Psalm 3, a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.
O Lord, how many are my foes?
Many are rising against me.
Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation from 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 have set themselves against me all round.
Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God.
If 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.
There's many challenges to living as a Christian, but one of the toughest ones, I think, is to keep together that which we believe about God or we think we believe about God.
When our circumstances often seem to be at odds with that or often feel as though they're at odds with that.
We believe in God's goodness and commitment to us.
And yet so often in our hearts we're overwhelmed with sadness.
We're paralyzed by fear.
Sometimes we're even consumed by anger.
And it's a struggle keeping those two things together.
When our circumstances push us one way and what we believe draws us another way.
And that gets worse because sometimes in that sort of situation we're already super aware of our sinfulness.
And then from there it's very easy to conclude that our circumstances are evidence that God's actually abandoned us.
So often we slip into that pattern of doing our theology by circumstance.
Now perhaps our church family life is a current example of this struggle.
For nine weeks we've soaked up and we really have enjoyed soaking up from the letter of Colossians.
The wonderful truth that our story, our story, is inseparably bound to the story of Jesus Christ.
That in Christ and united to him, the image we've been using is that our buckets are full and overflowing.
Buckets of identity, meaning and purpose and security and satisfaction.
In Christ we have the good life, the full life, the rich life that God intends us to have.
But then you just need to look over the last two weeks in our church family and so much has been happening.
There's been so many in hospital.
I've never seen it like that before.
So many at the one time in hospital.
We had the birth and very short life of Narrahan.
We got the impending death of John King.
We got so many struggling in their marriages.
We got so many grief stricken by rebellious children and at their wits end as to what to do with them.
Then a bit of wider thing, we got the threat of economic recession.
We got the growing fear of escalating war.
And so it seems like perhaps, I can't speak with the authority of the Lord, but it seems like, at least we need to consider that,
perhaps our theoretical knowledge and enjoyment of that notion of fullness in Christ,
that we have everything we need to live well,
is actually being severely tested by circumstances.
Will we live as those whose buckets are full in Christ,
in the uncertainty of life, in the messiness of life,
in at times the grief of life?
That takes us into Psalm 3 that we're going to be looking at this morning.
And I just want to mention that Psalm 3 is actually an important progression from Psalm 1 and 2,
and that's not just an Irish-ism.
There's an important progression in the themes of the Psalms.
So Psalm 1 declares that good life is sourced in obedience to the Lord.
Psalm 2 declares the absolute sovereignty of God to achieve His purpose in and through His people.
And Psalm 3 puts us sort of in between those two things,
in the life of faith, as we see it expressed by King David,
a life grounded in those two truths,
that there is the good life,
and that it is to be found living under the sovereignty of God.
But it's a challenge.
It's a challenge.
We struggle through daily circumstances and experience of living in a world that's broken by sin,
broken by rebellion.
And that's why we're going to jump into Psalm 3 now.
Because at the very start,
we see that David's bleak circumstances
cause him to retreat or flee.
Now, some of this stuff, I'm assuming you've read the backstory in 2 Samuel 14 to 18.
If you haven't, you're a guest here this morning,
then you should read it sometime.
It'll really fill in the picture of Psalm 3.
That's the awfulness behind verses 1 and 2.
And to put it in this blunt form,
the awfulness is a coup d'etat
organized against King David by his very own son Absalom,
whom he had treated with such kindness and generosity.
And coup d'etats are always, by definition,
bloody affairs.
The backstory, therefore, is an outrageous political drama
where secretly, over a four-year period,
Absalom worked to win the hearts of the nation of Israel to himself
against his father, King David,
through intrigue and deception.
Essentially, he was saying to the people,
look, come over and demise it.
I will be a better king.
And eventually, Absalom got the support
and marched openly with a huge army
and occupied Jerusalem, the center of the nation.
His intent?
To depose and kill his father, King David.
So it wasn't just an outrageous political drama,
it was a really sad family drama.
Because of the monarchy,
the only way Absalom could get the throne
was actually to kill his father.
Who was the current king?
Murderous intent.
Now imagine the pain that David was feeling,
King David was feeling.
When he thought about what his son intended to do.
When he thought about how his son had planned this
for four or five or six years,
in verse one,
David's situation was getting worse by the day.
David knew
that this had got a momentum
and that trusted loyal people
that were abandoning him by the day
and signing up with Absalom.
And caught unawares,
if you read the back story,
caught unawares and unprepared,
David decided to retreat
or flee from Jerusalem.
Remember, Jerusalem was the seat of his throne,
the seat of his power,
the center of the kingdom,
the very place where God had installed him.
And David decides to retreat or flee.
Now a very important question in here,
why did David flee or retreat?
Well, I don't think it was because he feared Absalom.
Quite the opposite.
I think it was because he loved Absalom.
He loved Absalom
and he could see the foolishness
and the stupidity of his son.
Recognizing the son wasn't just dealing with him,
but he was taking on God.
But I think also David loved his people
and he refused to subject them
to a bloody savagery of a coup d'etat.
A bloody civil war.
So David retreats.
But that action was a loving action
for the good of his son
and for the good of his nation.
But perhaps most hurtful of all
is that last line in verse 2
was the rumors.
Rumors are always hurtful, aren't they?
Because they're everywhere,
but you can't actually get a hold of them.
Rumors are devastating things.
And the rumor circulating
was that David's own sinful behavior
had brought all this upon him.
Perhaps it was a reference to the fact
that David himself had replaced King Saul.
Or perhaps it was a reference
to David's sin with Bathsheba
and subsequent murder of her husband.
In other words, the rumor was saying,
look, God has abandoned King David.
And now he's put his blessing on Absalom.
So if you want to be
on the right side of history,
that's a modern frame,
get with Absalom.
And again, imagine David's feeling there.
Imagine what that would do
with his inner landscape.
Well, perhaps it's true.
I thought that this,
my sin had been,
I had repented of it
and had been dealt with by the Lord
and the Lord had restored me.
But maybe, maybe not.
It would have caused enormous torment
in David's mind
as he considered this possibility.
So friends, it's not hard
to sense something of the agony
and the distress and confusion
that afflicted King David.
And most of us will recognize
the thinking that quickly flows from that.
And we look at our circumstances
and we quickly move to thinking
that, well, perhaps my circumstances
reflect that I've forfeited
any support or blessing
or ongoing relationship with the Lord.
Now, at this point,
we have to look at this
strange little word in the text
called Selah
at the end of verse 2.
Now, nobody really knows
what it is in detail.
The best guess, I suppose,
the best scholarly guess
is that it's a musical notation
which is something like
pause or rest or interlude.
In other words, I think
what it's really saying is,
look, given what I've just said,
stop and reflect.
Remember, this is poetry.
So it's actually saying,
stop and reflect
what's just been said.
Is the growing majority right
in their assessment of King David?
Should he be doing his theology
by circumstance?
Could it possibly be true
that God has abandoned
his servant, King David?
We'll pause and reflect.
It's a huge concept
with so much writing on it.
Next point I want to make
if you've fallen through
in the outline
is that King David does retreat,
but it's really important
to know how he retreats.
He doesn't retreat into himself
or into his own fears,
but he retreats into God's character
and God's word
if you look at verses 3 and 4.
But you, O Lord,
are a shield about me,
my glory,
and the lifter of my head.
Isn't it true that so often
when life gets tough
we do retreat into ourselves,
into our own inner thinking,
into our scrambling
for a new connection
with our own resources
to begin the process
of self-salvation?
And sometimes that's expressed
in victimhood
where the best way
to deal with things
is to say that
somebody else is to blame
for my circumstance.
Or perhaps it's withdrawal
from relationships
generally in life
and engaging
only with those people
that we think are safe
who will actually deliver
some happiness
and well-being to us.
But there's nothing like that
in David's response.
Instead,
David moves deeper
into the heart of God.
Convinced that strength
and refreshment
and courage to thrive
is not in changed circumstance,
but in a fresh appreciation
of God's beauty
and God's covenant faithfulness
and God's sufficiency
for his every situation.
But you, O Lord,
are a shield.
He starts to rehearse
what he knows about God.
You, O Lord,
are my bodyguard.
That's the emphasis
of that word there.
Picture a cluster
of CIA men
gathered around
the president,
literally protecting him
from every angle.
