Church of Christ Studies

 

Psalm 3. 
New Day Dawning: A Morning Psalm

 

 

After Psalms 1 and 2, which are foundational psalms—the first stressing the importance of the law of God in one's life, the second stressing the ultimate triumph of the Messiah—a number of psalms deal with various circumstances that come into the godly man's life in which he must trust God. Psalm 3, which heads the list, describes a person who is in great physical danger as a new day dawns.

 

It has been called a morning psalm because of verse 5: "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me." At first glance this does not seem sufficient reason to call Psalm 3 a morning psalm, as most commentators both past and present do. But I am convinced that, if the introductory title is taken seriously, as I want to show it should be, the psalm does describe a specific dangerous morning in the life of King David and is a testimony to how he gained confidence and courage at that time and in those dangerous circumstances by his faith in God. Because of that setting, the psalm seems to have become thought of, in time, as a general morning prayer and therefore was placed appropriately at this early position in the Psalter.

 

It is followed in a balanced fashion by an evening psalm,Psalm 4, which ends, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety" (v. 8).

 

What a Morning!

Psalm 3 begins with an introductory title: "A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom." It is the first title to a psalm in the Psalter, and it contains a number of other important firsts too. (1) This is the first time the word psalmhas occurred. The Hebrew word is mizmor, meaning a poem to be sung to musical accompaniment. (2) This is the first poem of which "David" is said to be the author. (Generally, the psalms ascribed to David occur in the first two books of the Psalter, Psalms 1-72, but some also occur later. 1 ) (3) This is the first psalm which is given a historical setting, namely, "When he [David] fled from his son Absalom."

 

Is this historical setting to be taken seriously? Since the titles of the psalms are in the canonical text of the Hebrew Bible (though, strangely enough, they are omitted in many English translations), the position I hold is that they are to be taken with absolute seriousness throughout. But even apart from this dogmatic consideration, there are ample reasons for viewing Psalm 3 as arising out of the situation in David's life to which the title alludes. 

 

The chief reason is the appropriateness of the psalm to that setting. The story of David's flight is told in 2 Samuel 15 and16. While David had been occupied with the affairs of government, his son Absalom stole the hearts of the people and raised a rebellion in the nearby town of Hebron. The revolt 30 was so sudden and unexpected that David had no recourse but to flee Jerusalem with whatever leaders remained faithful to him. He retreated down the steep descent from the capital, crossed the Kidron Valley, and made his way up over the Mount of Olives to the temporary safety of the desert. The narrative says that he went weeping and barefoot, his head covered in sorrow. Along the way David was loudly and openly cursed by Shimei, a Benjamite who had remained loyal to the house of David's predecessor Saul. Shimei cried, "Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel! The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!" (2 Sam. 16:7-8).

 

This is the situation Psalm 3 describes. It is true that there are no references to the specific details of David's grim retreat from Jerusalem. Very few of the psalms are specific in this way, obviously so that they might be used by people in similar though not identical situations. Still, what is said inPsalm 3 fits 2 Samuel 15 and 16.

 

The late Lutheran commentator H. C. Leupold refers to the parallels:

 

Note that the opponents of the author are numerous (vv. 1, 2, 6); note the same situation in 2 Samuel 15:13. Again, the attitude of some of David's opponents was that he had forfeited all right to hope for divine aid; cf. 2 Samuel 16:8.Verse 2 of our psalm says the same thing. That David directs his prayer to the holy hill (v. 4) agrees well with the situation as outlined in 2 Samuel 15:25, where David has taken steps to have the ark, which marked the presence of God on the holy hill, returned to Jerusalem rather than have it taken along with him on his flight. Lastly, the thought that the issues of this whole experience rested with God (cf. v. 9 [v. 8 in our numbering]) is the very thought expressed in 2 Samuel 15:25. Besides, the author is a man of some eminence. Nothing of moment can be adduced to remove any of these points of correspondence between the history of David and the contents of the psalm. 

 

A second reason for taking the title of the psalm literally is that the images of the psalm are military, which fits the situation in 2 Samuel well. P. C. Craigie is not inclined to take words that identify a psalm as David's at face value, but in this case he does. He writes, "the military language is entirely in harmony with the superscription linking the psalm with David's flight from Jerusalem."  Examples are:

 

1. The reference to "foes" (v. 1) and "enemies" (v. 7).

2. The references to victory (vv. 3, 8).

3. God is described as a "shield" (v. 3). 31

4. "People" (v. 8) may be employed with the nuance "army" and
   probably should be in this context.

