ROMANS 6:1-7 Can we continue in sin, so that Grace may increase?

 

 

                           

As we now come to Romans 6 we find that the apostle Paul continues a thought begun in Chapter 5. There we learned something about the extensive consequences of the fall: In Adam’s fall we sinned all! Adam’s one disobedience affected us all.

To be human is to share in Adam’s fallen nature. This constitutes the doctrine of original sin.

We also learned that the one act obedience of Jesus brought about a right standing with God (justification) for many – i.e. all who believe in Him.

And now we want to focus on the connecting thought which leads us into the 6^th chapter. Paul has shown us the consequences of Adam’s fall as a result of one man’s disobedience. Adam trespassed against the only law given by His Creator in Genesis 2:17. The trespass of that law caused death and spiritual alienation from God. The breaking of that one law had devastating consequences for all of us.

That was long before Moses received the law from God.

But now in 5:20 Paul adds this thought, “the law came in to increase the trespass“. This is the law of Moses which came afterwards and which was much more detailed and specific in terms of what God’s will for His people is.  It makes us much more aware of the depth of sin, and in that sense, it increases the trespass – our sense of guilt.

And then Paul makes this astonishing statement: “…but where sin increased grace abounded all the more” … etc.     The light breaks through into our darkness!

Paul says that grace is greater than all our sin.

The work of Christ is greater than that which Adam and Adam’s race did.  

 1.  6:1-7   THE  DILEMMA BETWEEN  SIN AND GRACE

Paul now imagines some people saying, What do you mean, Paul? You hear their minds ticking and you hear them saying in Romans 6:1, “If you say that where sin increases, grace will increase all the more … well then, let us continue in sin so that grace may increase! “The thought goes, “if what Paul says is true …surely the more sin there is, the more grace or forgiveness there is.  The more sin there is, the greater the act of forgiveness will look like!”  Do you see that line of reasoning? This would open the door to careless living and indifference to holiness! This is where grace teaching potentially opens the door to rampant sinning.

This is the conclusion that Paul anticipates from some weak minds, and to this he now responds.   

 6:2 Paul’s answer: "May it never be!" 

Paul immediately takes such a thought captive: By no means! We cannot possibly entertain the thought that we continue in sin so that grace might increase!” 

Why not?   

He gives   3 answers in 6:1-7

 (i)   6:1-2  You cannot go on sinning so that grace may increase because you have died to sin.  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

To be a Christian means to be dead to sin.  That means that if you should choose to continue in sin that would be a contradiction of who you are.  Why did Christ die?   He died because of sin! If this is true then we cannot use sin to make God’s grace look greater.  That is twisted thinking.  So, put this thought out of your mind.   

 (ii)   6:3-4 You cannot go on sinning that grace may increase because of the implications of your baptism into Christ. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”. 

Baptism is a powerful illustration. In baptism we illustrate our identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.  Those three words are used in 6:3-4.  In our baptism we tell the world that we have died with Christ, who died for sin. Our sin lies buried with Christ in the grave. His holy death broke the power of my sin, and not my sin only, but the sin of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what baptism signifies.  

In my baptism I have   declared that I have died with Christ to sin!   So then, how can I sin so that grace may increase? I can’t!  I am saved from my former life of sin  and I am saved to walk in the newness of life (6:4).  

 (iii) 6:5-7 You cannot   go on sinning so that grace may increase because of the decisive change brought about in your life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self  was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin”.

Here Paul reminds us that our lives do not simply end with a death to the old things. There is more! Christ did not only die. He rose!  He did not only die for our sins, but He rose to give us life!  He rose to give us present power to live victoriously.  So, Paul is here not only speaking about the resurrection to come. He is speaking about resurrection power NOW. This means that we are no longer enslaved to sin. We have  power to overcome sin.  And the question comes back to us one more time: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may be abound? “And again, the answer is NO! It is contrary to your new nature. 

Being a recipient of grace does not give us a license to sin. Paul makes it clear that we cannot make God’s grace more glorious by continuing to sin. In a nutshell: You can’t go on sinning because 

(i) you have died to sin 

(ii) Your baptism shows it 

(iii) the power of the resurrection at work in you will refute that.   

So that argument is dead!

In what sense then  is   God’s grace  made abundant  to us  in a world where we are so very aware of sin around us and in us ?

 2. 6: 8-13   THE RESURRECTION POWER AT WORK IN YOU DOES THIS ….

We have seen that our union with Christ in His death is linked to a resurrection which gives us new life, not only in the future when He comes again, but right now. That is very encouraging!  

Our resurrection in Christ begins at the new birth, not only at the second coming. New life in Christ starts the moment you have been born again. God is working His grace in us right now. Paul’s strong point here is that our old nature has been crucified with Christ, and not only crucified, but also raised with Christ (see also Col. 2:12-15). The direct result is that we are no longer slaves to sin. We live in the presence of sin, but we are no longer under the slavish power of sin.  This does not mean that Christians cannot sin, but it does mean that we have been set free from the power of sin; we now have the power to say “no!” to ungodliness (Titus 2:12).

With that in mind and with God’s power at work within us we now must take note of the following in 6:11-13:

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Here are four commands (imperatives) which we are able to obey, because of Christ’s resurrection power and grace are at work in us:   

a.      6:11 Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.   Why does he say this? He knows that Christians do struggle with sin (see Romans 7).  But they also need to know that they are not slaves to sin (6:6). We must remember whose children we are, and what power is at work within us to overcome that sin. 

b.      6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Here is the second imperative – this is who you are (6:11) – now behave like who you claim to be! Take charge of your thought life, and your emotions and your passions and rule over them in the power that God has given you.  Our thoughts (which come out of the desires of our heart) ultimately determine our actions. That is why Paul in 2 Cor. 10:5 speaks about taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ. Remember  again - You are not under the dominion of sin. Your life is not characterized by the addictive, controlling bondage of the desires of sin. It does not mean that you do not struggle with sin, but if you do, you have been given grace / power to overcome! 

c.       6:13a  Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness.  This is an extension of the last point.  Don’t let any part of your body be used as a tool for sin. Watch your body – your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet – these can lead you to all sorts of sins: jealousy, covetousness, adultery, hate etc.

d.      6:13b Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.  Here is a positive command. Give your body to God.  The best way to deal with negative habits is to substitute them with positive habits. See Ephesians 5:22-29 as  an example!

3. 6:14  AN ENCOURAGEMENT - LIVE BY GRACE

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Paul is  saying this one more time:  The law does not have the power to enable you to do  to be righteous and to live righteously. That does not make the law bad. It remains God’s holy law. But the problem is that you do not have the power to keep it. The law tells you what you should do, but it doesn’t have the power to help you to do what you should do.

But grace is different.  Grace is God’s gift to you. And in every trial and temptation He says to you, Do not look to the law to help you. Ask me to give you grace for your moments of trial.  This is a strong invitation  to trust God  in every situation  you encounter

This is the power of your justification

This is the resurrection power of Christ’s finished work in you

Rejoice and believe. Trust Him to help you !

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Romans 5:12-21 "One Man Makes The Difference!"

 

We are talking about the doctrine of justification and the incredible difference of  knowing that you are right with God makes in your daily experience. 

When God justifies you, you have  experiential peace with God. 

You have access to Him. 

You rejoice in what is awaiting you. 

Even your sufferings cannot diminish your joy. Quite on the contrary, even your sufferings are producing pleasant fruit:  endurance- character – hope! 

To crown it all the experience of being justified floods your heart with God’s love. This is the work of the Holy Spirit (5:1-5).

What is even more amazing is that all this comes to us when we are weak and ungodly (5:6). It comes to us while we were sinners (5:8) - when we were enemies (5:10).

The Bible leaves no room for thinking that we can be justified by virtue of our own goodness or merits. Not at all! Our salvation is unmerited.  We are saved by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone. The Bible is explicit: “We have been justified by His blood!”  (5:9). We are justified by Jesus’s merits alone.   

As we come to our text, we shall find that great word, justification (Gr. dikaioō) again in 5:16,18.  That word has followed us since 3:24. 