For any enemy out there
who wants to harm him,
that's the picture
that David retreats into.
God is the source
of my value,
security,
and reputation.
That's the force
of my glory
and the lifter of my head.
See,
King David
isn't interested
in popular esteem.
He knows
that he has no glory
in himself.
But since his position
is a reflected glory,
that is,
as God's king,
he has the reflected glory
of God himself,
the covenant God himself,
as a servant of the Lord,
then David knows
that he can trust the Lord
to act for his own glory.
God is his vindicator,
in other words.
David is confident
that Yahweh,
that is the name
of the Lord God
here used in this psalm,
Yahweh,
the personal name of God,
Yahweh himself
will fight
for David.
Why?
Because David
is God's appointed king.
And therefore,
equally true
that when his enemies
take on King David,
they should realize
that they're taking on Yahweh.
And in the end,
David knows
that it's God's assessment
of him
that matters.
And that physical circumstances
are not
an accurate guide
to God's assessment
of him.
And verse 4,
he continues to rehearse
what he knows.
God's salvation purpose
gives my apparent
chaos
order.
I cried aloud
to the Lord
and he answered me
from his holy hill.
Now again,
in poetry terms,
it's a little bit
cryptic here.
But the point
I want to say
is this,
is that
David's predicament
does not drive
him away
from the Lord
in a frenetic
attempt at self-salvation,
but drives him
to the Lord
in urgent prayer.
Why?
Because the Lord
is the one
who has the answers.
The Lord
who knows everything
can put order
into the chaos
of David's life.
and his confidence
is rewarded
because the Lord
answers him.
Confirming what?
Well,
we're not told here,
so we assume
that the answer
is confirming
David's analysis
in verses 2 and 3,
verses 3 and 4 rather.
confirming David's faith
and trust in God alone.
And sensing that God
answers him
from his holy hill
or another word
would be Zion
or both of those things
are just words
for Jerusalem.
And Jerusalem
is very significant
because that's the place
where God
has taken up
his dwelling
among his people.
That's the place
where God rules
both the nation of Israel
and the whole world.
So,
the confirmation
for David
is that Absalom
who has now
occupied Jerusalem
may think
that his word
is going to rule.
But David's confidence
is no.
The sovereign Lord
is still enthroned
and his word
will be the final word
heard and acted on
from Jerusalem.
It will be God's power,
God's voice
that will be heard
ultimately.
And so,
there's a really lovely
confirmation
and rehearsal
here for David.
That is,
King David's confidence
is not that God
is on his side,
but that he
as God's king
is on God's side.
That's a hugely
different statement.
That he's part
of God's
much bigger
salvation plan
for his people.
And again,
with that thought
we say,
Selah.
Just pause
and reflect
on that truth,
on God's character
and purpose
as we struggle
through the mess
of life.
Flaying into God's character
enables King David
to press on
in confident
faith and trust
verses 5 and 6.
Knowing God's character
and rehearsing
in his own mind
and regaining
a confident
trust
in that
and seeing the beauty
of his situation
as being
on God's side
enables David,
frees David
to do
what he needs
to do.
Confident
that the Lord
will do
what only he can do.
And so in the short term
David needs
to get some rest.
And so
he lies down
and he sleeps.
He sleeps sound.
And you can hear him
getting up the next morning
saying,
my goodness me,
in spite of all
that's been happening
I slept so sound
last night.
That of itself
is evidence
that God
is sustaining me.
And what's more
he's saying to his advisors
I woke this morning
strangely
without fear.
Even though
my enemies
are still there,
even though
my circumstances
are still the same
as where they were
last night,
I woke fresh
this morning.
Again,
why?
Because God
is on the job.
God
now,
again,
it's important
to realize here
that this is not
the sleep
of an arrogant fool
who's lost touch
with reality.
it's not the sleep
of an arrogant man
supremely confident
in his own resources
saying,
well,
let them do
what they want,
I'll sort them
out in the morning.
It was the confident,
trusting,
faithful words,
the actions of faith
in God's control
of the situation.
Yes,
David's enemies
were all about him,
but so was the Lord
and the terms there
are very much parallel.
