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I love many of the Psalms. Psalm 3 is such a simple, short Psalm, but it speaks volumes about the faith of the writer, David. I want to be like David.

The Psalm was written when David fled from his son Absalom, who was intent on killing his father so that he could become king. David looks around and sees the reality of the situation – that there are many people against him and that many people are saying God won’t save him. Then he turns from what the people are saying to what he knows as truth “But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Notice that both verbs are present tense. God is David’s shield, God bestows glory on David and God lifts up David’s head. Can there be a better shield? Do you hear David’s confidence in God – God is David’s glory and God lifts David’s head. God answers when David calls. David wakes up each morning because God sustains him. And because of all that, David says “I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.”

It is clear that this Psalm is written in the middle of difficult times for David because David continues “Arise, O Lord! Deliver me…” That makes it clear that the preceding verses are words spoken in faith. From all appearances, God has not done any of the things David is confident of, but David is confident of them, nonetheless. David finishes “From the Lord comes deliverance.”

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

Lord, I want to be like David in this…that when there seems to be no reason for faith, let me look away from the circumstances and toward the One who is my shield and my deliverer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 5:59 am and is filed under Reading through the Bible in a Year, Trusting God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.