Please turn to Psalm 3. We are going
to
look at Psalm 3 this morning as we
continue our
summer series in the book of Psalms, where
we're gonna look at the first 12 Psalms
this summer.
And then in August once we're done with
this series we'll go back to the book
of Romans. Today we're looking again
at Psalm 3. Please listen to the reading
of God's word.
A psalm of David
when he fled from Absalom his son.
Oh 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.'
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.
I lay down and slept.
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands
of people who 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.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. Please be seated.
I'm sure you would agree with me that
in our modern world,
cultivating the discipline of prayer presents
a great challenge.
Of course, there are many reasons for this.
The fast pace and busyness
of our life,
the all
consuming distractions
that come from our smartphones or from social
media,
the precedence of the material world over the
spiritual world,
feelings of guilt
or inadequacy
before God,
the perceived ineffectiveness
of prayer,
or even an ever growing ignorance
of what prayer is
and how to pray.
All of these things
conspire together to arrest the development
of the Christian's prayer life.
As we continue our summer series in the
book of Psalms,
we will discover that one of the great
blessings of the Psalter
is that it records
prayers for us that are inspired by God,
and that are meant to be sung,
memorized, and recited
by God's people.
Therefore, as we consider Psalm 3 this morning,
we will focus on how this Psalm
teaches us to pray.
In particular, I want you to notice
that Psalm 3 is a balm for the
embattled soul.
This is the main point that I want
you to remember this morning.
If adversity is weighing you down,
lift up your prayers to God
and arise.
That is what this Psalm calls us to
do. If adversity is weighing you down,
lift up your prayers to God
and arise.
So let's study what Psalm 3 teaches us
about prayer under
6 headings. You heard this right?
Six headings.
The context,
the covenant,
the conflict,
the cry,
the confidence,
and the confession.
Okay? So let's look at the first heading,
the context.
Note that Psalm 3 is the first Psalm
with a superscript or a title that is
attached to it.
Most Christian theologians consider the titles to be
part of the inspired Word of God,
which means that the information recorded in the
titles bears divine authority.
Psalms 3 title reads, A Psalm of David
when he fled from Absalom
his son.
So Psalm 3
is a prayer of lament
written by David
as he wrestles with the anguish in his
soul caused by his son,
Absalom,
who betrayed David
by usurping
Israel's throne.
In 2nd Samuel,
chapters
13 to 19,
we find the context
for Psalm 3.
It's a story of abuse,
family betrayal,
political entry,
and war.
And the tragic events there unfold after David's
firstborn son Amnon
rapes his half sister
Tamar.
2 years later, Tamar's brother Absalom
avenges her death by hosting a feast, and
then getting Amnon drunk at that feast, and
sending his servants
to murder him.
Absalom then flees Jerusalem and goes north beyond
David's kingdom,
taking refuge in Geshur
where his maternal grandfather was king.
Thus, Absalom lives in exile for 3 years.
David,
grieving the loss of his son, his firstborn
son, Amnon,
but also longing to see Absalom again, eventually
allows him, Absalom,
to return to Jerusalem.
And
after 2 years,
David finally
receives him because
even though he
sorry. Not after 2 years. Absalom lives in
exile for 3 years and then
then then he he comes, he receives them,
but David forbids Absalom from being in his
presence.
So think about that. He brings him back,
but he doesn't receive him.
He longs to see him. He yearns to
be with him, but he actually doesn't allow
him to be with him. I think that
alone is a lesson for us on forgiveness.
If we're going to forgive, we need to
forgive all the way.
It doesn't benefit anybody
to not come all the way,
to the throne of mercy, and plead for
mercy, and ask for forgiveness, and forgive others
even if we don't do it fully. And
here David
sins in that regard. He brings his son
back, but he actually doesn't allow him in
his presence. And this brings great problems because,
Absalom during this time that he's back in
Jerusalem, but unable to see his father,
grows even more bitter
towards him.