Paul teaches us that being a Christian makes a real difference. You are never the same once you have become a Christian. It is a real experience. Listen to Paul as he reflects on his own experience in his first letter to Timothy:

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim 1:12-14)

This is the language of a converted man! Paul experienced God’s strength, mercy, and overflowing grace along with faith and love.   Paul loves a ‘felt’ Christ, even in  his experience of suffering for the sake of the gospel. He feels the love of God poured into his heart by the Holy Spirit. He knows that God has done this to him, despite the fact that he does not deserve such kindness.  He feels the relief of having escaped the great wrath of God. All this fills him with great joy (5:2,11).

 5:12 “Therefore….”

If Romans 5:1-11 was a testimony to the great experience of having been justified by faith, Romans 5:12-21 deals with two of the key figures in the drama of our redemption and justification:  Adam and Christ! 

The first man, Adam, is the biological father of the human race. As such he is also the federal head of the human race. He is our first representative before God.  In Genesis 3 we read of how Adam’s sin has such a profound effect upon us all- so profound that we can say, “in Adam’s fall, sinned we all.”[1] The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). That is bad news. 

Thankfully death is not the final word for God’s people. Enter the Gospel! Where sin abounds, Paul says, grace super-abounds[2]  (5:20). Enter the second Adam !  This grace comes to us through Jesus, the second Adam. He is the living head and representative of all whom He justifies – all those whom the Father had chosen in Christ before the beginning of time (John 17:2,6,9,10,24).

In Romans 5:12-21 the central idea is that people are saved in precisely the same manner in which they were lost - through the act of   another. Follow the logic of the Bible.  

Just as Adam, by his one sin brought condemnation to all connected with him, so Christ by His one act of righteousness - that is, His sinless life and His substitutionary death, brings justification to all connected to Him (i.e. given to Him by the Father – read Jesus’ prayer in John 17 carefully). 

All people of this world, past, present and future stand in relationship to these two men.

The actions of these two men determine the eternal destiny of all who belong to them.

Every person is either in Adam or in Christ, whatever race or religion they may find themselves.  There is no third option. Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680), an English Puritan theologian and preacher put it like this, 

“In God’s sight, there are two men—Adam and Jesus Christ—and these two men have all other men hanging at their girdle strings.

Girdle strings …This is an image that needs to be explained. In the days of Thomas Goodwin a bird hunter hung the birds he had hunted from his girdle – a thick leather belt.  All of humanity’s spiritual fate is tied to either Adam, through whom sin entered the world, or to Christ, through whom salvation and righteousness are offered to believers. All of us are either trophies of sin or trophies of grace. Keep this picture in mind as we work though this passage. 

 1. 5:12-14: ADAM, BY HIS SIN BROUGHT SIN AND DEATH ON THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE

 (i)  5:12  “...sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”. The whole human race descended from Adam became contaminated by Adam's one sin! If that seems unfair, we just have to think how many people die in wars begun by one man. Sin is far more devastating in its extent or effects than Aids or War.  With respect to sin the death spoken of here not only leads to physical death but also eternal spiritual separation from God. 

(NB. 5:13 - 17 form a parenthesis (a break in thought) between  5:12 -18).

(ii)  5:13,14  makes the point that sin existed before the law of Moses was given. Normally you can’t judge something to be sinful if there is no law to measure it by. This raises a vital question : On what basis were the  people from Adam to Moses then judged?

5:14a provides the answer. They were judged on the basis of ADAM'S ONE SIN. Adam who was created for immortal fellowship with God died as a result of  his sin. Death is a judgement. And everyone after Adam dies.  This idea is repeatedly   emphasized in 5: 15 - 19. The point is here that all men are guilty as the result of ONE MAN'S SIN, and not simply as a result of many personal sins!

What happened? Adam’s guilt was imputed/ transferred to every subsequent human being. Adam’s original sin became ours.  This is the result of the choice he made, and we in turn reflect that choice in our sinful beings.   Here is something to think about: WE ARE NOT SINNERS BECAUSE WE SIN; BUT WE SIN BECAUSE WE ARE SINNERS! We do not become sinners when we sin. We are  constituted sinners.

5:14b speaks of Adam as a "type” (figure) of   the One to come. This "One" is Christ. But in what sense is Adam a pattern of Christ who is   the "One to come"?

