Rebels Redeemed - Psalm 3:1-8

Psalm 3:1-8
Rebels Redeemed
20190526
In my deepest despair I cry out to the Lord and he reminds me that my salva5on, and the salva5on of
all his people, belongs to him!
Introduc5on
I just read a woman’s story this past week that involved a level of brokenness and pain that led me into a
place of suﬀering right alongside of her. Her name is Lisa and she shared a story that to many of us,
relates one of our own greatest fears – because it is about one of her children. This woman is a ChrisOan,
she is married to a ChrisOan man, both of them are devoted to following Jesus. They have a large family,
live on a Oght budget, homeschool their children, and have great hopes for the future of all their kids.
But the future she had envisioned, one of her children loving each other, all of them staying close, didn’t
get past her fourth child’s 18th birthday. Her fourth child, a daughter, who upon turning 18 betrayed her
parents and abandoned the family. This was done with the help of Lisa’s parents! A secreOve plan had
been made to help this 18-year-old get out in a very spiteful, conniving, and hurTul way.
I know even now many of you here are fearing that this outcome may happen to you as your teenager
shows signs of rebellion and discontent. You are beside yourself that some signs of rebellion and
discontent are even present in your loving, caring, nurture ﬁlled home. For those of you with adult
children, this may be the state you are in currently: possibly outright disowned by one or more of your
children or possibly at a level of brokenness that has just uXerly ruined any opportunity for the close
relaOonship you always hoped for. Either way, whether with a rebellious teenager or a calloused and
biXer adult child, you are in a place of immense suﬀering.
You can’t help but remember when your child was small - the biggest fears you had at that Ome were for
their physical safety. Your prayers were likely focused on asking God to protect your precious bundle of
joy as they ventured near a body of water, a roadway, or simply to maintain their breathing throughout
the night. You sacriﬁce greatly as a parent during these younger years and the expectaOon you hold is
much like the one Lisa had, that as the child grows, they will respond to your loving sacriﬁce with a
rewarding lifelong relaOonship.
What are you supposed to do when instead of this lifelong, close, and even ideal family rela8onship - you
end up betrayed – hurt – with only a ta<ered and shredded heart?
When you are betrayed by your own child, when the hurt and anguish she mounts up against you
threatens to cut you oﬀ from what feels like life itself, where do you turn for comfort? Is it ever even
possible to sleep in peace again? It is likely that in the midst of your anguish, you cry out: “Where is God
in this? Does he even care about the disaster that has enveloped me?”
This is the very place King David, who himself was a father, was at as Psalm 3 was penned. His son
Absalom, a son whom he loved, and yet a son whom he had struggled with for years ﬁnally betrayed him
in a most treacherous manner. Recorded in 2 Samuel is the account of how Absalom conspired against
his father to take the throne, the kingdom, and even his father’s (that is David’s) very life.
Why are the Psalms so frequently turned to by us? It is because they represent situaOons that we
ourselves are going through or demonstrate an emoOonal cry of our own heart. The Psalm we are
looking at today, Psalm 3, is no diﬀerent.

1.Losing Control – Crying Out (vv1-2)
The Psalmist writes of his reﬂecOon as he ﬂed everything he knew because of the betrayal of the son
he loved. He starts with a lament that shows his anguish of losing control and in the very desperaOon
of his situaOon cries out to the LORD. v1 “O LORD” is how the Psalm before us begins. Many Omes,
when we come before the Lord in prayer we begin with “Heavenly Father” or “Father” other Omes
“God.” These are usually when we are collected, poised, - more or less feeling like things are under
control, conﬁdent with where God has us.

What about those Omes when the earth seems to be crumbling right beneath our feet? Then it is
“Jesus!” or “Lord!” Excitement can be heard in our voice. When we are losing control then we begin
by crying out! This is one of those Omes in David’s life when upon reﬂecOng upon the events that
caused him to ﬂee Jerusalem he wrote Psalm 3 in the compact, emoOonally powerful form of poetry
that was common in his day and yet; sOll so helpful to us as we overlay what God has captured as his
very word onto similar types of situaOons we ourselves are facing today.

