Psalm 3

Psalm 3 introduces as series of 1st in the book of Psalms. (A heading… “A Psalm of David”)

-First Psalm to identify its author (David)

-First Psalm that states its occasion (David is on the run from his son Absalom)

-First Psalm that uses the Hebrew word “Selah” (sits at the end of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd stanzas)

~”Selah” is a musical notation for an interlude that can result in one of two calls

~Play or sing louder or to stop and think about the words that had just been spoken

-Psalm 3 is the first of a category of Psalms called “Psalms of Lament”

~The writer is allowed to “sing the blues” (lifts his complaints about God in prayer)

*David speaks of his issues but cannot complain too long when he realizes who is on his side

-Things are not as bad as they seem when God is on your side!

*Psalm 3 is broken into 3 stanzas (In stanza 1 David begins to “sing the blues” to God)

O 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.

*David was telling God about his troubles and the things that his enemies were trying to do to him.

-It is interesting that even though David was complaining, he went to the right place.

Bring your complaints to the Lord

-When we have issues and trials God is the only one who can help us.

-Don’t waste time talking to folks who cannot help you, share your issues with God!

*“Many, Many, Many”

-David tells the Lord about what his enemies are doing.

Many are rising against me

~Friends had turned their backs on him

-David tells the Lord what his enemies were saying

Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God

~A lot of people had an opinion about David’s condition

(Not even God will get David out of this one…)

~There are times when folks will misdiagnose your condition…

-People knew something about David’s past…(Adultery with Bathsheba & killed Uriah)

-Although David repented & God forgave him, God did not remove all of the consequences

~There are consequences to sin…

Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.

(2 Samuel 12:11)

-God kept this promise through Absalom’s revolt.

~People had concluded that God had turned His back on David.

*There is a consequence for sin… (Story of the little boy with the nails on the walls)

-The guilt of sin may be removed but the consequences still remain…

-The wound of sin may be removed but the scars still remain…

*Although people had misdiagnosed David’s condition, God was David’s private doctor

-While folks were talking, David was praying!!

*Elijah Hoffman: “I must tell Jesus all of my trial I cannot bear these burdens alone in my distress He kindly will help me for He ever loves & cares for His own”

*Bring your complaints to the Lord!

Put your Confidence in the Lord

*In the 2nd stanza David shifts His focus from his enemies to His Lord…

-When things get back we must make sure we are looking in the right direction…

Put your confidence in who God is

-When we can see God in His true stature our enemies shrink to manageable proportions!

-David was reminded of who his God is and what God had done for him.

-Remind yourself of what God had done.

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

*There is a personal feeling in the text. David remembered his own testimony!

*The Lord is my “Shield”

-When you trust in Him the Lord will be your shield

-A shield is used to protect a soldier from attacks of the enemies.

~ A limited defense because it protected one side but it left another blind side open

-The Lord is a shield all around me, He has my back!!

~“I’m glad that the Lord has my back”!! (I don’t have to worry about my enemies)

*The Lord is my “glory”. God validates my character…

-David’s self-worth was not rooted in what he had but rather in WHO he had!!

*The Lord is the “lifter of my head”

-David ran with his head covered but he was confident that the story was not over…

-Yours story is not over, God can still lift up your head!!

**(Story of the king being the judge)** God will lift up a bowed down head!!!

*Put your confidence in God…

Put your confidence in what God has already done

*How could David trust God the way that he did.

-David had a “faith file” (a record of the things that God had already done…)

-You need to establish a “faith file” (it will remind you that God can bring you out)

*David remembered what the Lord had already done. What has the Lord already done?

I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill.

-David does not mention “what” he prayed but rather “how” he prayed…

-There is a time for cute, quiet prayers, but there is also a time for “crying aloud”

-When your soul is desperate its time to cry aloud!

*God is still in the business of answering prayer…

-Not only does God answer prayer but also God sustains…

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

*My safety is in God alone! The enemies are trying to kill me but God sustained me!

-Many of us need to go home & trust God and go to sleep.

-The Lord has been good to me too, “I laid down, I went to sleep & I woke up again”

-The Lord sustained me!

God relieves fear

I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

*David had a lot to be afraid of but yet he still was not afraid…

“Courage is just fear that’s said its prayers” –H.B. Charles, Jr.

-When God is on your side you don’t have anything to be afraid of…

~Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light & my salvation whom shall I fear…”

*Put your confidence in the Lord…

Give your conflict to the Lord

*Psalm 3 is an “instructive prayer”

-David issues a “battle cry” to the Lord “Arise, O LORD”! (Let God arise & His enemies be scattered)

Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God!

*At the beginning people were saying that there was no salvation for David, but that didn’t stop David for praying for God to save him…

-We cannot allow the opinions of people to stop us from believing what God can do for us!

-Others cannot tell you what your God will do for you!!

*Psalm 3 is an “imprecatory” Psalm

-Imprecatory= A prayer for punishment or an announcement of a curse on one’s enemies

~ “Get ‘em Lord” prayer…

-David shows confidence in God; he gives his issues to the Lord…

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

*David does not pray for God to kill his enemies but to simply “break their teeth”

-When the enemies attack him they can’t hurt him…

Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!

*David tells us that the same thing that God did for him He will do for all His people…

-“It’s no secret what God can do what He’s done for others He will do for you”

***ILLUSTRATION OF OLD MAN GETTING INTO THE BABY PEN***

-God may not pull you out the pen but He will get in the pen with you to rock you!

IT’S NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMS