The psalms help us to express our souls to God. John Calvin called the psalms “an anatomy of all the parts of the soul.” A soul overjoyed at God’s goodness. A confused soul. A fearful and anxious soul. In fact, you will find that many of the psalms, begin with a lament or a complaint or a desperate cry for help and end with a note of triumph and victory. That’s what we see here. 

We are told in the book of Job that “man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward…” Psalm 3 is a song of real comfort, rest, and confidence in the middle of real, deep, and desperate trouble. This psalm teaches us how to do business with God. In other words, how to live our lives consciously before the Lord, always bringing our troubles and requests to him, turning to him for help, and letting him do all of his work in us. That’s what this psalm is about. And it was perhaps the greatest trouble of David’s life. 

This psalm was written by King David as he was fleeing from his son Abslaom - who was the head of a growing coup and wanted to kill him and take his throne as king. That hits pretty close to home right? It could be that David wrote this psalm after the ordeal. But the way it reads and the tone of it seem to indicate that he wrote this psalm while he fled from his son. Imagine that. 

I want to say more about this later, but just want to plant something in your mind right up front. At the beginning, David says some were taunting him with, “God won’t save you. There is no salvation for you in God.” But at the end David triumphantly declares, “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” 

Whenever I hear people say something like, “Religion is just a crutch. Or Jesus is just a crutch.” I do two things. I first think, “I need a lot more than a crutch, a crutch cannot save me!” Jesus doesn’t give us a little help. He saves. And that’s what we need. But the second thing I do is I begin looking for their crutch. Because they most certainly have one. It might be alcohol, it might be entertainment, it might be intellect or human reason, and it might be manly bravado. But we all turn somewhere when life smacks us around. 

THis psalm shows us where to go and what to do. And praise the Lord, through Christ and his shed blood we can approach God and do real business with him. We can come to him for help in every situation. So let’s look at this psalm in four sections showing us how David deals with trouble in the presence of the Lord. 

MANY AND MASSIVE TROUBLES (v. 1-2)

O 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. 

David uses the word many 3 times. David seems shocked, “how many are my foes!” And of course the leader of this hoard of foes was his own son. The revolt was considerable. Absalom had worked for a period of time gaining support. And it worked. In 2 Samuel 15:6, it says, “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” 

 And David recognized this. He realized the conspiracy was gaining steam and had the firepower to do real damage. This came especially after one of his counselors sided with Absalom. David himself said, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” David, seeing the writing on the wall knew he needed to flee for his life. But it wasn’t just that David had enemies. They were taunting him too. They were saying, “God isn’t for you! There’s no salvation for you! God has rejected you! You are reaping what you’ve sown.” 

And this hit home to David. David was an adulterer and a murderer. Perhaps he deserved this. Is that true? Well, partially. This is important for us to understand. David’s sin was forgiven, but there were consequences for his sin. But was God done with him? Absolutely NOT. And if you are in Christ, your trouble does not have the final victory. It does not have the final say. Even if you can trace your trouble back to things you cannot undo in the past, the Lord has not cast you aside. And so in verses 3-4 David turns to the Lord.

BUT YOU, O LORD (v. 3-4)

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. Selah (v. 3-4)

He throws himself completely on the Lord. “But you, O LORD…” He goes from talking to the Lord about the many foes, many rising against him, many taunting him to, “But you, O Lord.” There is a major shift here! Do you do this? Do you hear the wholehearted confidence? I hope you hear that. As long as we keep talking about and looking at our problems and troubles, they will appear to be as mount Everest and God as a small anthill in comparison. But when we contrast our troubles with God, there is a great reversal! God becomes like this massive, majestic mountain of help for us and our troubles diminish in his sight. Joshua and Caleb. What does David say? Three things. Remember there were three “manys” in verses 1-2: “many foes, many rising, many taunting”. Well, there are three things that God is for David to counteract or neutralize: 

First David says, “Many are my foes. But you O Lord are a shield about me.” The picture here is of a shield of protection that completely surrounds David. And he doesn’t say that the Lord gives him a shield, but the Lord is a shield. And the point is that the Lord is surrounding David with his protection and so he is secure. Psalm 125:2 says, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from the time forth and forevermore.” There are many foes, many troubles, but the Lord is a shield surrounding us.  