His enemies
were all about him
and it's meant
to bounce off
what David's already
become convinced of,
that the Lord
was all about him.
And so,
as we're told
in the back story,
David gets up
and prepares himself
for the battle
that Absalom
has left him
no choice
but to fight.
And I think David
goes into that battle
and if you read
the back story,
you can get that
from the back story.
He goes into that battle,
not actually sure
how it's going to turn out,
but what he is sure about
is that whether
he lives or dies,
God's purpose
for his people
will be achieved.
But we're not done yet
because David's still
stepping through
this process
and he does press forward
with new confidence
but he's always longing
for God's ultimate renewal
of his rebellious people.
verses 7 and 8.
Now again,
we see in verse 7,
David's faith perspective.
He says,
Arise, O Lord.
It's a call,
as it were,
a pleading with God
to act.
This is your show, God.
I'm on your side.
You're my commander
in a sense.
over to you,
in a sense.
David's hope
for that day
and for every day
in the future
was God's action,
God's activity.
Now,
this is a really important
balance here
because,
see,
we can look back
and we say
David had displayed
incredible faith,
incredible trust
in response
to his circumstances.
There's no question
about that.
He had done
what was right
in terms of responding
to his circumstances
but here's the point.
David was never satisfied
with his response.
He was never satisfied
with his actions.
He never relies on them
and he certainly
never thinks
that he can deliver
what God's people
really need
because,
you see,
David himself
was a man of sin.
He knew
that his faith today
could crumble
into foolishness tomorrow.
That's been his history
in the past.
So,
while he was seeking
to do the right thing,
he was never satisfied
with it.
He never relied on it
and he never,
ever for a moment
thought he could deliver
in this situation
what God's foolish people
in the height of rebellion
really need.
And so he says,
Arise, O Lord.
And then he says,
Save me, O my God.
Now,
it seems
and looks immediately
like it's self-interested
but I don't think it is.
Rather,
he knows
the fortunes
of his people
are tied to his.
He's their king
and what comes
to King David
comes to his people.
So,
his ultimate concern
as God's king
is to see
God's salvation purpose
achieved through him
for all God's foolish,
rebellious people.
And David includes himself
in that.
He's capable of equal foolishness,
equal stupidity
and has been.
See,
at this point,
I think David
is preparing
for a battle
that's in front of him
but he's longing
for much,
much more
than just
political
reunification.
He knows
what his people need.
He knows
what he needs
and that is
he knows
that rebellion
comes from the heart
and therefore
to properly address
and fix rebellion
then he and his people
need new hearts,
new desires,
new attitudes
if the cycle
of foolish,
rebellious,
destructive,
sinful actions
is to be broken
finally and fixed properly.
So David's longing
even as he prepares
for an immediate battle
he's longing
for something much bigger,
a bigger battle
as it were
to be fought
to deliver God's people.
And if you look
then at verse 8,
salvation belongs
to the Lord,
your blessing
be on your people.
David knows
that salvation
and blessing
are inseparably linked,
two sides
of one coin
and that both
are God's intention
to deliver
to his people
through his appointed king.
So to know
God's blessing,
Psalm 1,
is to be delivered
from rebellion
into new obedience
and righteousness.
That is the blessed life.
To know God's salvation
requires new submission,
new loyalty
to God's sovereign king.
That's Psalm 2 again.
So in this situation,
David understands
his people.
He understands
that they're craving
for the life of blessing,
the good life.
And that's a
proper craving.
That's a real craving.
But they're foolishly
trying to find it
in Absalom,
which is what Absalom
is foolishly
promising
God's people.
That he will give them
a better life,
the life that David
couldn't give them
and didn't give them.
So he feels
for his people.
He sees their plight,
one stupidity
building on another.
And King David
longs for the Lord
to act,
claiming back
his rightful honour,
delivering true blessing
for the truly good life
for his people.
And friends,
if you haven't already
come with me
to this point,
you can hear
the whisper of Jesus
in that,
can't you?
You can hear
the whisper of Jesus
in that longing
of David.
Jesus is the one
who actually
delivers
on that
which David
can only long for
and articulate.
See,
like King David,
Jesus experienced
the awfulness
of hatred,
rebellion,
disloyalty,
and betrayal
from his own family.