Well, like I said, after 2 years,
David finally receives Absalom in his presence. But
over the next 4 years, as that bitterness
in Absalom had grown,
he spends that time, these next 4 years
Absalom does,
drawing the hearts of the people of Israel
away from David and toward him.
And after he wins enough support,
Absalom travels to Hebron
and declares himself king there.
This leads to full scale rebellion in the
land of Israel, forcing David to flee Jerusalem
to avoid Absalom's army.
So David crosses the Kidron Valley and weeps
bitterly as he ascends the Mount of Olives
with his heart heavy in sorrow because of
his son's betrayal.
David's flight
forces him to go into the wilderness
where he crosses the Jordan and travels north
across
Gilead
and through the forest of Ephraim until he
finds refuge
in a city called Mahanaim,
some 60 miles northeast
of Jerusalem.
David's flight is marked by grief
and great uncertainty.
Yet in the midst of overwhelming adversity,
the prayer of Psalm 3
articulates David's trust
in God's protection.
So this is the first lesson about prayer
that Psalm 3 teaches us.
Everyone
needs prayer.
Everyone
needs prayer.
Even the most powerful person
needs to pray.
David was renowned
for his power,
for his wisdom,
and for his charisma.
He appeared to have all the things in
his kingdom
completely under control.
Yet in a moment
everything changed and David found himself
abandoning his throne and running for his life.
Sooner or later,
the trials of life
drive all of us to our knees.
And in that moment,
it is good to avail ourselves
of the blessed recourse
of prayer.
Think about the challenges in your life that
you find most pressing today.
The things that are keeping you up at
night,
the things that might be provoking anxiety
in your heart,
tensions with your family perhaps,
concerns
about your children or grandchildren,
or by your parents or grandparents,
health concerns,
relational problems, challenges
at work or at school,
financial stress,
perhaps even the the feelings of guilt or
shame
because of past or present sin in your
life.
Are you praying
about these things?
Have you asked others
to pray
for you in these concerns?
In other words, how is the context of
your life
informing the content
of your prayer?
Is this adversity driving you to your knees
in dejection?
Or is it driving you to your knees
in reliance upon God?
You see, your prayer life reveals the substance
of your faith,
the soundness of your theology,
and the sincerity
of your hope.
In other words,
one might ask or say,
tell me what you pray for
and I'll tell you what you believe.
What does your prayer life
say about you?
Remember, if adversity is weighing you down, you
need to lift up your prayers to God
and arise.
David found solace by turning to God during
his darkest moments.
You also can find encouragement and hope through
prayer,
knowing
that God hears and sustains you
in your trials.
So having looked at the context,
let's consider the second heading,
the covenant.
Verse 1 reads,
O Lord,
how many are my foes?
Many are rising against me.
Notice that David addresses God by using His
covenant name,
Yahweh,
here translated as Lord in uppercase letters.
This teaches us that prayer is the privilege
of God's covenant people.
The truth is that there is no reason
why
a holy God
who is good,
and righteous,
and just
should listen to the prayers of a people
who are sinful,
and disloyal,
and altogether
untrustworthy
like we are.
But he does.
He does in fact listen to our prayers.
In 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 12, the
Apostle writes that God's ears are open
to the prayers of his people.
In 1st John chapter 5 verse 15,
the beloved disciple remind reminds Christians that we
can be confident
that God hears us when we pray
according to his will.
And in Philippians
chapter 4 verse 6,
Paul exhorts us to pray
making our request known to God with thanksgiving.
And the reason God does this
is that He has graciously
condescended
and entered into a covenant with us through
His Son and Savior,
through His Son and our Savior,
Jesus Christ.
The prophet Jeremiah
prophesied this in Jeremiah 31 verses 31 to
34.
Part of it which we already read today
where he writes this,
Behold,
the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
Not like the covenant that I made with
their fathers
on the day when I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt,
my covenant that they broke
though I was their husband,
declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the Lord.
