Psalm 3:1-8 (Salvation Belongs to the Lord)

Introduction

Imagine the scene with me for a moment.

The king of Israel (David, the man after God’s own heart, the giant-slayer, the one to whom God promised an offspring who would reign forever) was running for his life. His own son, Absalom – handsome, ambitious, clever – Absalom had stolen the hearts of the people and conspired to dethrone his dad.

And the conspiracy worked!

The palace was lost. The capital was lost. The anointed king of Israel was out, and Absalom was in. Soldiers, counselors, leaders and common citizens had sided with the usurper… and David – barefoot and head covered in mourning – was climbing the Mount of Olives… fleeing Jerusalem in shame.

And yet, looking back on that night of shame and despair, David later penned this Psalm of hope. Certainly, Psalm 3 includes honest words of lament, but most of this 4-stanza song is full of good reasons for hope… and the psalmist gives us an exemplary prayer to the God of salvation during times of real distress.

Over the last couple of Sundays, we’ve walked through Psalms 1 and 2, and these provide a kind of rule or guide for how we are to read the rest of the Psalms.

Psalm 1 taught us that the “blessed” man or woman is the one who “delights” in the “law” (or “word” or “instruction”) of the Lord and also “meditates” on it “day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2).

Psalm 2 taught us that the Lord’s “anointed” or “Messiah” or “Christ” is the central and chief figure of all creation and God’s plan for it – the “kings” and “rulers” of the earth may “rage” and “plot” against Him, but the Lord has irrevocably “set” His “Messiah” upon the cosmic throne, and it is this very “Messiah” or “Christ” who will distribute God’s “wrath” or provide “refuge” in the end (Ps. 2:1-12).

Therefore, we want to “meditate” on the Psalms (looking for more than the obvious), and we especially want to look for shadows of the Lord’s “Messiah.” It’s no coincidence that many of the Psalms were written by the “anointed” king of Israel, David – an ancestor and prefigure of the true and cosmic King.

The Psalms are rich and poetic literature, full of word-pictures and principles, and we are right to see Christ in them.

The Psalms also give voice to many experiences and emotions common to the people of God in the world. So, we are right to borrow the expressions of the Psalms and embrace the principles we find there in our own everyday lives.

One more introductory note before we read together…

The word “Selah” appears three times in our psalm, but its precise meaning is lost to history. Bible scholars and commentators offer various possibilities:

Almost everyone thinks it’s an instruction of some kind for musicians and/or singers.

The psalms were written to be sung as part of the tabernacle/temple worship – traveling to and from, and also during various activities within the tabernacle/temple.

A similar Hebrew word (maybe a root word of “Selah”?) means to “lift up” or “raise,” so some think it’s a command to lift voices louder or to raise the octave of the singing.

Some commentators think the word “Selah” means “silence” or “pause,” so they think it’s a directive to wait a moment, allowing time to contemplate what’s just been sung.

And some think the word means “repeat,” so they think it’s an instruction to sing again the preceding line.

I’m not going to sing this psalm, but as I read it, I’m going to try to make use of (at least) these last two possibilities – I’m not going to read the word “Selah,” but I’m going to repeat the line or lines preceding each “Selah” and pause a moment there to let the line hang in our minds before we go on.

This method does seem to place emphasis on key points in the psalm… so my reading should complement the text no matter what we make of the word.

With all of this in mind, let’s stand together as I read our main passage for today – Psalm 3:1-8.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 3:1–8 (ESV)

A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE FLED FROM ABSALOM HIS SON.

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.”

“There is no salvation for him in God.”

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.

He answered me from his holy hill.

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!

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

Sermon Summary

Main Idea:

The people of God in the world may have good reasons to despair, but God is our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our head… so, we should bring our cares to God in prayer, trust Him, and remember that salvation belongs to the Lord.

Sermon

1. The Dark Night of the Soul (v1-2)

David had good reasons to despair, and his experience and lament here reveal a common temptation for us all (at one time or another in our lives).

Notice the threefold repetition of “many.” (1) Many “foes.” (2) Many “rising.” (3) Many mocking – “There is no salvation for him in God.”

The repetition hammers home the overwhelming feeling of being completely outnumbered. This is not a king rallying his small force against difficult odds; it is one man against the world (as it were).

And David is not exaggerating.

In 2 Samuel 15 we learn that it really was as though all Israel had turned against David. The Scripture says, “the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing. And a messenger came to David, saying, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel [implied “all the men of Israel”] have gone after Absalom’” (2 Sam. 15:12-13).

Because of some bad leadership on David’s part and some shrewd political moves on Absalom’s part, the people of Israel began to believe that David should be out and Absalom should be in. One commentator said, “Never had Jerusalem witnessed such a scene. The king of Israel in the dress of a mourner was fleeing from his own capital to escape the sword of a rebellious son… And the saddest thing in all this tumult and civil war was that it was punishment sent by God.”

