BUT YOU, O LORD
PSALM 3:1-6
PSALM 3:1-6 NKJ
1 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me,
"There is no help for him in God." Selah
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.
You just can't stop at one verse of this psalm. The theme is continual.
David was the author of Psalm three. The setting was during one of the most difficult times of his life. His own son, Absalom, had staged a successful coup and had taken the kingdom. David and his followers were having to run for their lives.
David had been good to Absalom, probably too indulgent. And this spoiled child had plotted against his father, stolen the hearts of the people, and now was planning to destroy David and his men.
So in the first part of the psalm, David is describing his troubles. Many have risen up against him. Many are saying there is no help for him in God. It is as if David's enemies are predicting his demise. And even declaring that God is no longer on David's side.
But You, O Lord. The people may have been rising up and saying David was done. But You, O Lord. David was declaring who God was to him. That God was his shield, his glory, and the One who lifts his head. Not the One who has abandoned him.
I cried to the Lord, and He heard me. What a beautiful statement of faith that God had heard his cry for help.
David reached a place of such peace that he was able to lay down and sleep. He was trusting that the Lord would continue to sustain him.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who surround me. Again, another beautiful statement of faith. Because the Lord was helping him, David was not afraid. He starts out with the problem but then gets to a place of confidence in the Lord. But You, O Lord.
APPLICATION:
Here is a great prayer pattern. We can tell the Lord the problem, but we don't stay fixated on the problem.
Problems? Yes. But You, O Lord. Now we fill in who/what the Lord is to us. A helper? A strength giver? The One who gets us to a place of peace and victory? What God is to us personally makes a huge difference. But You, O Lord.
PRAYER:
O Lord, You are my help and my strength. Regardless of what people say, You are the One who protects and sustains me. Because of You, I will not be afraid.