David was at a place where he was clearly losing control and so he begins by crying out to God – “O
LORD!” When you are desperate, it is so helpful to start out your cry to the LORD by acknowledging
him – this very act, the act of making your address to the LORD, even crying it out, begins a process
that you will see the Biblical author follows that eventually leads to a proclamaOon of truth about
God.
a.Share your heart cry with the Lord
Ajer making the address to the Lord do not be ashamed about sharing your heart cry with
the Lord. He is not put oﬀ by your emoOonal plea to him. O friend, share the cry of your
heart with the Lord.
i.v1 “O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;”
1.The cry of his heart is an exclamaOon. How many are my foes! Many are rising
against me. He shares his heart cry with the Lord. The desperaOon of David’s situaOon is only more
fully known when you look back at the historical narraOve account of what this powerful poeOc
reﬂecOon represents. Literally thousands upon thousands suddenly turned against him (2 Sam
17:1-4).
2.Those whom he was even been so generous and caring towards - turned
against him. Shimei, a man from the house of Saul, was literally cursing him and throwing stones at
him as David lej Jerusalem in despair (2 Sam 16:5-12). Don’t forget - this was with the knowledge
that all these horrible things were taking place because of a conspiracy against him that originated
with his own son (2 Sam 15:1-12)!
3.The Psalmist shares his heart cry with the Lord. This is how we are to share our
heart cries with the Lord, he wants us to take our heart cries to him. His word says, “Trust in him at
all 8mes, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah” (Psalm 62:8)
b.Share your heart’s fears with the Lord

Similar to sharing your heart cry with the Lord is sharing your heart’s fears with the Lord. It is
one thing to be in the midst of abject misery with the assurance of God’s salvaOon and quite
another to be in the midst of abject misery and have your salvaOon from God outright
quesOoned as a reality – even denied by your opponents.
i.v2 “many are saying of my soul, “There is no salva8on for him in God.” Selah
1.This is the place we are going to ﬁnd we live in more and more in our postmodern and post-ChrisOan or as one book Otle on my desk says “Post-everything world.” Even during
our CG this past week, it was shared by someone in the church how they were targeted in their
workplace because of their ChrisOan faith. The accusaOons being levied against this person are a
modern assault similar to “There is no salvaOon for him in God.” (appropriate for the naOon of Israel)
The form of the aXack being brought against our fellow member is rather you will not be able to
have your job because of your ChrisOan faith. It may morph into: you may not be able to have your
kids because of your ChrisOan faith or you may not maintain your freedom because of your ChrisOan
faith.
2.Do any of these evoke some fear in you? I hope they do because they are
important, they are very real, and they may not be very far oﬀ. You can be like the Psalmist and share
your heart’s fears with the Lord. He wants to hear your fears and he wants to minister to you especially in those areas of fearfulness. He wants to reﬁne your understanding of who he is and how
he will care for you as you faithfully follow the Savior.
3.These aXacks are going to become more vocal. The inﬂuence or authority
ChrisOanity once had in the place where we live is waning and therefore aXacks will become more
vicious but, fellow Disciples, in the storm God’s salvaOon becomes all the more tangible and the
gospel is all the more powerfully proclaimed!
Transi5on: These two verses are all about being honest with God about our fears, even in the midst of
losing control - crying out to him has a tremendous eﬀect on our ability to move into a place where we
Acknowledge His Sovereign Hand.
1.Acknowledging God’s Sovereign Hand (vv3-6)
Moving into this next secOon a clear transiOon occurs from crying out to God to in vv1-2 to
acknowledging his protecOon beginning in v3.
a.State the Truth About God Experien5ally
Ajer being in a place of losing control and honestly crying out: God ojen reminds us about
certain truths about who he is. Truths we have read in Scripture, witnessed in the lives of
others, or experienced ourselves.
i.v3 “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the liPer of my head.”
1.Here the Psalmist transiOons with the word - but. The crying out to God is
done in acknowledgment of the very real problems being faced. Those problems have not vanished.
However, like David when we take our problems to the Lord with all the emoOon that they evoke
within us - this does something – even as we are reﬂecOng upon what we are sharing with God our
focus shijs away from our problems and is more appropriately centered upon our Creator.