5. People are deployed (v. 6) against the psalmist.

6. The expression "Arise, O Lord" (v. 7) is parallel to the words
   spoken on the departure of the Ark of the Covenant for war
   (cf. Num. 10:35).

7. "From the Lord comes deliverance" (v. 8) sounds like a battle cry.

 

These examples of military language as well as general correspondence between the psalm and the condition of David described in 2 Samuel 15 and 16 suggest strongly that the title "when he fled from his son Absalom" should be taken literally. In fact, it might be possible to be even more specific. Leupold suggests that the psalm was composed the second day after the rebellion was staged or, if written afterward, was at least meant as a reflection of David's thoughts at that time. 

 

So the psalm is not speaking of a vague problem or disappointment but rather of a specific danger David faced that specific far-off morning.

 

A World of Foes

I am sure that many people can identify with that. Perhaps you are one. You may not be facing an imminent military battle when you wake up most mornings, but you are facing a battle. The climate in the department of the company for which you work may be one of open warfare: Everyone is trying to defeat everyone else. The conditions are cutthroat. The weapons are rumors, lying, gossip, misrepresentation, even violence, bribes, or stealing. A friend told me how he had gone on a vacation, leaving his business in the hands of his partner. When he came back after only two weeks the partner had managed to steal it away, leaving him with significant debts. How can any honest person survive in such a jungle?

 

Again, you may not be facing thousands of enemies, as David was. But how many enemies does it take to make life miserable and possibly lead even to the loss of your job? One will do, if he or she is determined enough. And you probably have more than that! In fact, the more prominent you are, the more enemies you will have and the more vulnerable you will be to them.

 

Or what about bureaucracy? Bureaucracy is a formidable enough enemy for anyone, particularly if you work in a state or government agency.

 

Or again, you may not be attacked by soldiers commanded by your son, as David was attacked by Absalom. But your children may hate you or may have betrayed what you stand for. For that matter, your husband may have done it, or your wife. You thought your spouse was an ally, but he or she has become part of that frightening force arrayed against you. It may even be that some of your foes are saying, as they said of David, "God will not deliver him" (v. 2). Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote, "It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God." 

 

I want you to think about whatever distress you may be having or whatever danger you may be in before going on with your study of this psalm, because it is in the midst of precisely that danger that God will appear to you and deliver you. The text urges us to do this when it interrupts the poem at this point by the word selah. 

 

The Psalmist's Confidence in God

Much happens in this psalm in the space between the first two stanzas, marked out by selah. The first stanza is an expression of the crisis that has come into the psalmist's life because of the enemies who have risen up against him. The second stanza is a quiet expression of his confidence in God. What has produced this abrupt but obvious change? The answer is that he has turned his attention from his enemies to God.

When a believer gazes too long at his enemies, the force arrayed against him seems to grow in size until it appears to be overwhelming. But when he turns his thoughts to God, God is seen in his true, great stature, and the enemies shrink to manageable proportions.

 

This principle was illustrated by the difference between the ten and the two spies when they were first sent into Canaan at the time of the Jewish conquest. Ten of the spies were overwhelmed with the strength and stature of the Canaanites, especially the descendants of Anak, who were giants. They said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are.... All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Num. 13:31-33). The other two spies, Caleb and Joshua, said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it" (v. 30).

 

What was the difference? Had they seen different things? No. The land was the same. Both groups had seen the giants. But the ten looked only at the giants and forgot about God, with the result that they seemed in their own eyes to shrink to the size of grasshoppers. The two kept their eyes on God, and for them it was the giants who appeared small.

 

So also with David. As soon as David turned his thoughts to God he was reminded of how strong God is, and his foes, even the formidable armies then flocking to the side of his rebellious son, seemed manageable. He tells us three things about God. First, God was a "shield" around him. God had been a shield for him on earlier occasions; he would prove himself to be so again. Second, God would "lift up" his head, even when he was severely cast down. Sin beats us down; God always lifts us up. We can expect God to do that for us, even if we do not see him doing it right now. Third, God "answers" the psalmist when he cries aloud to him. God always answers, though not always at once and not always as we wish. Spurgeon wrote, "We need not fear a frowning world while we rejoice in a prayer-hearing God." 

