help us to stand in awe of Him...

And, that we would learn how to biblically lament...

So that no matter the circumstances...

We would praise Him!

Hallelujah!

Closing Prayer