Answer:  Just as Adam is the head and representative of the human race, who have been affected by his fall, so Christ is the head and representative of His people who are redeemed by His saving work. As the sin of one was the ground of our condemnation, so the   righteousness of the Other is the ground of our justification.

 2. 5:15 - 17: BEFORE COMPARING THE WORK OF CHRIST AND THE WORK OF ADAM, PAUL SHOWS ONE OUTSTANDING ASPECT IN WHICH THE TWO DIFFER

The free gift (of Jesus) is not like the trespass (of Adam) (5:15) …. the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin (5:16a).

Where is the difference?  The difference is found in 5:16b:  the judgement as a result of Adam’s one trespass brought condemnation (death), but the free gift (through Christ) following many trespasses brings justification.

The works of the two differ in that Christ did much more for His people than just to remove the imputed guilt of Adam's one sin.  Christ made complete atonement for Adam's sin and also for all our many trespasses- past, present and future.

Moreover, Jesus gives His people an abundance of grace, and also His perfect righteousness as a free gift, so that they are even triumphant in this life (5:17). In the cross of Christ ALL His people’s sins are taken up. Romans 8:1 is a wonderful affirmation of this fact.

 3. 5:18,19 PAUL RESUMES HIS POINT MADE IN  5:12. THE PARALLEL BETWEEN THE CONDEMNING WORK OF ADAM AND THE SAVING WORK OF CHRIST IS COMPLETED

 The point is simply made: Men were condemned on the ground of the imputed sin of Adam; and they are justified on the ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ.

 QUESTION ANTICIPATED: Is this passage teaching us that, just as all have been condemned in Adam, so now all are justified in Christ - so that everyone is actually now saved (i.e.  the teaching of UNIVERSALISM)?

 ANSWER: Clearly not!

(i) Plain observation shows that. Clearly, not all people are converted.

(ii) The Bible teaches consistently that God's people are an elect/chosen/predestined/ set apart people.

The ALL of scripture refers to ALL God’s elect or chosen people. These constitute a people from every tribe, nation and tongue. So we see that:

·       Adam is the head and representative of the Human Race

·       Christ is the Head and Representative of God's elect people

4. 5:20,21 THE LAW OF MOSES WAS ADDED LATER. IT DID IN FACT INCREASE MAN'S SIN-BURDEN; HOWEVER, WHERE SIN INCREASED, THE GRACE OF GOD ALSO INCREASES, BY BRINGING RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

5:20a : The law of Moses was added by God for the express purpose of making man’s guilt even greater. Many people think that God gave the law so that they could, through the keeping of the law save   themselves. This is a wrong idea, because the law was never designed by God   to do this. In fact, the law shows that it is impossible for us to keep it. Therefore, the law increases guilt (see 5:20).

5:20b,21: But where sin increased (as a result of breaking the law) grace increased all the more. When God gave us Jesus,  He gave us a real  and lasting solution.

Thanks be to God for Christ’s superior work!

Can you see why the Christian church worships with gladness and joy?  

Such understanding of theology produces deep-seated joy and assurance of salvation. 

This is what we need  to know  in order to be healthy and productive Christians.  

 

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[1] By Benjamin Harris (1673-1716). He published the New England Primer, the first textbook in British America

[2]  Greek: Huperperisseuō – to superabound, abundantly full, overflow

PSALM 3 Peace in the Midst of the Storm

 

This Psalm attributed to David also carries this important piece of information in the superscript,  

“When he fled from his son Absalom”.  

This event refers to 2 Samuel 15-19,  Absalom's  conspiracy against his father. 

There is a long prelude to this story. 

Having had more than one wife and so many children he was not only a poor husband but also a poor father. But it all escalated with Batsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his top soldiers!  He took another man’s wife, and in the end he paid dearly. In, fact when the Holy Spirit finally brought conviction into David’s life by the agency of Nathan the prophet, he was broken! Shattered!   Psalm 51 was composed as a result. Although David was forgiven by God, David was informed that there would be perpetual trouble in his household. The prophet Nathan, speaking on behalf of God said: “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.”   (2 Sam. 12:10)

What followed, he could scarcely have imagined.  The child born as a result  of his affair died (2 Sam 12:15-23).  Then, in 2 Samuel 13 David's first born son, Amnon (born to Ahinoam) raped his half sister - the sister of Absalom, the third son by his wife Macaah (2 Samuel 3:3). And now we find that  Absalom attempted  to take the kingdom from  David, first by subversion and then by  force. 2 Sam. 15:6 says that, “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel”.  