 

 

If you are not fully aware of what you have in God—a shield against foes, a lifter-up of your drooping head, a responder to prayer—this is a good time to think about it. Note the second selah!

 

 

"Though This World with Devils Filled"

To many people the most appealing part of this psalm is the third stanza, the part in which David tells how he was able to lie down and sleep even in the midst of the sudden great danger occasioned by Absalom's rebellion. It is a beautiful picture of one so trusting of God that he is able to sleep soundly even while the treacherous seek his life. Leupold calls it "the high point of faith reached by the psalm." 

 

I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

I will not fear the tens of thousands

drawn up against me on every side (vv. 5-6).

 

Actually, the confidence expressed in these verses is the confidence of the next morning. The psalmist went to sleep trusting God. Now he has awakened with the events of the day (as was the case with the events of the previous night) firmly in God's hands. He is saying, "I had a good night's rest, and now I am not afraid to face the terrors of this new day. I will not fear the thousands drawn up against me."

 

 

It reminds one of Martin Luther on his way to Worms. Luther had been called to Worms by the emperor and the papal legate to answer for his "heretical" teachings. He had been promised a safe-conduct. But his friends had heard the Reformer's enemies say that the safe-conduct of a heretic ought not to be honored, and they feared for his life. After all, John Huss had been given a safe-conduct not long before, and he had been burned at the stake. As Luther approached the city, a messenger arrived with a warning from his friend Georg Spalatin: "Do not enter Worms!" Luther told the messenger, 'Tell your master that even if there should be as many devils in Worms as tiles upon the housetops, still I would enter it."

 

 

Years later, a few days before his death, Luther said of that moment, "I was then undaunted. I feared nothing."

It must have been true, too, because it was in Worms that Luther gave his classic reply to the Diet: "Unless I be persuaded by the words of Scripture and sound reasoning I cannot and will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." Where had Luther found such courage? He had found it where David had found it, in God.

 

A Confident Cry for Deliverance

The last section of the psalm is a confident cry for God's deliverance—confident because the psalmist knows that God has heard him and that he will provide the needed deliverance.

 

David's words are actually a war cry, as I suggested earlier. In Numbers 10:33-36 we are told that when the hosts of Israel broke camp, they did so because the cloud of the Lord, which normally rested over the Ark of the Covenant in the midst of the camp, had risen up and gone before them. Then Moses would cry,

 

Rise up, O Lord!

May your enemies be scattered;

may your foes flee before you.

 

Whenever the cloud came to rest, Moses would say, "Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel."

Regardless of the speaker, the words "Rise up, O Lord" always carried this connotation. So when David said them he was making a victorious call to battle, knowing that the Lord was going before him and would give him the victory.

 

 

And God did! God caused Absalom to listen to bad advice and thus fail to pursue and defeat his father when he was most vulnerable. Then, when the battle was finally engaged, after David had been able to gather strength and prepare for it, David's troops achieved a great victory. It took place in the forest of Ephraim, where twenty thousand men were killed, including Absalom.

 

 

The final verse of Psalm 3 contains a testimonial—"From the Lord comes deliverance"—followed by a blessing. The testimonial reminds us of Jonah 2:9, which reads, "Salvation comes from the Lord." It is what Spurgeon called, "the sum and substance of [true or] Calvinistic doctrine." Spurgeon said,

 

 

"Search the Scripture through, and you must, if you read it with a candid mind,

be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace .... is the great doctrine

of the word of God...."

 

This is the great point concerning which we are daily fighting. Our opponents say, "Salvation belongeth to the free will of man; if not to man's merit, yet at least to man's will." But we hold and teach that salvation from first to last, in every iota of it, belongs to the Most High God. It is God that chooses his people.He calls them by his grace; he quickens them by his Spirit, and keeps them by his power. It is not of man, neither by man: "not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." 

35

That is all quite true. God is indeed the author of salvation from beginning to end. If he were not, no one would be saved. Neither you nor I. Salvation is of the Lord. But if that is true—if God has saved you in this great matter of salvation—why should you tremble before the lesser, physical dangers of this life, however imposing and frightful they may seem? You should triumph by faith in God, as David did.