2.Follow along this journey with David: It is like he is saying, “In spite of these
problems, the ones I have just shared with you God, I know you are my protector, my everything, my
sustainer.”
3.Isn’t this an amazing reﬂecOon to witness in Psalm 3? David, in possibly one of
the darkest Omes of his life, puts down this line of poetry that rightly acknowledges God’s sovereign
hand. How many are my foes, many are rising against me! My very salvaOon is being denied by
others! But God, I know you have held me in your hand from the beginning. Your protecOon is rightly
described as a shield, and when I reﬂect upon your involvement in my life, I realize you are
everything to me, you are my glory Lord, the reality of being in a relaOonship with your far surpasses
the ﬁnest day of sinng on any earthly throne.
b.Allow the Truth About God to Bring Peace
Ajer staOng the truth about God experienOally, David allows the truth about God to bring
him peace. Can you imagine being able to ﬁnd peace with the many many unknowns that
David faced as he ﬂed Jerusalem? At every step of the journey it seemed like one more
trusted individual turned against him, he is warned that he is about to be pursued and
aXacked by his son with an army of men - men who he, up unOl a few hours ago,
commanded.
i.v4 ““I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah”
1.I hope you are seeing the value of crying out to the Lord, here it is repeated
again in v4. God answers us. His answers come as we reﬂect upon his word, as we pray, as we
consider his glory over and above our own.
2.What happens when we receive an answer from God? When we acknowledge
his sovereign hand in our lives? Even in the midst of the most ferocious storm – somehow, we
suddenly are at a place where he allows the truth about God to bring peace. This happened to Peter
the night he and the others were out on the Sea of Galilee by themselves, being tossed about by the
winds and the waves. What happened in the middle of the storm? Jesus was spoXed walking on the
water, which terriﬁed the disciples even more! Jesus said to them “Do not be afraid.” Peter, upon
seeing the Lord asked Jesus to allow him to come to him on the water, and Jesus called him to
himself. Peter got out of the boat, stepped into the waves and wind, and walked on the water – he
allowed the truth about God, manifested in Jesus, to bring him peace. Yet when he took his focus oﬀ
of Jesus and looked back to where he was in the middle of the storm, he was once again afraid (MaX
14:22-33).
The next verse touches on such a universally human topic – sleep!
i.v5 “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.”
1.David was able to allow the truth about God to bring peace to where he was,
even as he ﬂed for his life, he was able to lay down and sleep. I know that some of us here today are
aﬀected by restless and even sleepless nights. This can happen for a number of reasons, someOmes
it is a result of physical pain or sickness. Ojen though, it is a result of anxiousness, if you are laboring
over the worries of life, stressing about the diﬃculOes of certain relaOonships, it is not uncommon
for the comfort of sleep to be painfully elusive. Yet David says here that he slept, and he awoke

again, refreshed – Why? because he was sustained by the Lord; the Lord who had brought him
peace.
c.Use the Truth About God to Free You from Fear
Fear can debilitate us. How can we possibly protect our children from all the hurts and pains
of this life? How can we keep our spouse saOsﬁed in our marriage? How can we keep our job
in the midst of the company downsize or the sudden sharp drop in revenue? Focusing upon
our fears seems almost as natural to us as breathing but the reality is this focus will result in
liXle to nothing in resolving them. However, when we have made our fears known to God,
reﬂected upon the truth about him, all in an eﬀort to acknowledge his sovereign hand in our
life. It is then that we are privileged to use the truth about God to free us from fear.
i.v6 “I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against
me all around.”
1.Here is David in this unimaginable place of being betrayed by his son, pursued
by a blood thirsty army, cursed by those who he has passed by, having his previously trusted advisors
turn traitor. What is his response ajer acknowledging God’s sovereign hand in his life? I will not be
afraid. God is in control. His truth is freeing, freeing from what would otherwise be absolutely
debilitaOng fears.
2.Look with me at 2 Sam 7:12-16, this secOon of Scripture is known as the
Davidic covenant – it was truth proclaimed to David about the future. “When your days are fulﬁlled
and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your oﬀspring aPer you, who shall come from your
body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he
commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my
steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And
your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established
forever.’ ”
3.If you were able to reﬂect upon the truth which God declared to you, as David
was able to, even referencing a covenant he made with you – like the one he made with David –
would you ﬁnd it helpful to free your from fear? Well just consider the ulOmate fulﬁllment of the
Davidic Covenant in Jesus, John writes about Christ in this way, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as
though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the ﬁrst and the last, and the
living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Rev
1:17–18)
4.We need to be immersed in the truth about God and when we are; fully
anOcipate that the truth about God will free us from fear - allowing our fears to wash away in the
powerful blood of Christ.
Transi5on: It is only when we are able to acknowledge God’s sovereign hand at work that even in the
midst of our heart being shredded to pieces by the circumstances of this life can we carry on without
fear, knowing that our ulOmate deliverance belongs to God
1.Deliverance For Me and For All of God’s People (vv7-8)