Indeed, this must have been the worst aspect of the whole experience.

You may remember that David was God’s anointed king of Israel. It was David who heard God’s covenantal promise to produce an heir who would eternally rule the world from David’s throne. And it was through David that God blessed Israel with peace and prosperity.

The Scripture says that after David defeated all the enemies of Israel, he “reigned” well over the nation, “And David administered justice and equity to all his people” (2 Sam. 8:15).

But success can lead to pride and presumption, and so it did with David. We read, in 2 Samuel 11, “In the… time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel… But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam. 11:1). And many of you already know the story.

While David enjoyed peace and luxury in Jerusalem (presuming that he had earned the right to claim whatever pleasure he wanted), he took another man’s wife and tried to cover it up by having the good man murdered (you can read about this in 2 Sam. 11).

In response to David’s outrageous sins, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. “You are the man!” Nathan said to David, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel… and I gave you… the house of Israel and of Judah… Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?” (2 Sam. 12:7-9).

Then Nathan prophesied God’s judgment on David and his kingdom – “Now… the sword shall never depart from your house… Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house… you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel” (2 Sam. 12:10-11).

So, the deepest darkness in David’s soul must not have been the loss of his throne or the overwhelming odds against him… but the mocking taunt from his usurpers – “There is no salvation for him in God” (Ps. 3:2).

Could this be true?!

Did David’s sin provoke God to withdraw His covenantal promise?!

Did God abandon David to suffer without hope of any salvation?

Brothers and sisters, have you ever felt like that? Has your own sense of guilt over sin made you feel, “If God ever were gracious toward me, He isn’t now… This wouldn’t be happening… Good Christians don’t suffer like this… Real believers don’t lose sleep over stuff like this.”

When our illness goes on and on, when our spouse seems cold and distant, when our children and grandchildren keep on rejecting God, when our job gets cut or our salary decreases, many voices (both external and internal) may say, “There is no salvation for him…” This dark night is never going to get any brighter.

The first lesson we might learn from Psalm 3 is this: When we experience the dark night of the soul, we can be honest with God about it. Some prayers might begin with praise or thanks or confession, but that’s not how this prayer begins.

David started with a raw and honest lament – “O LORD, how many [or “great”] are my foes!” And this lament is not uncommon to Christians.

Brothers and sisters, if you walk with Christ long enough, you will almost inevitably experience a day, a month, a year… a long while… when it is hard to believe that there is any light at the end of the tunnel.

If that’s where you are today, then please know that you’re not alone.

Bring your cares to God in prayer.

Be open and honest with at least one other Christian brother or sister… tell them what’s tempting you to despair, tell them honestly how you’re dealing with it, and invite them to join you in prayer for the Lord’s deliverance.

The people of God in the world may have good reasons to despair, and when we experience the dark night of the soul, we can be honest with God and with others about it.

…But we must also remember some important stuff about God, which will prove to be our only path toward restored hope and joy.

2. The Dawn of Hope (v3-4)

Everything in this psalm turns on that little word “But” at the beginning of v3 – David says, “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head” (Ps. 3:3). From v3 to v8, David’s song turns from darkness to ever-increasing light… and what is true for David here is true for all who trust and hope in God.

And note also the theological and practical nature of all that follows. God is our “shield,” He is our “glory,” and He is “the lifter of [our] head” (v3). And because this is theologically true, we can (practically or sensibly) cry out to God in prayer, we can rest and trust in Him, and we can carry on without fear… regardless of how we might feel in any given moment or season.

Friends, I’ve said it before, but let me remind you again… You would do well to learn basic and solid theology when times are good and your mind is ready to receive such doctrines… because that fundamental theology is often what sustains us best during hard times… when our minds are not usually ready to learn about stuff like that because we’re reeling from some sorrow or affliction.

Let’s consider these three – God is our “shield,” our “glory,” and “the lifter of [our] head” – let’s take each one in turn.

Note the various features of what God is – a shield for protection, glory for praise (or exaltation), and encourager for preservation.

First, God is “a shield” to His people (v3).

God’s protection, of course, does not mean that no bad thing will ever happen to His people… but that nothing happens apart from God’s ultimate protection… His protection of our soul, our eternal good, and our ongoing sanctification.

Brothers and sisters, do you know that God is a shield for your protection… that He never forsakes His people (2 Cor. 4:7-10)… and that even in pain, sorrow, and death, those for whom God is shield are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:28-39).

Second, God is the “glory” of His people (v3).

If any word might be used to describe King David when he fled from Absalom, it would most certainly not be glorious. Scandalous, yes… humiliating, certainly… disastrous, alright… But glorious? Nope. Not at all.

