Finding Strength in God (2)

Finding Strength in God

Text: Psalm 3

Background:

Psalm 3

The superscription of this Psalm identifies it as written by David. In Book One (Ps. 1–41), 37 of the 41 psalms (all except 1–2; 10; 33) are ascribed to David. Psalm 3 is said to have been written when he fled from his son Absalom (cf. 2 Sam. 15–18). It is a confident prayer of the king who had fled from the palace and was surrounded by enemies. In spite of innumerable adversaries who were convinced that he had no hope, God’s elect, David, found God’s safety and protection through the night and thereby had confidence in His ultimate deliverance.[1]

Intro:

All of you will agree that life is never without tuff times, and it’s reflected in this text today. This chapter represents a tough time, a challenging chapter in David’s life. It seems to border on a dysfunctional family. Amnon was David’s oldest son; Amnon fell in love with his half-sister Tamar and raped her. Absalom, David’s third son, hears that Amnon had raped his sister, takes matters into his own hand and kills Amnon, because David his father, knew of the offense and did nothing about it.

Absalom is a fugitive from justice, and he remains a fugitive until his father gives him a reprieve and allows him to return home. But even as he returns home, he finds out that home is not the home he once remembered. His father is cold and indifferent, so Absalom assumes that if I am no son to him, he is no father to me. So, he comes up with a plan to steal the kingship from David. Absalom gathers his army together and begins to march against David. David, in return, decides to abandon the throne and let God decide who He wants to rule. It’s here where David pens this Psalm 3.

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 [2]

A. Surrounded by enemies (3:1–2)

3:1–2. The Psalm begins with David’s lament: many … foeswere surrounding him. In fact, forces of the opposition had driven him from the palace and were then surrounding him. Their taunt was that he had no hope of being delivered by God. This arrogant remark was designed to say that God had abandoned David.[3]

This is a mourning Psalm for people who:

· Know they have a tuff morning ahead of them

This is a Psalm for people who:

· Know they got a fight ahead of them

· Maybe there is a fight waiting for you at work

· Perhaps you have something that you are tired of dealing with

· Perhaps there is something that has you on edge

· This is how you engage the day

David is in a battle for his life

· His world is crashing around him

· He has to deal with Absalom and an army coming after him

· He has to deal with the rebellion of the people

· So, David is in a fight for his life; this is a bad chapter for David.

This Psalm is for people who are in some kind of fight, some kind of battle

· You got some people who don’t want to see you succeed

· People who just want to keep havoc going

· Those who are in some kind of a battle going on

· He says this is a good Psalms for you!

Here it is that there are 10,000 soldiers after David, and maybe you don’t have that problem, but maybe there is someone who is trying to disrupt your day!

· Disrupt your peace

· Disrupt your family

· Maybe it’s not 10,000

· Maybe it’s not 5,000

· Maybe it’s not 10 people

· Maybe it’s not 5

· It could be just one person who is a toxic talking who can disrupt your world!

They are taunting him

· Saying that there is no hope for you of being delivered from God

· God’s forgot about you

· There’s no help for you in God

· You put yourself in this predicament

· That the ditch you dug is so deep that even God can’t help you!

I come to tell you that, that is the conversation of the enemy

· That you’re in a storm and you can’t get out

· You are in a predicament

· In a crisis

· In a midnight hour

· That even God can’t get you out of

· But I’m here to tell you that there is no situation that God cannot get you out of!

· There isn’t a problem that God can’t solve

· There isn’t a storm that God cannot say peace be still

I don’t care what it is:

· There’s nothing that God cannot handle!

· He can handle it!

Look at what happens:

· Isn’t it interesting in verse’s 1&2 David is dealing with his problem!

· Verse 3-8 David is talking about God look what he says

Ps. 3: 3-8

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[4]

It's not by accident; David is saying if you focus on your problems, they will swell and seem like they are too great to overcome.

· They’ll have you walking around here feeling broken and defeated

· But if you shift your focus from your problem over to your God

· That God in His true statue has a way of shrinking your problems down, and they seem manageable

And suddenly you’ll start saying:

· 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. [5]

Yawl remember the story of Moses and the 12 spies: He sent out the 12 spies to bring back a report, 10 the majority 2 came back with a minority report.

· The 10 came back and said: The land is full of milk and honey, and there are houses we will not have to build

· There are vineyards we will not have to plant

· They have wells we won’t have to dig

· But the problem is that there are giants in the land, and we are like grasshoppers, and we can’t take the land

Minority, what do you have to say: Yes, they are partly right!

· The land is flowing with milk and honey, there are houses we will not have to build, vineyards we will not have to plant, wells we won’t have to dig, and yes, there are giants in the land, and we are like grasshoppers.

· But the verdict is with God all things are possible, and we can take the land

· If you focus on your problem, it will seem like it is impossible to conquer

· But if you focus on God in the midst of your problem, God has a way to shrink your situation down, and you will see the light of day.

If you lift up your head and say:

· All things are possible to them that love God according to His purpose

· I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

· Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world

See, it’s deliberate on David’s part; he shifts from his problem Absalom and this army to God!

Look at what he says about God:

· 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[6]

He says that you are a shield around me… a shield is a weapon you use to defend against the enemy when he shoots at you

Then he says, you are the lifter of my head; he says that no matter what I am going through, God is the lifter of my head that no matter what it looks like, you will lift my head up, so no one will be able to tell what I am going through!

Vs4 says: 4 I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me[7]

· We have a God who hears when we call on Him

Look at vs. 5-6: David is so confident in God that he lays down and goes to sleep, he had 10,000 men after him, and we can’t sleep if we have 1 person on our nerve.

· We need to have confidence in God!

· David couldn’t prove it, but he knew God was at work in the background working.

· And when God is at work in the background, you don’t have to worry close your eyes and lay down and go to sleep.

· And if wasn’t God who’s working in the background where would we be

Verse7: He so confident in God that he calls upon Him and says: 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]

· He says “Arise O Lord”

· When we get up in the morning we ought to cry out and say “Arise O Lord”

God allowed David to victorious over his enemies, when the dust settles Absalom, and his men are dead.

· But the blessing is that God is available when we need Him to arise and give you victory!

[1]Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 793). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 3:1–8). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [3]Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 793). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 3:3–8). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Php 4:13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 3:3–4). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 3:4). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 3:7). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.