Psalm 03

The Lord is Many Things to a Child of His in Trouble

Psalm 3

Introduction:

This Psalm was written by David when he was running for his life from his son Absalom.

Ø      Absalom, his sister Tamar, and his brother Amnon

Ø      David does seemingly nothing about this rape which angers Absalom

Ø      Absalom hated Amnon and eventually had him killed

Ø      Again David does not deal with this in the right way

Ø      Eventually Absalom begins the process of stealing the throne from David

               *Sits at the gates

               *Has fifty men run before him

               *Steals the hearts of the people

Ø      2 Samuel 15:10-17 Read to get an idea of what is going on when David writes.

As David writes he is overwhelmed by three things v. 1

1)      How they have increased that trouble him

2 Samuel 15:12 talks of how they daily increased against David

2 Samuel 18:7 20,000 died in the battle which was only those fighting

2)      How many have risen up against him

Risen = rebelled.  It must have seemed that the whole world rebelled against him at that time.

3)      How helpless he is in the eyes of others

Can only wonder how many looked for a sign from God to protect his anointed king.  None seemed to come so it must have appeared that David was in a hopeless situation.

What situations do we find ourselves in today that might seem as helpless as this one David is in?

What a horrible situation to even feel beyond God’s help

Yet even in this situation David realized several things about God that we can and need to recognize as well.

I.                   He recognized who the Lord was vv. 3-4

1.  He is a shield v. 3

1)      David was a military man, he knew the importance of a good shield

2)      God was more than a shield in front of him, God’s shield surrounded David

3)      Psalm 139:5

4)      2 Kings 6:8-18 Elisha and his servant with the Syrians

5)      Go over account of how God was a shield to David at this time

Ahithophel one of David’s most trusted advisors went with his son

Hushai was another one of David’s advisors who God used to  bring to nothing the counsel of Ahithophel.

2.      He is “My glory”

What does this phrase mean?

In a sense God sheds glory on David.  God is his glory

3.      He is the lifter of my head v. 3

Psalm 28:7-9

7        The LORD is my strength and my shield;

          My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

          Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,

          And with my song I will praise Him.

8        The LORD is £their strength,

          And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

9        Save Your people,

          And bless Your inheritance;

          Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.

Do we believe that?

To walk with our head hung low is to show that helpless, woe is me feeling

God is the one who lifts our head.

Why do some many Christians live with their head hung low?

4.      He is the one who heard my cries v. 4

2 Samuel 15:30-37 David’s cry and God’s immediate answer

Verse 4 ends with “Selah” which means stop and think about it.

II.                 He acted on what he knew to be true of God

Not enough to just believe these things about God, we must act on them.  Too many today say they believe and yet act as if they did not

1.  He rested v. 5

Isaiah 26:3 “He will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is stayed on the Lord.”

David prayed and then he made a conscious decision to go to bed.

The Lord enabled him to rest

2.  He took courage v. 6

Romans 8:31 “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

2 Kings 6:1-17 Elisha and his servant with the Syrian army

3.      He claimed the victory vv. 7-8

Broke the cheekbone, knocked out his teeth