And yet, according to God’s covenant and decree, David was still the true king… chosen by God to sit upon the glorious throne of Israel.

The parallels are easy to see here in the life of Christ and in the lives of Christ’s people in the world when they are afflicted and persecuted.

When Christ experienced His greatest shame and humiliation (dying as a condemned man upon a Roman cross), He was gloriously triumphing over all earthly powers, He was gloriously reconciling sinners to God, and He was gloriously crushing the head of that ancient serpent – the devil.

So too, the people of Christ have been called into His glory. Though they may suffer humiliation as Christ did, they are also gloriously victorious as He was/is. As the Apostle Paul says it in 2 Cor. 3, “we all… are being transformed into the same image [of Christ] from one degree of glory to another… [and] this comes from the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).

Brothers and sisters, even if we are exposed to open shame by our circumstances and mocked by those in the world who hate us, if Christ is our glory, then our glory is always bright and always present.

Third, God is “the lifter” of His people’s “head” (v3).

Friends, this is one of the most tender phrases in all the Bible. It speaks to an emotional encouragement in times of tempting despair.

In 2 Samuel 15, David is described as walking up the Mount of Olives with his head covered in shame. His head was bowed in defeat, grief, and disgrace.

But God does not leave His people with a hanging head. He lifts it. The same hands that lifted Joseph out of the pit… the same hands that lifted Jeremiah out of the cistern… the same hands that preserved the Apostle Paul’s contentment through the best of times and the worst of them… those are the divine hands that reach under our chin in the darkest of nights… and God Himself is the lifter of our heads.

And how can we know that God is a shield for our protection, glory for our praise (or exaltation), and encourager for our preservation?

Because (v4), when we cry out to the Lord, He hears us and answers.

Friends, this is not David denying the facts on the ground, but confession of the truth that is greater than his present circumstances. Our God hears our prayers, He listens to our pleas for help, and He is able and willing to answer.

I wonder, has God ever answered your prayer?

Have you ever laid out your cares, your pains, your sorrows, your anxieties, your hopes to the Lord? And have you ever experienced the miraculous peace that only God can bring? Have you watched the Lord grow your trust in Him, change the heart of that wayward loved one, or bring you through that dark night… once again to the light of a new day?

The second lesson we might learn from Psalm 3 is this: Our God is with us, even when we can’t feel His presence or observe His hands at work in our circumstances. He is our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our heads… and He hears and answers us when we cry out to Him in prayer… so we should bring our cares to Him, trust Him, and remember that salvation belongs to our God.

Brothers and sisters, the people of God in the world may have good reasons to despair, but our God is with us… He will never leave or forsake us… and we can rest at ease in this glorious (theological) truth.

3. The Rest of Faith (v5-6)

In this third stanza, the psalmist moves from theological truths to practical actions. He speaks of rest without fear because of his faith in God’s protective care. He says, “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” (Ps. 3:5-6).

Consider the circumstances David faced when he was on the run and in hiding, while his “many… foes” were hunting him. He had no palace guards, no Secret Service, and no secure perimeter. And yet he rests in sleep.

And when he wakes, he is still alive, not because there are no enemies nearby, not because there is no danger to him, but because “the LORD sustained me” (v5).

Friends, isn’t it a comfort, when you’re laying your head on your pillow at night, that though you are ceasing all effort to make your own way or provide for your own protection, the Lord is never sleeping or taking a break?

One commentator said that “sleep is theology in pajamas.”

Brothers and sisters, I wonder how many of us lose unnecessary sleep because we are tossing and turning with our minds racing because of some difficulty we can’t figure out… because of some problem we can’t solve… because of some relationship we can’t fix… because of some hardship we don’t know how to overcome.

Sleep (it seems) is one of the first casualties of anxiety. As I understand it, our culture today is one of the most restless and sleepless in history… because there is an epidemic of anxiety and worry. But here is a man with every reason to stay awake all night, and yet he sleeps like a baby because he knows that his heavenly Father never nods off.

Martin Luther, during one of the darkest seasons of the Reformation (when the Pope had excommunicated him and the Emperor had declared him an outlaw), is said to have remarked to his anxious wife (Katie), “Now I will lie down and sleep in peace, for the Lord alone, makes me to dwell in safety.”

He was quoting Psalm 4, but he could just as well have been thinking of our psalm here.

Brothers and sisters, if you find yourself worrying tonight, or if your mind is racing faster than you can catch it, you might consider reciting this Psalm… remembering that the Lord sustains His people… He is our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our head… and He never rests… so that we can.

And not only does David’s good theology help him rest in sleep, but he also takes up courage despite the “many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around” (v6). He says, “I will not be afraid” (v6).

Why? How is he able to put away his fears and put on courage?

Because he has moved from the circumference to the center. The circle of enemies is large, but God’s presence and protection is able to overwhelm them all.