Then David says, “Many are rising against me. But You, O LORD are my glory…” The word glory could mean honor, dignity, reputation, splendor, riches or abundance. It probably means all of that. Remember what is happening. For David, it appears that the glory of his kingdom and throne is being taken away. And I believe David is saying, “the Lord is my glory,” meaning that God would maintain David’s honor, dignity, and splendor. Not only that, but the Lord was the true riches and abundance that David possessed… which could never be taken away. In Psalm 16 David said,

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides you.” The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. (v. 2, 5)

So, many foes and troubles on the rise against David (and us). “But the Lord is my glory.” Peter said that even when the fires of trials surround us, we can know Jesus so that we are filled with joy that is unspeakable and filled with glory...And then David says, “You, Lord are the lifter of my head.” Remember, the leader of these foes was his son. The taunts came - “God isn’t with you! Look, your own son wants you dead!” But David looks to God and says, “You are the lifter of my head.” This could be David speaking confidently that the Lord would restore him to his throne. More likely it is David saying the Lord would lift his drooping, discouraged, sad heart. Spurgeon wrote, 

There is a lifting up in honor after shame, in health after sickness, in gladness after sorrow, in restoration after a fall, in victory after temporary defeat; in all these respects the Lord is the lifter of our head.

Remember the point we are making is that David went all in with God. He turned completely to the Lord. In confident trust affirming that God is a shield of protection, his glorious riches, and the one who will lift his hanging head. But David also prays to God. But this is not the kind of prayer that would fit in nicely with our prayer meetings. David says, “I cried aloud to the Lord.” The taunters are telling David, “there’s no salvation, God doesn’t hear you.” What does David do? He cried out to God with a loud voice. And the Lord answered him. It wasn’t the volume of his voice that elicited the answer of the Lord. It was his faith. The volume of his voice came from the desperate passion of his heart. This reminds me of the story of Jesus and blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10). 

David found himself in a hot mess he could not get himself out of, and so he went all in with God. And because God answered, verses 5-6 says comfort, rest, and courage came. Courageous comfort. 

COURAGEOUS COMFORT (v. 5-6)

I lay 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.

Because of all that the Lord is for David - the Lord is a shield surrounding him, his glory supplying all he needs, and the lifter of his sagging head. The Lord heard his cry and answered him. Guess what? David is comforted and emboldened. And who wouldn’t be. Notice, David laid down and slept in peace and comfort. There were times David was unable to sleep while in the safety of his palace and the comfort of his own bed. But where is David able to sleep like a baby? While fleeing for his life. And we are told why: “for the LORD sustained me”. The picture here is of the Lord being David’s support or the thing he leaned on, rested on, laid down on. It’s like David said, “I slept in peace, because I slept in the Lord’s lap.” 

And then David expresses this confidence and courage. When he gets up to face the day after a great night of comfortable sleep, David says “I will not fear!” He is fearless of the “many thousands” of people who are surrounding him. Wow! Unafraid of thousands of people who want him dead and are surrounding him. Well, there is a good reason. Who else is surrounding David on all sides? The Lord! The Lord is a shield about him. 

David had faith to see that between him and those who wanted him dead stood the LORD of heaven and earth. To get to David, these enemies would have to go through the Lord. Which is why David had such confidence of the victory the Lord would win for him! 

ASSURANCE OF VICTORY (v. 7-8)

Puritan Thomas Watson wrote “When prayer leads the van, in due time deliverance brings up the rear.” Salvation is from the Lord. And David, sure that of deliverance and victory says in verses 7-8, 

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! Selah

David calls on the Lord who sits on his throne to rise up and kick some butt! And assured that he will, confidently declares, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” What a way to end. Some have suggested that this is the sum of the message of the bible. The message of the bible is “God saves sinners” or “God saves” or “salvation belongs to the Lord.

Jonah uttered these words from the belly of the great fish: “Salvation belongs to the Lord,” upon which the fish vomited him out on dry land. And Jesus says the Jonah saga was a sign of his death and resurrection. Salvation belongs to the Lord. 

Think about all the great stories of the bible and how God saves in such a way that it is clear salvation belongs to Him. Listen to the words of Moses’ song after the Lord rescued from Pharaoh and the Egyptians: “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” In Revelation 19, after the fall of Babylon, there is rejoicing in heaven of a great multitude crying out: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” And everywhere in between, in the scriptures the message is salvation belongs to the Lord. When Martin Luther commented on this verse, he said, 

It is the Lord alone that saves and blesses: and even though the whole mass of all evils should be gathered together in one against a man, still, it is the Lord who saves: salvation and blessing are in his hands. What then shall I fear.

This reminds me of Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Of course it is a rhetorical question, because the answer is obvious - nobody can successfully be against us if God is for us! But how do we know if God is for us? It has to be more than just an intellectual mind game or mental assent. How can we triumphantly say in the middle of trouble, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” The key is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior! Are you in Christ? Have your sins been washed away, have you been made white as snow, justified fully through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Does the name of Jesus charm your fears and bid your sorrows cease? Is his name music in your ears and life and health and peace? Well, then the reason that is true is because salvation belongs to the Lord and he has given it to you! Think about the salvation that Jesus wins for us and gives to us. Salvation belongs to the Lord. The NT talks about salvation in the past (saved), present (being saved), future (will be saved). Own it, rejoice in it, celebrate it, sing of it!  

And then do the following things with your troubles. Take every trouble and:

Through Christ, confidently draw near to the throne of grace for help (Hebrews 4:16).