In moving through the ﬁrst two secOons of this Psalm, we saw the opening lament, Losing Control
and Calling Out in vv1-2, then we just ﬁnished focusing on the importance of Acknowledging God’s
sovereign hand in vv3-6, but now the culminaOon of the Psalm comes in the ﬁnal two verses which is
deliverance for the Psalmist personally and for all of God’s people throughout Ome.
a.Claim the Victory of Salva5on in Christ
As the Psalm has progressed, it has followed a paXern of personal lament, then a focus upon
the aXributes of God, and now how those movements swell and build into a powerful wave
of salvaOon.
i.v7 “Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.”
1.Images of David’s victories must be ﬂooding his mind as he remembers all the
Omes God saved him, delivered him from the hands of his enemies, and even bested them on the
baXleﬁeld.
2.His cry here for deliverance, “Arise, O LORD!” would have been very familiar to
the followers of God from ancient Omes. Listen to what Numbers 10:35 sounds like in comparison,
“And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be sca<ered, and
let those who hate you ﬂee before you.””
3.Are you able to do this ChrisOan? Call out to the Lord and claim the victory in
his name, claim the sure salvaOon that he promises? Spending Ome in the Psalms should help
broaden our prayers, allowing us a greater freedom then what we might otherwise pray on our own.
I want to encourage you to use the Psalms in your Omes of prayer. By praying through the Psalms,
you recognize that it is okay to lament, to cry out to God – and that it is equally okay to pray for
victory – victory that you know is ulOmately in Christ.
b.Share the Victory of Salva5on in Christ
The Psalmist claims the victory in his proclamaOon. But the proclamaOon made as he reﬂects
on his own situaOon broadens in the last verse.
i. v8 “Salva8on belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah”
1.This should be our progression as well. As we grow in our faith, in our trust in
the Lord, then we proclaim the truth – SalvaOon belongs to the LORD. Not just my own personal
salvaOon, which is so needed and I am not discounOng it, but the salvaOon that is required for others
as well.
2.It is at this point where we share the victory of salvaOon in Christ with those
whom God places all around us. This is a helpful paXern to course through in our walk with the Lord.
Crying out to him, acknowledging the truths about the LORD and then recognizing that it is by faith
in God that we are saved! This is good news and good news is to be shared. God rescues us from
many foes rising against us. He is a shield about his faithful. It is he that lijs the head of the weary
and fainthearted. He is the ulOmate victor and salvaOon comes through him alone!
3.Represented by this Psalm is a rousing victory that comes by the hand of God,
it is he that is to be gloriﬁed and it is his blessing that we are to seek.

Transi5on: This is a powerful, condensed secOon of God’s word that is full of raw emoOon, and it tells
the story of a lengthy drama - in such a way - that we can more readily relate to David’s experience.
Conclusion
David was rebelled against; he was despised by his son and by his people. He was betrayed. His heart
was broken and he lej Jerusalem with is head covered – weeping as he went. Absalom, his own son,
along with thousands of others in his kingdom rebelled against him. David lamented the state that he
found himself in, he mourned the loss of all that had been taken from him. However, David didn’t stay in
the place of anguish and mourning forever, he turned his aXenOon to the LORD and remembered his
promises. He remembered the covenants. He remembered all the Omes the LORD had protected him,
literally acOng as a shield about him – and so we have Psalm 3.