I will put
my law within them,
and I will write it on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And no longer shall each one teach his
neighbor and each his brother saying, know the
Lord
for they shall all know me.
From the least of them to the greatest
declares the Lord.
For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.
Dear Christian,
the prophet Jeremiah prophesied this
about you.
This is God's promise to
you. He has forgiven your sin.
He remembers it no more.
And because He has promised to be your
God,
He cares about your life, and He listens
to your prayers.
So the second lesson that Psalm 3 teaches
us about prayer is that prayer is the
privilege
of God's covenant people.
Because of Jesus Christ,
because of His perfect and finished work to
atone for your sin,
because you're united to Him through a spirit
wrought faith,
because of Christ's ascension into heaven
where He intercedes for you as your High
Priest,
you have an audience
before the King of the universe.
It is your legal right in Jesus Christ.
Don't forsake
this privilege
and gift.
Avail yourself
of this right
to come before God's heavenly throne in prayer.
So having looked at the context and the
covenant,
let's consider the 3rd heading, the conflict.
Again, look at verses 12.
Oh 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.
Having already spoken about the covenantal nature
of this prayer,
I want to draw your attention
to 2 more things in these verses.
First,
notice that David underscores the great number of
his adversaries.
He says and repeats that his foes are
many.
In the history of Israel,
few if any men have enjoyed as much
popularity
as David had up to that point.
And yet in an instant everything changed, and
David's world was turned upside down.
Many of the same people
who celebrated his military victories on behalf of
Israel
had now sworn their allegiance to Absalom
and were pursuing David
to take his life.
Perhaps you notice how this foreshadows
our Lord Jesus's own experience,
who after entering Jerusalem to great acclaim
as the multitude cried out, Hosanna to the
son of David on Palm Sunday,
by week's end would hear the crowd shouting,
crucify Him.
This admonishes us from pursuing popularity
and highlights the foolishness
of putting our trust in man.
In Jeremiah 17:5, the prophet puts it more
strongly when he writes,
cursed
is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away
from the Lord.
Listen, popularity contests
are a waste of time
and they're not worthy of your devotion.
I know social media and all the algorithms
are designed for you to pursue that popularity.
They're worthless.
It's worthless. It's a trap. It's a snare.
It's a snare from the pit of hell.
Don't fall into it.
The hearts and the will of human beings
are fickle,
and the security that they offer is nothing
more than a house of cards. It will
collapse at the slightest blowing of the wind.
Psalm 3 teaches us therefore
to turn our hearts towards the Lord through
prayer,
for He will neither turn away from us
nor turn against us.
Instead,
in Psalm 116 verse 2,
the psalmist
writes that because God inclines his ear toward
him,
He will call on him as long as
he lives.
Oh, that that would be our posture.
That we would know that the Lord inclines
his ear toward us. So we will call
on him with every breath that we have,
every day of our lives.
The second thing I want you to notice
in verses 1 and 2
is that David's adversaries are making are maligning
God's character
because they don't understand God's grace.
David says in verse 2 that many are
saying of him, 'There is no salvation for
him in God.'
At the beginning of David's flight from Absalom,
David and his men go through a town
called Bahurim
on the north eastern slope of the Mount
of Olives.
In 2nd Samuel 16,
we read that a man named Shemae,
a Benjaminite
from the house of Saul
begins to throw stones at David
and to curse him as he is going
through this town saying,
Get out.
Get out you man of blood,
you worthless man.
The Lord has avenged
on the Lord has avenged on you all
the blood of the house of Saul,
in whose place you have reigned.
And the Lord has given the kingdom into
the hand of your son Absalom.
See, your evil is on you for you
are a man of blood.
When Abishai, one of David's men, asked David
for permission to save the king's honor by
personally
cutting off Shimei's head,
David answers,
behold, my own son seeks my life.
How much more now may this Benjaminite
leave him alone
and let him curse
for the Lord has told him to.
