Psalm 3 is a little shorter than yesterday’s psalm and reading it this morning was like a breath of fresh air because it feels so spot-on.

Let’s get into it…

Interested in knowing Why? this series on Psalms…
check out the 1^st post.

First of all… take a quick read through the psalm if you’re not familiar with it…
(If you’re not familiar with the Psalms… you’ll see the word “Selah” fairly frequently. The Psalms were like Israel’s hymnbook / songbook so-to-speak, and the word “Selah” was a bit like… “Take a breath”, “Pause”, or “Reflect on what you just sang”)

Psalm 3

¹ Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
² Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.”
Selah

³ But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill.
Selah

⁵ I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Arise, O Lord;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
⁸ Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people.
Selah

My 3 Thoughts

1. Obstacles as enemies: David wrote this at a time when a number of people, including his son, had risen up in rebellion to his kingship, and it felt as though there were enemies everywhere.
   • As I read this, it doesn’t take any effort at all for me to be able to relate. Although I don’t have ‘many’ enemies (that I’m aware of 😉), it seems like this past year has been filled… and I do mean filled, with obstacles of one kind or another. So I have felt oppressed by many circumstances and situations. Often, one thing hasn’t had a chance to clear, but that something else has added itself.
   • When we feel overwhelmed, whether by obstacles or enemies, we can easily feel like there’s no help available anywhere.
2. A shield ‘about’ me: Psalm 3, as you see it above, is taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. When I was reading it, however, I read it in the English Standard Version and rather than the preposition ‘for’ in verse 3, the ESV uses the preposition ‘about’… “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me.” … about = surrounding / around
   • When I read that, it was like…
     • slipping into the shade of a tall tree on a blistering hot day
     • putting a cool, soothing ointment on a stinging scratch or scrape.
     • finally being able to sit after a long run or a busy day
   • David felt overwhelmed by what was going on around him, but when he came to the Lord… it was like he sat down and the Lord was a circular dome… not just a shield in front of him, or behind him, or to his left, or to his right… all around him (at least in the ESV)!
   • Not only did the Lord allow him to be shielded… but David says that the Lord lifted his head. Overwhelmed people tend to keep their head down and keep plugging away – partly out of determination, partly out of fear of what might be coming next. The Lord, however, gave David the grace of being able to lift his head, without worry… to regain a sense of hope and a sense of confidence, and the confidence that he had been heard.
3. Rest and salvation: Where circumstances would make us hopeless, being in God’s presence makes us hopefull.
   • David says that he was able to sleep and awake the next morning. Overwhelmed people don’t rest well, the Lord sustained him as he slept.
   • He also reaffirms that salvation, deliverance, help in difficulty came from the Lord… it was his to give (where the enemies in v.2 taunted, saying that there was no salvation / help in the Lord).

Food for Thought…

Feeling overwhelmed by life or people?
There’s a place of refuge in the Lord that allows for rest, confidence, hope and restoration;
a place where you can regroup and regain the strength you need to face the day.

ps. this isn’t just theoretical.
I’m living it today.
Praise the Lord!