Fear and anxiety are fundamentally a focus problem.

When we fix our minds on the size or power of the threat, fear grows. But when we fix our minds on the power, the promise, and the reliability of our God, fear shrinks.

Think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when they were facing a terrible death in the fiery furnace. They said to the threatening pagan king, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

This kind of faith in God is the death of fear. When we know that the worst that can happen to us is only what our good and gracious and wise heavenly Father ordains for us, then fear has no power over us anymore.

Friends, the people of God in the world may have good reasons to despair, but God is our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our head… so, we should bring our cares to God in prayer, we should trust Him, and we should remember that salvation belongs to the Lord.

4. The Hope of Salvation (7-8)

Notice in this fourth and last stanza the shift from indicative to imperative… from proclamation to supplication… from stating what is true to calling for action.

The psalmist says, “Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God!” (Ps. 3:7). And this is the beginning of a complete reversal of the first stanza, the opening lament to this song of prayer.

David began by lamenting his situation – and it was a lamentable situation indeed. His enemies were “many,” and their mocking cut to the bone – “There is no salvation for him in God” (v2). It was not at all obvious how David was going to experience salvation and restoration from where he was.

But here, David turns in response by calling upon God to “save,” to “break the teeth of the wicked,” and to demonstrate that “Salvation” and “blessing” belongs “to the LORD” (i.e., not to David’s enemies).

This is not a prayer of presumption – David thinking that he deserved better than those who set themselves against him. Rather, this is a prayer for God to do what He promised – David was the rightful king and the object of God’s blessing.

In short, David’s prayer is that God will defend His own honor and glory.

Ultimately, God did bring about the complete reversal of David’s predicament. Absalom ended up dying in humiliation, and David returned to his rightful place on the throne of Israel.

But as I said a while ago, this psalm is not just about David and OT Israel. We are right to look for Jesus in this psalm, and we are right to consider how the principles and expressions here apply in our own lives (as members of Christ’s body and as individual believers).

First, for Christians, we can remember that there are times in life when we may face many good reasons to despair. In those dark nights of the soul, we can be honest about our laments, and we should run to God with our cares and troubles.

He has not promised that we will be delivered from all pains and sorrows in this life, but God has promised that He will always be with us in the midst of whatever we face, and God has promised that His people will not be overcome in the end… rather even death itself will be the end of all our suffering, all our sin, and all our anxiety and fear.

Second, we can see in this psalm a foreshadowing of the cosmic King, the Son of David, who endured far worse than David ever did and who conquered through death on behalf of His people.

“Salvation belongs to the LORD” (v8), and God has already “broken the teeth” of our final and ultimate foe through Jesus Christ (v7).

Consider the overarching story of the Bible that is here in microcosm.

Didn’t we learn (in Psalm 2) that God has “set” His own “anointed” King upon the divine throne (Ps. 2:6)? And don’t we see a usurper arise in the opening pages of Scripture – a lying serpent who deceives and then later convinces a whole army of wicked sinners to set themselves against “the LORD” and His “anointed”?

And when Jesus finally came, how “many” were the “foes” against Him?

And wasn’t some of the mockery against Jesus in His crucifixion “there is no salvation for him in God” (v2)? We’re told in Matthew’s Gospel that “the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself… He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him’” (Matt. 27:41-43).

And didn’t Jesus pray (in John 17) a lengthy prayer just before His arrest and crucifixion, expressing (like we see in v3 and 4 here) hope in God and an expectation of glory, despite the shame He was about to endure?

And didn’t Jesus “lay down” and “sleep” and “wake again” though all Israel and Rome seemed to “set themselves against” Him (v5-6)?

And didn’t Jesus “arise” in glory, inaugurating the total and utter defeat of all His “enemies,” demonstrating that “Salvation” does indeed “belong to the LORD” (v7-8)?

Yes! This Psalm is David’s lament and hope, but it’s also a poetic picture of Jesus’s experience of grief and victory.

And, for those of us who turn from our sin and trust in the work of this better king – King Jesus – we can rest and hope in the salvation that God has provided!

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, the people of God in the world may have good reasons to despair, but God is our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our head… so, we should bring our cares to God in prayer, trust Him, and remember that salvation belongs to the Lord.

David’s enemies struck him a grievous blow, and they tried to not only to dethrone David but to overturn God’s promise of blessing through the better King.

But Jesus took the ultimate strike to the face (the spit, the crown of thorns, the plucking of the beard) in the agony of the cross, so that every enemy of our soul would be disarmed forever.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we can sing Psalm 3 with even greater confidence than David did. The Lord has arisen. Salvation belongs to Him. And His blessing is on His people forever.

May God help us to experience the hope of good theology – that God is our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our heads. May God help us to rest in His power and goodness, and may He grant us the hope of true salvation.