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This Psalm which is ascribed 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.
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 first trouble came when his son Absalom (3rd son by his
wife Maacah – 2 Sam. 3:3) attempted
to take the kingdom from him 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.
DIVISION: This Psalm may be divided into four parts
- 3: 1- 2 David CONFESSES his
ANXIETY
- 3:3 -6 He DECLARES his
ASSURANCE in the Lord
- 3: 7 He
EXPRESSES his ANGER in imprecatory prayer towards God
- 3:8 He
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 , and 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 perspective of the Psalms!
As we
survey this Psalm we must know that it is fairly normal to experience (extreme)
fluctuations in emotions. These fluctuations is
a part of our experience as fallen human beings.
You will
note that David moves from anxiety to assurance to anger, and back to
assurance. If he had lived in our day, a
modern psychologist might have classified him as bi-polar, and put him on
anti-depressants. 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 , note that even though David is at sea with his
emotions, God is not! The constant is
God! David has learned to go to God.
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! If God
forsakes us – if God is against us, who can be for us? This is like saying –
there is no hope for David. That thought of God- forsakenness is the
scariest thing to conceive of in my mind. Spurgeon comments,
“If all the trials which
come from heaven, all the temptations which ascend from hell, and all the
crosses which arise from the earth, could be mixed and pressed together, they
would not make a trial so terrible as that which is contained in this verse. It
is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help
for us in God.” [1]
"Selah" : A musical
pause; the precise meaning of which is not known. Some think it simply a rest,
a pause in the music to reflect and consider the serious nature of what is
being said.
Note what this pause
brings … ASSURANCE
- 3:3-6 David DECLARES his
ASSURANCE in the Lord
As David
verbalizes his anxiety, and as he pauses a while to reflect, this thought is
brought to mind,
3 But you, O LORD, are a
shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
All of a
sudden there is perspective!
·
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.
And again
Spurgeon comments to very helpfully, “a
divine trio of mercies is contained in this verse!— defence for the
defenceless, glory for the despised, and joy for the downcast.[2]
3:4 I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me
from his holy hill. Selah
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.”
Here
follows another Selah.
Another pause for reflection …
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 most
terrible effects of having a distressed soul and an anxious spirit is that you
struggle to sleep at night. Not David in this case! 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:
3:6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Please note! Nothing has changed in terms of his situation. His enemies are still many, many, many.
So what
has changed? His perspective under God 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)
In the
beginning of the Psalm we find David fearful and anxious. Following a good
sleep, perspective returns as he prays. But there is more than perspective which
returns to him now.
David
realizes that those that have become his enemies, and who have driven him from
the throne, where he sat as the God ordained king, - that these men are actually sinning against God. He is
actually now in the wrong place. He should be ruling his people, but instead he is being chased
like a dog.
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.
This
verse contains the 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 .
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."
I 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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