John chapter 1,
he came to those
who were his own
but they wouldn't
receive him
because they could
get a better life
apart from Jesus.
but like
King David,
the Lord Jesus
continued
to be committed
to their best interests
even while
they were rejecting him.
and if you look
at 2 Samuel 18
verse 32,
there's a really
poignant verse there
right at the very end
of this whole story
when David is grieving
for his son Absalom.
You could just feel
the pathos.
David said,
Absalom,
my son,
I wish that I could
have died
in your place.
My friends,
that's the gospel.
David was breathing
the gospel
without even knowing it.
Would that I
could have died
in your place.
You're the rebel,
you're the fool,
Absalom,
but I,
as God's king,
would gladly have died
for you if I could.
And of course he couldn't
because David's hands
had blood on him.
But the Lord Jesus did.
what David could only
long for
and experience in part,
Jesus did.
And again,
verse 7 and verse 8,
David's longing
was literally
played out
on
Jesus.
He was the one
who took the
knockout blow,
the humiliation
of being struck
and that picture
in verse 7
is the ultimate
humiliation
that they've been,
you know,
taking the head
off type blow.
Well,
God did it
to his son,
Jesus.
Why?
Because that's
what was required
to deal with enemies,
rebels,
in the name
of justice.
Jesus took
God's knockout blow,
his humiliation
and death
as the consequences
and the punishment
of rebellion
as he took it
upon himself.
And the result
for us who are believers
here this morning
is absolutely incredible.
By sheer grace
and mercy,
God,
in a very real sense,
has become
our bodyguard,
verse 2,
has become
our glory,
has become
the lifter
of our head.
As Dave
prayed at the start,
the removal
of shame
and guilt,
restoration
of reputation
and meaning
and identity
and purpose,
security.
What David
could only
long for,
we now
enjoy
and fill
the life
of blessing.
We create
validation,
security,
reputation,
all of that
which is
unchanging
and inexhaustible.
The full bucket
I spoke of
in the introduction.
That's for us
as believers.
But there's
one more thing
I want to say
just before I sit down.
I've no doubt
there's some here
who aren't yet
believers.
You may be in,
your parents may
be believers
and you may have
grown up in a
Christian family
all your life
but not yet
be a believer
yourself.
Well,
all of that
that I just said
is immediately
available to you
also.
Like verse 4,
you just need
to cry out
to the Lord
and he will
answer you.
You're craving
for the life
of blessing,
security,
identity and purpose,
trying to fit
into this world
that's broken
and horrible.
Come to Jesus.
The Colby Cannon
song reflects
these words.
It says,
in this situation
if you fear
you can go to
Jesus,
if you're lost,
he will come
to you.
All you need
to do is
recognize that
salvation is
God's prerogative
and that salvation
through Jesus,
that he's having
a new heart,
new desires,
new adages,
having your sin
and rebellion
dealt with
properly and
finally,
is the pathway
to blessing
and life.
That life
you're craving
but currently
trying to
find somewhere else.
Come to him
begging for that
renewal.
Come to him
as a guilty
rebel
asking for
inside-out
renewal
and you know
what?
He'll be
delighted
to give it
to you.
Pray with me.
Father,
we finish
where the
psalm
finished
with a
sealah
and we
pause and
reflect on
David's
longing
for an
inner renewal,
not just a
change of
circumstances
to renewed
political unity
in the nation
without bloodshed
if possible
but Lord,
something
far,
far greater,
renewal from
the inside-out
and a
freedom from
a rebellion
and a
true experience
of the
fullness of
life
and how
that longing
became reality
in the Lord
Jesus.
Lord,
at that point
we say
sealah,
we pause
and reflect
on your
goodness.
Amen.
We thank you
for the example
of King David
as a man
of faith
and trust
in this word
but we thank
you even
more Lord
that he was a man
who was not
satisfied with his
own efforts
no matter how
good they were
but pointed us
to that which we
know now to be
the Lord Jesus.
I pray that we
might not be
like Absalom
or the people
of Israel
at that time, despising your goodness and your grace to us.
Help us to live humbly and confidently
under King Jesus
and know blessing and salvation and security.
In his name I pray. Amen.
Thank you very much for listening.