Psalm 3

Before reading this Psalm it is very helpful to take a quick read of 2 Samuel 15-16, the setting for David’s writing of this Psalm. 

In Psalm 3 we go from the orderly and idealistic world of Psalm 1 and 2, to the disorientation and distress of Psalm 3.  It strikes me that this is where we usually live.  This is the first Psalm of David recorded.  And although it was written for a specific time and place, its title, ‘The Dark Hour’ is very applicable to our lives.

Verses 1-2. It had always been known that God was with David through his many victories.  But now, because of the circumstances, people are questioning God’s loyalty to David, and even his very salvation.  Notice that David does not have this question.  In the midst of rebellion, David calls out to the Lord using his covenantal name, Yahweh.  This has the same connotation as Abba in the New Testament.  God’s very name was an assurance to David of his promises.  

Verses 3-4.  Read verse 3 in contrast to 2 Samuel 15:30, ‘But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered.’  David  lives the disappointment and shame of the moment as he climbs one mountain to make sacrifices to God.  But when he writes about it, his head is not hung in shame but is lifted as he speaks of the Lord, his glory. He reflects that God answered from another hill, Zion.

In the midst of total shame and dejection for a king who had known such human glory, David calls on his history with the Lord to remind himself of what is actually true - he is known, called, heard by God.  What a picture of the choice we have to either fret and complain or declare what is true.  As the commentator writes, ‘Instead of being vexed in his soul or making plans to relieve the pressure, David has learned to console himself with God.  Too often plans come before prayers.  How many blessings we miss by conceiving our own schemes only to see God frustrate them later and work out his own plan!”

Verses 5-6.  Satisfied that God would deliver him, he was able to sleep.  David commits his problem to God, and abandons it there.  Oh, that we could do the same.

Verses 7-8. This striking of enemies on the jaw is an expression of humiliation.  And the mention of the teeth likens the enemies to wild animals who lose their strength when they lose their teeth.  This may sound harsh to our ears, but the Psalmist is telling us that God will be victorious, no matter what enemies arise, from inside or outside of the people of God.  Consider here the fact that David had been victorious over and over against the enemies of God’s people.  And now, when there is external peace for Israel, an enemy emerges from within.  Even the internal enemies of the church are not beyond God’s ability to help.

By the end of the Psalm, David has written himself into a place of confidence, a long way from the attitude of verse 1. 

Food for thought:

1. What ‘dark hour’ could you name in your life either right now or in the recent past?  Can you name, like David did, truth in contrast to what you see in your circumstances?
2. How would it change your attitude today to choose one truth about God and replace your meditation of worry or anger or other negative thought with that truth?