Transcript:
Hi, you’re watching the first episode of Psalms for Troubled Times. We’re going to be looking at Psalm 3 today. If you don’t know me, my name is Annette Bell. I’m the host of Overcoming the Tribulation, which is focused on preparing our hearts for the return of Christ. If you haven’t subscribed, I invite you to hit the subscribe button. And also if you click on the little bell, it’ll give you notifications when I release a new video.
Let’s get started. I’m going to read Psalm 3.
Psalm 3
“A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. Oh Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’ Selah. But You are a shield around me, O LORD; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill. Selah. 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. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May Your blessing be on Your people. Selah.” Okay; so, now let’s unpack it. It says it’s a morning psalm, and I believe that’s because of verse 5, where he praises God for having woken him up again.
Context
The note at the top of Psalm 3 says this is a psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. If you don’t know the story of David and his son Absalom, you can read it from 2 Samuel 13-19, and see what all that was about. And maybe it’ll help you appreciate this psalm a little bit more. But I’m not going to go into all the details for this video.
Verses 1-2
In verses 1 and 2, David has many enemies. It’s so bad that people are saying God will not deliver him. That must have been a really hard time to be in. And I’m sure that some of you can relate to that feeling in the struggles that you’re going through. And that’s why it’s important to read these psalms, because they can help us get out of the ruts that we’re in, and trust God in spite of–maybe we won’t leave the ruts we’re in, but at least in our minds, to trust God in His presence, to get through through those hard times.
You may have noticed me read the word “Selah” several times in this psalm. We don’t really know what it means. People guess it could be a pause for reflection, or a musical term, or something about singing. But we don’t know. Still, I’ll read them.
Verse 3
Okay; verse 3. So how did David encourage himself from this horrible situation he was in? He says, “You are a shield around me, O LORD. The LORD is a shield to those who trust in Him.
It doesn’t mean that we won’t get hurt in battle, or that we won’t be killed, but it means that God is with us in our spirit. David says of the LORD, “You bestow glory on me.” It reminds me of Psalm 23. The glory that God bestows on men brings glory to God. David also told the LORD that, “You lift up my head.” When someone is sad, their head naturally drops. And the downcast–I think the word downcast as a reflection of the fact that you’re looking down when you’re sad, but when relief is near, a person straightens up.
This is about God bringing encouragement to the downcast, and strength. And, one passage that I think about when I read this Psalm is Luke 21:28. It’s about the end of the Tribulation. And it says, when you see all these things begin to lift up your heads because you know that your redemption is near. It’s an encouragement to the believers who are still alive during that time, that they’re trouble is almost over. It’s not saying, “Oh, look at the sky, because He could appear at any moment,” but I believe it’s referring to the fact that it’s almost over. So be encouraged. That’s the way I take it.
Verse 4
Okay; verse four. “To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill.” That’s a beautiful picture of the faith that he has in God, that God hears his prayers and that He pays attention to them, and that He is answering them, even if they don’t appear answered in the moment yet.
Verse 5
“I lie down and sleep; I awake again, because the Lord sustains me.” Even if nothing seems to be going the way we want, waking up still alive is a cause for praise to the Lord. And it can be. We can give it to the Lord every time we wake up, if we think about it.
Verse 6
“I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” The only way we can experience no fear like that, with tens of thousands drawn up against us on every side, is to fear God more than man. And, we do that by remembering Who Jesus is, that He has all power and authority.
He talks about it in Matthew 10:28, where He says, don’t be afraid of those who will kill you, because they can only kill the body. But you should fear the One Who has the power to destroy both the body and the soul in hell. So, given the perspective of Jesus’ authority, fearing Him more than man makes a whole lot of sense. And it’s not easy. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, if we ask Him, He can help us fear Him more appropriately, and man less. And this is a journey of faith for all of us. We get to a point where we’re like, yeah, I fear may God more than man–in a certain area. And then He probably tests us again with something a little more challenging.
Verse 7
“Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.” This is basically saying, looking to God for salvation and for justice against enemies. God will be just. We might have to wait longer than we want, but He will be just.
Verse 8
“From the LORD comes deliverance. Your blessing be on Your people. Selah.” Our salvation belongs to the Lord, and His blessing is on His people. It’s a promise. So, if you are one of His people, then you can rejoice, no matter what’s going on. And I pray that you would. If you are not one of His people, I pray that you would seek Him, and that He would grant to you repentance from your sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you for watching. I hope you were encouraged and perhaps learned something. I’ll see you again the next time. Bye bye.
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