It may be that the Lord will look
on the wrong done to me and the
Lord will repay me with good for his
cursing
today.
There's 2 things I want you to notice.
1st,
Shimei calls David a man of blood,
and indeed he is.
David had led many military campaigns
and had therefore shed much blood.
But David was also guilty of shedding innocent
blood.
Like the blood of his own general,
Uriah,
whom David sent to die on the front
line in a vain attempt to cover up
his adulterous relationship with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba.
Whether Shamay is aware of this sinful act
of David is beside the point.
What we do know is that Shamay holds
David responsible
for the demise of the house of Saul.
In that particular case,
wrongly impugning sin to David.
And yet,
what is evident
is that Shimei does not understand
God's grace.
Because even though David is indeed
a man of blood,
it is also true
that the Lord
is a God whose love for his people
is steadfast
and whose mercies are new
every morning.
A God who saves sinners,
who saves
even men of blood.
So the accusation
that David hears that there is no salvation
for him in God is entirely baseless,
not because of David's sinful
character,
but because of God's righteous character.
Secondly,
David's response hints that he himself believes
that God may be punishing him
for his sin.
Now listen, God does not punish
his people.
He punished Jesus in our behalf.
But He does discipline and chastise us as
a loving parent does a child.
But David's doubt
ought to serve as a warning to us
because it shows that one of the devastating
consequences of sin
is that it tempts us to doubt God's
love.
Are there times when you doubt God's love?
Times when you question
the extent of God's mercy?
Times when you wonder whether his grace is
sufficient for you?
The conflict in verses 1 and 2 is
a conflict between the believer
and the unbelieving world, a world which denies
that God's grace is real.
But it is also a conflict within the
believer himself
whose own sin
tempts him to deny
that God's grace is sufficient for him.
So the 3rd lesson Psalm 3 teaches us
about prayer
is that our sin
should not drive us away from God
but should drive us
to God
because he neither turns away from us
nor does he turn us away.
So having looked at the context,
the covenant,
the end, the conflict,
let's consider our 4th heading,
the cry.
In verses 3 and 4 we read,
but you, oh 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.
Notice the contrast
of verse 3
with verse 2.
In verse 2, the unbelieving world says, There
is no salvation for the sinner.
But in verse 3
says David, But you, O Lord,
are a shield
about me.
The word translated
about me means
around me,
behind me,
through me,
and even for my benefit.
The Greek translation of the old testament renders
it
my helper
or my protector.
In other words,
far from there being no salvation for the
sinner in God,
God alone
is the sinner's salvation.
He is a shield that goes before you,
behind you, above you,
and around you. He is your helper. He
is your protector.
And that's not all.
In 2nd Samuel 15:30,
we read that, As David fled from Absalom,
he ascended the Mount of Olives weeping
barefoot and with his head covered.
But now,
David's prayer says that God is also His
glory
and the lifter
of his head.
A 1000 years later,
when the Son of David ascended the cross
on Calvary,
his head was also covered and weighed down,
this time by a crown of thorns.
But his heavenly father lifted up his head
and raised him up in glory.
And if you are united to him by
faith,
so too
shall he lift up your head in glory
one day.
In verse 4, David says, that after he
cried to the Lord,
God answered him from his holy hill.
Once again, the context in 2nd Samuel sheds
light
on Psalm 3.
In 2nd Samuel
15, we read that as David was leading
the army out of Jerusalem,
2 priests
brought him the Ark of the Covenant.
However,
David commanded them to carry the Ark back
to the holy hill.
Instead of falling into superstition
by treating the ark like an amulet,
like a good luck charm,
David prays that God himself
will protect him and bring him back to
the city so that he can see the
ark in its dwelling place once
again. David cries out to God
and God hears his prayer.
God protects him.
God provides for him. And ultimately, God propels
him to victory
under God's providential
care. You know, studies have shown
that children,
in poorly managed orphanages
exhibit the severe
emotional and developmental and developmental impact
of neglect.
