Salvation Belongs to the Lord

In the Midst of The Scorn

Glory and Lifter of my head

Psalm 3 ESV

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 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.” Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 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. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah

What I would like this morning to embed in your heart the idea that God will lift up your head

In this Psalm, David was at a major low; to put it into music terms, David has the blues.

There are times when life falls apart (3:1-2).

Everywhere David looked, friends became foes. And David founded surrounded by enemies.

This can happen to you. Life can bring you to a tight place where you are surrounded by evil intentions. And people you know, trust, and love can work to hurt you rather than help you

Maybe you’re believing all of the lies from the enemy ~

• Your faith is weak!

• You believe you don’t deserve to be with these good people of the church!

• You question your faith, do I really have salvation?!

• You believe your faith is fake, and you’re a hypocrite, a phony!

• You really don’t believe Jesus will forgive you of your sins

• With all that you’ve done in your life, there’s no way you could be forgiven!

A little boy continuously rebelled against his parents. To teach him a lesson, his father told him he would drive a nail into the door of the barn every time he disobeyed. After seeing the nails add up on that door, the son repented of his rebellion. To demonstrate his forgiveness, the father removed the nails from the door. Later, the son returned again with tears in his eyes. The Father asked what was wrong. The son answered, “The nails are removed. But the holes remain.”

This psalm warns us that the scars of our sins may remain after the wound has been healed. It also warns us not to commit spiritual malpractice by misdiagnosing other people’s troubles. Those who witnessed David’s situation concluded that there was no salvation for him in God. But the doctor to whom they referred was David’s personal physician. And rather than drawing false conclusions from what people were doing and saying, David brought his complaint to the Lord. That’s what you should do.

The first, second, and final strophes are followed by “Selah,”

I MUST TELL JESUS, ALL OF MY TROUBLES.

I CANNOT BEAR THESE BURDENS ALONE

IN MY DISTRESS, HE KINDLY WILL HELP ME

HE EVER LOVES AND CARES FOR HIS OWN.

PLACE YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD!

In the opening verses of this psalm, David complains to God about his enemies are doing to him and saying about him. But in verses 3-6, David shifts his focus to the Lord.

This is the only sure way to face and overcome the overwhelming battles of life.

JAMES MONTGOMERY BOICE comments: “When a believer gazes too long at his enemies, the force arrayed against him seems to grow in size until it appears to be overwhelming. But when he turns his thoughts to God, God is seen in his true, great stature, and the enemies shrink to manageable proportions.” This is what David does. He does not respond to the schemes, deeds, and threats of his enemies by getting emotional. He gets theological! He reminds himself in prayer of who his God is and what his God had done for him. This is what you should do.

THE LORD IS MY GLORY. The word used here for glory is the word that typically refers to the glory of God. When used in reference to humans, it speaks of dignity and honor.

David is saying here that his sense of self-identity and self-worth is rooted in God.

Being banished from his throne and exiled from his city by his own son dishonored David. Yet David declares that his honor was not in his throne, city, subjects, armies, or riches. The Lord is my glory. Literally,

When life falls apart, you must know who God is and how to lay hold of Him in prayer (3:3-4).

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

There is a time for quiet, contemplative prayer. And there is a time to cry out to the Lord.

Remember your prayers will not mean anything to God until they mean everything to you.

God was still on the throne even though David was on the run.

Psalm 3 has been called a morning psalm and Psalm 4 has been called an evening psalm.

Psalm 4 is called an evening psalm because of verse 8: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” That’s a good psalm to go to sleep to. You can go to sleep in peace when you know that the Lord will keep you safe – not guns, guard dogs, bar doors, alarm systems, or security guards.

Psalm 3 is called a morning psalm because of verse 5: “I lay down and slept; I woke up again, for the Lord sustained me.”

God Relieves Fear

When you lay hold of the Lord in prayer, you will experience His peace (3:5-6).

This is not a hyperbole. Thousands of people had actually set themselves against him. But David was not afraid. This does not mean that David did not have anything to be afraid of. He had plenty of reasons to be afraid.

But because he knew who his God was and what his God had done for him, David determined that he was not going to allow fear to dictate how he responded.

It has been well said that courage is just fear that has said its prayers. The Bible calls it faith. Trust in God relieves fear. It does not matter how great the opposition may be. Numbers are not everything. If God is on your side, you are in the majority.

Then David prays, “Save me, O my God!” In verse 2, the people are saying that there is no salvation for him in God. But David refused to believe the report of unbelieving people

“For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.” These are harsh words.

He is asking God to put take away what they would use to hurt him.

Romans 8:31-34 says: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

The God who fought for you to get you to heaven will fight for you on your way to heaven!

The story is told of Mr. Yates, who owned a farm in Texas. The Great Depression came and he was having trouble keeping up with the payments on his farm. The bank began to press Mr. Yates and gave him thirty days to pay his back payments or face foreclosure. With three weeks left to go, a man came to Mr. Yates door. He worked for an oil company. He asked Mr. Yates to give the company a lease to drill on his farm for oil. Yates knew he was going to lose the farm anyway, so he decided it couldn’t hurt. Well, that oil company did drill and hit a gusher – eighty barrels of oil a day. Mr. Yates immediately became a multi-millionaire.

When did Mr. Yates become a millionaire? When the oil company struck oil? Nope. Mr. Yates was a millionaire the moment he bought the farm.

But he did lived in poverty because he did not know what was underneath the ground. Likewise, the moment you put your faith in Christ, you were blessed. Are you living in spiritual poverty because you don’t know what you have in Christ? Start digging! If you are in Christ, you are blessed!

Believing prayer depends completely on God for deliverance (3:7-8).