The situation became so serious that David actually had to leave Jerusalem to flee across the Jordan river. It was a desperate time.  He did not know who was with him and who was against him. Thankfully God was with him 

DIVISION:  This Psalm may be divided into four parts  

1. 3:1-2 David  confesses his anxiety 
2. 3:3-6  David  declares  his assurance in the Lord
3. 3: 7   David  expresses anger  in imprecatory  prayer.  
4. 3:8    David  declares his assurance in the Lord once more  

This Psalm represents a full range of emotions in human experience, particularly those arising from fear, anxiety and a sense of forsakenness. Many Psalms deal with this theme (e.g. Ps 46, 73, 77,88). 

As a pastor I have been  privileged to sit with many people  for whom,  from their perspective  the end had come. What joy it is  to  help them to  lift their eyes above the circumstances … “I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” (Ps 121:1,2).It is wonderful to “lead (them) to the rock that is higher than (themselves)“ (Psalm  61:2). 

We thank God for the Psalms in which we find a mirror of our souls. 

As we survey this Psalm we must know that it is fairly normal to experience (sometimes extreme) fluctuations in our emotional framework, which is subject to the fall, and easily exploited by Satan, the sworn  enemy of our souls. 

As we survey this Psalm  we  we find that  David moves from anxiety to assurance to anger, and back to assurance.  If he had lived in our day, a psychologist might have classified him perhaps as bi-polar, or depressed and put him on  psychiatric medication. But there were no anti- depressants in those days. 

What does one do when one’s life is turned upside down? 

Where do you go?  

As you   read the Psalm again, note that even though David is at sea with his emotions, God is not!  

The constant is David's God! 

To Him  David must appeal. 

To Him David must go.

 

1.  DAVID’S ANXIETY  (3:1-2)

 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. Selah                 

Note the repetition … many, many, many…

David is clearly overwhelmed and anxious. 

Now if you look at  2 Samuel 15:12 you will find there that, "while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.”  

There is the situation. Many enemies! 

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions”. (Shakespeare: Hamlet).  

“Troubles always come in flocks. Sorrow hath a numerous family “  (Spurgeon). 

When trouble piles up, the heart sinks. Anxiety!

The most damaging assault upon David’s heart and mind however occurs in 3:2: “many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God.” 

This is the most devastating blow! Many are saying... Not one, not two ... many!  What are they saying?  "... there is  no salvation for him in God". That thought is devastating. If God forsakes us – if God is against us, who can be for us? This is like saying – there is no hope for David. 

The thought of God- forsakenness is the scariest thing to conceive of in my mind. And then I remember that the Lord Jesus  cried that  cry of forsakenness ( Matt 27:46)  Spurgeon comments,  

“It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God.” [1]

 This God forsakenness is what Jesus feared most – “ My God, my God why have you forsaken me?“ This was the curse of curses!   To be deserted of His Father was worse than to be the despised of men.

"Selah"- A musical pause; the precise meaning which is not known. Some think it is  simply a pause to reflect and consider the serious nature of what is being said.

Note what  this pause  brings … ASSURANCE

 2. 3:3-6    David   DECLARES   his  ASSURANCE in the Lord

As David verbalizes his anxiety, and as he pauses a while to reflect, these thoughts are brought  to mind. He  remembers these three things 

 (i) 3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. HE REMEMBERS GOOD THEOLOGY! 

•    The Lord is his shield! The fiery darts of the evil one assaulting his anxious mind are able to bounce off. 
•      The Lord is his glory! Someone greater than his circumstances is   here!
•     The Lord is the lifter of his head. When our head hangs down, we lose perspective. When our head is lifted we can see above the circumstances.