Many children in these orphanages become
emotionally detached
and even stop crying
altogether
since they learn that their cries does not
result in receiving any comfort or attention.
So they learn to suppress their emotion. They
even learn to suppress the need to cry,
and they do this as a coping mechanism.
Psalm 3 teaches us
that we're not orphans.
Psalm 3 teaches us
that we don't have to suppress our emotions
before our heavenly Father.
Our heavenly Father does not neglect us.
He always hears our cries.
He always answers
from His holy hill.
So the 4th lesson that Psalm 3 teaches
us about prayer
is that when we cry out to God
in prayer,
our heavenly father will never neglect us.
When we cry out to God in prayer,
our heavenly father will never neglect us. He
may not always answer the prayers in the
way that we want,
but He always answers our prayers according to
His goodwill for us.
Like David,
it is a good practice by the way
to write down your prayers,
so that you can record when and how
God answers them.
This discipline will help you to give God
the glory for His past provision
and will embolden your future hope
knowing that the God of the universe
hears your voice.
So having looked at the context,
the covenant,
the conflict, and the cry, let's consider our
5th heading,
the confidence.
In verses 5 and 6 we read, I
laid 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.
When we say that some people,
or when we say that someone
slept like a baby,
we mean that such a person slept very
soundly
as if that person had no care in
the world.
Babies really only have 2 cares.
They want to eat
and they want their diaper changed.
Luckily for them,
they aren't even responsible to make sure that
either care is met.
A loving parent
make sure that the baby's needs are taken
care of.
That's why babies sleep
like a baby.
But you get older, the amount of cares
increase,
and restful sleep often becomes elusive.
As David's grip on his kingdom collapsed,
and he found himself running for his life
because of his own son's army
persecuting him, his own son's army trying to
kill him, we might have expected
David to ask God to remove his insomnia.
Instead,
in Psalm 3, David says that he lie
down and slept,
and he woke up because God sustained him.
So with confidence David boldly declares
that he will not be afraid
though many thousands are set against him as
they literally were.
Because of verse 5,
many commentators consider Psalm 3 to be a
morning prayer.
And as such, verses 56
teach us to entrust our cares to God
for He is the one who sustains us.
In the middle of war,
David could sleep soundly
because he was confident
that God would sustain him.
But in the middle of the storm,
Jesus slept soundly
because He is the one who sustains the
whole universe
by the word of his power as the
author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 1:3.
In the storms and vicissitudes of life, you
might become paralyzed by fear,
focusing on the weakness of your flesh
instead of focusing
on the strength of your father.
If we focused on our own gifts and
abilities,
we
would never dare to plant this church.
We would never dare to share the gospel
with our friends,
with our coworkers.
We would never dare to send missionaries to
other countries.
Our adversaries are too many.
Our barriers are too high.
And we would be and we are too
weak, and we are too weary.
And yet Psalm 3 invites us to say
with David, we will not be afraid,
though many 1,000
set themselves against us.
You see the 5th lesson Psalm 3 teaches
us about prayer is that we can pray
with confidence
because God is the one who sustains us.
Therefore, our troubles
and challenges should never make us anxious.
Instead, we can lift our prayers to the
Lord with thanksgiving,
confident in His love and power.
With a peace that surpasses knowledge,
we can go to sleep at night,
confident that we will arise in the morning
for God will sustain us.
And when the Lord calls us home,
we can close our eyes with the same
confidence
that we shall again hear a voice saying,
awake, oh sleeper,
and arise from the dead, and Christ will
shine His light on us. He will sustain
us.
So having looked at the context,
the covenant,
the conflict,
the cry,
and the confidence, let's consider our final heading,
the confession.
Verses 7 and 8. In verses 7 and
8 we read,
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.
As you know, Moses
led Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness.