I don’t know about you, but I so desperately want to idenOfy with David’s faith in this Psalm. The man
ajer God’s own heart who knows how to cry out to God, he acknowledges God’s sovereignty, and then
he trusts in God’s victory.

Do you see in the very beginning of this Psalm the descripOon, A Psalm of David, when he ﬂed from
Absalom his son? That secOon is in the original Hebrew and it is an accurate descripOon of this Psalm.

This forces us to not only focus on David, as we have, but also on Absalom. So that is what I did. I read all
about Absalom in preparing for preaching Psalm 3 this morning. What I learned was that he was a man
who was constantly focused upon himself and bringing about his own “salvaOon” through conspiring to
kill or manipulate or destroy whatever or whoever stood in his way. Who here wants to readily idenOfy
with Absalom, David’s rebellious and conniving son? Of course, no one does.

But what is the diﬀerence between Absalom and David? Let me remind you at the point in David’s life
when he has to ﬂee from his son, he has himself lied, commiXed adultery, and conspired to cover up his
sin by further sinning - murdering Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba.

So, the diﬀerence between father and son is not as much as we would think when looking at their sin.
When you take these two men from this standpoint and ask the quesOon again, which one do you want
to idenOfy with? What are we supposed to say?

Do you recognize that we have all acted like David and like Absalom in our sinfulness? We have conspired
to get what we want no maXer who has been in our way and have thoroughly rebelled against God with
our sinfulness. We have betrayed our Heavenly Father, scorned him, and turned our backs on him. We
are all rebellious children who have taken pleasure in ruining the lives of others in order to get what we
want. So, I ask again who we would rather be like, David or Absalom? We intuiOvely would rather be like
David. Why?

Because we know there is a diﬀerence between David and Absalom. The diﬀerence is in how they react
to their sin when they are confronted with it. David recognizes what it has done to his relaOonship with
God and it drives him to a place of despair. This is where I want to be like David. David despaired at his
sin and the damage it caused to his relaOonship with God, he lamented, cried out, and he rightly
repented. God granted him salvaOon.

I too. In my deepest despair I cry out to the Lord and he reminds me that my salva5on, and the
salva5on of all his people, belongs to him!

This is what we learn from our study of Psalm 3. We must be like David. In our deepest despair crying out
to the Lord, allowing him to remind us of the grace of his salvaOon through Jesus Christ, and how this
salvaOon is available, by his grace, to all who place their faith in him!

y
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Table Talk

May 26, 2019

GOD’S TRUTH
In my deepest despair I cry out to the
Lord and he reminds me that my
salvation, and the salvation of all his
people belongs to him!

Family Discussion
1. How do you normally pray? Do you
follow a similar pattern each time you
pray? Take some time to use one of the
Psalms (perhaps Psalm 3) to pray over
something currently in your life.
2. Now that you have used one of the
Psalms to form the basis of your prayer,
what did you notice that was different
from the way you normally pray? What
was the same? What makes the Psalms a
particularly good book of the Bible to
relate to daily life?
3. The poetic account of 2 Samuel 15
through 2 Samuel 19 is what we have in
Psalm 3. How is it possible to put so
much into only 8 verses? Do you see how
the hurt and anguish of Absalom’s
betrayal is worked through by the
Psalmist? How does this remind you of
the salvation that comes through
trusting in Jesus Christ?

Key Verse

“Salvation belongs to the Lord; your
blessing be on your people! Selah”
Psalm 3:8, ESV

TABLE READING
Lead your kids into God’s
Word...
1. Psalm 3:1-8, Psalm 34:1-22
2. Psalm 47:1-9, Ephesians 5:15-21, James
5:13
3. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Psalm
1:1-3, Psalm 3:1-8, John 1:29, Hebrews
10:1-14

Scripture Memory: Psalm 1:1-2

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when
you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down,
and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they
shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV)


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