(ii) 3:4  I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah -  HE REMEMBERS TO  PRAY

In his anxiety, David prayed- aloud (lit. with my voice). As soon as David prayed in his distress, God sent an answer from His holy hill – from heaven. This request was instantly answered, because God saw the need to preserve David at this very moment, lest he sink into  utter despair - beyond what he could bear (1 Cor.  10:13 -  “God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”)

Then   follows  another Selah.  Another pause for reflection …

(iii)  3:5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.  DAVID  GETS SOME PHYSICAL REST    

This Selah leads to a long pause.  And this is the answer to David’s prayer.  In His mercy, God gives David exactly what he needs at this stage: sleep!   One of the worst effects of having a distressed soul and an anxious spirit is that you struggle to sleep at night. David's prayer leads  to sleep.  He finds his rest in God.

In Psalm 127  we  some further perspective on the connection between anxiety and  sleep: “It  is in vain that you rise up early sand go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil ; for He gives to His beloved sleep.” (v.2)God gave David sleep! What wonderful recuperative powers are there in sleep. Once your body and mind is rested, your spirit copes much better, and your emotional resources  are  restored. 

See how this affects David:

(iv) 3:6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. SPIRTUAL REST WHICH LEADS TO  GODLY PERSPECTIVE 

Please note! Nothing has changed in terms of his situation. His enemies are still many, many, many.

So what has changed? His perspective has changed. Emotionally he is coping because He presently knows that God is in charge – with God for us, who can be against us ? (Rom. 8:31)

 3.  3:7   David’s Divine Anger &  Imprecatory Prayer

 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.

At  the beginning of the Psalm we find David fearful and anxious. Following  theological reflection, prayer and  a good sleep,   perspective  returns. But there ismore  than perspective that returns to him now.  

He knows that he is in the wrong place. He is the rightful, God ordained ruler.

He  now realizes that those that have become his enemies, and who have driven him from the throne,  they are sinning against God. They are in the wrong place. 

What can he do? He can pray:  “Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God!“. Salvation here does not refer  to the salvation which we need to become the children of God. He refers here to the salvation from this particular situation.

What else does he pray?  For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 

This type of prayer is called ‘imprecatory prayer‘. We have a number of Psalms where such prayer is used (see for instance 7:6,9;  10:15; 35:1; 55:9 etc.) 

There is a time when we are called to pray in such a fashion, particularly when the wicked rule a city or country.

 4.  3:8   David   DECLARES  his  ASSURANCE in the Lord once more  

 3:8 Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah

This is the proverbial cherry on the top. It contains that truth that ought to make every believer jump for joy: Salvation belongs to the LORD!  

Remember verse 1? "There is no salvation from him in God!".  

That is what they say. 

But what does God say? 

What is He saying to David after his perspective has been refreshed  after physical rest  and spiritual reflection? “Salvation belongs to the LORD”;   

•        Not only that salvation by which we are made the children of God,
•       but also  the ongoing salvation, by which the LORD continues to deliver His people from Satan’s onslaughts and its  accompanying effects such as depression  (melancholy) which comes upon us from time to time  as we consider our  ‘hopeless’  circumstances.

In the final  sentence  the objects of  God’s salvation are plainly stated: "Your  blessing be  upon your people." 

God’s blessing is upon His chosen people. In this case His blessing is on His chosen king – David who is the representative of the people of God in the OT. 

 This is followed once again by the "Selah"  

Pause to reflect and think  upon this fact,  that  although  the child of God, and the king of God are  brought under immense pressure (even sometimes due to their own fault), yet the love of God is not taken away  from us, if we truly belong to Jesus. “Your  blessing is upon your  people."

We close with Spurgeon’s comment at this point:

“Pause, my soul, at this Selah, and consider thine own interest in the salvation of God; and if by humble faith thou art enabled to see Jesus as thine by his own free gift of himself to thee, if this greatest of all blessings be upon thee, rise up and sing!

In singing this, and praying it over, we must own the satisfaction we have had in depending upon God and committing ourselves to him, and encourage ourselves, and one another to continue still hoping and quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord. (Matthew Henry)

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[1] C.H. Spurgeon : Treasury of David, Psalm 3

[2] ibid