And whenever they would set out,
knowing they would face many dangers, including armies
seeking to defeat them,
the ark would go before the people of
Israel. And Moses would cry out, arise, oh
Lord, and let your enemies be scattered,
and let those who hate you flee before
you.
In 2nd Samuel 15,
we learned that David did not take the
ark to the wilderness,
but instead sent the ark back to Jerusalem.
However,
David knew
that God would answer his prayer from his
holy hill.
So here David proclaims the old battle cry
of Israel,
summoning the Lord to lead his people to
victory and his enemies
to resounding defeat.
David characterizes
his adversaries
as wild beasts who are eager to devour
him.
But to demonstrate his confidence in the Lord,
David calls on God to slap his enemies
on the cheek,
showing his utter disdain for them, for the
slap was considered a great insult.
And he calls on God to break their
teeth,
rendering the beasts
harmless.
In 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 8,
Peter writes that our adversary, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring lion
seeking someone to devour.
But though this is a call to sobriety,
it's not a call to fear.
For Psalm 3 teaches us that even an
even greater lion,
that is to say the lion of the
tribe of Judah,
goes into battle
for us
and before us,
breaking our adversary's
neck and dashing its teeth from its jaw.
David ends Psalm 3 by confessing
that salvation
belongs to the Lord and that His blessing
shall be
upon His people.
And so the 6th lesson that Psalm 3
teaches us about prayer
is that we must pray for the lost.
Because salvation is God's work,
not theirs.
And no adversary
will prevail
against God's power to save.
2nd Samuel 14 says that no one in
Israel
was more handsome
than Absalom.
It says that from the sole of his
foot
to the crown of his head,
Absalom was without blemish.
But his lust for revenge
and his appetite for power
caused him to break his father's heart.
Yet in the heat of the battle,
as he rode his mule,
his hair got caught on a tree and
he could not break free
from that thick feather.
So Absalom hung on a tree
where he was pierced
by a sword,
And He died as a curse. For Deuteronomy
21, the chapter that describes the rebellious son,
states that the man who hangs on a
tree
is cursed.
Isaiah 53
says that the Messiah the Messiah's physical appearance
had neither majesty
nor beauty.
Yet in 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 18
to 19,
we read that Jesus is the lamb without
blemish,
whose blood
cleanses us from our sin.
He's not a slave to revenge,
but a minister of reconciliation.
He has no appetite for power,
rather
his food is to do his father's will.
He does not break his father's heart rather
his own heart breaks
for his people.
So he rides a donkey into Jerusalem
as David's greater son.
And instead of
usurping David's crown,
he trades his greater crown for a crown
of thorns.
That's where his hair gets caught
on a crown of thorns as he hangs
on a tree
in Calvary.
He takes the place of the rebellious sons
and daughters of God, and he becomes a
curse for us,
liberating us from the guilt and from the
power of sin.
Salvation belongs to Him
because He purchased it.
He paid with His blood.
And so His blessing is indeed upon us.
That's why David ends Psalm 3 by confessing,
Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be
on your people.
So beloved Christian,
if adversity
is weighing you down,
lift up your prayers to God and arise.
For the Risen One has ascended into heaven
and is seated at the Father's right hand,
whereas your High Priest
He delights in blessing you.
So this church plant
will be a praying church.
After all, Psalm 3 has taught us
that everyone needs to pray.
So we will.
That prayer is the privilege of God's covenant
people.
So we will avail ourselves of this right.
That our sin should drive us to God,
not away from Him.
So we will confess our sin and we
will relish His grace.
That our heavenly father never neglects us when
we cry out in prayer,
so we will trust Him
with our heart's desires.
That God sustains us,
so we should pray with confidence,
so we will be at peace even when
God's enemies
scheme against us and surround us.
And that salvation is God's work so that
we must pray for the lost, so we
will never give up on anyone
because mercy
triumphs over judgment.
So we will pray without ceasing,
and God will move without failing.
Let's pray.