The superscription in Psalm 3 says that it is a psalm connected to David fleeing from his son Absalom. Absalom had turned the hearts of Israel against King David and was seizing the throne and David had no choice but to make a hasty escape from Jerusalem.
David lays out his dire circumstances before the Lord: “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’” (Psalm 3:2). David emphasizes how many are against him and how determined they are to destroy him. He quotes their taunt that the Lord has abandoned him.
It would be difficult to pile up more reasons for despair than David had in this situation. He was once the object of the affection of all Israel; now the majority of the people had revolted against him, and his son, whom he loved, was his betrayer. He was fleeing his throne, his city, and his country. He was being hunted down, and the people of God believed God had cast him off.
The greatest reason for a soul to despair is if there is no help for him in God. Martin Luther said, “All the temptations in the world, and in hell also, melted together into one, are nothing when compared with the temptation to despair of God’s mercy.”
Everyone has his own troubles, losses, and afflictions. Things can change very quickly in this world, as we see in this psalm. The Christian can be overwhelmed with despair, especially if his conscience or the devil makes him question the Lord’s favor toward him. We can learn from David.
We see how David takes his case before the Lord humbly. He knows he is helpless and undone without the Lord. We know from 2nd Samuel chapters 15-18 that when he left Jerusalem, he walked barefoot, weeping, with his head covered, signs of lament and contrition. A man from the tribe of Benjamin, Shimei, cursed David along the way. When one of David’s men offered to kill the man, David said no, that it was of the Lord and “maybe the Lord will repay me with good.”
We read later that David was weary when he reached Jordon, but there he refreshed himself. No doubt the water helped his body to be refreshed, but this also was a spiritual refreshment from the Lord. The Bible makes certain to us that nothing is done without the Lord’s providence. We are taught that even the life of a sparrow is not outside of God’s will.
David had everything against him, but he humbled himself under the hand of the Lord and believed that the Lord would bring a good end to this in his own time. If we humble ourselves, the Lord will lift us up in due time; it is he who enriches, refreshes, sustains, and uplifts the soul. We ought to always humble ourselves before the Lord; it is the way to being blessed by the Lord.
As we move to verse 3 in the psalm, we can see how the Spirit of the Lord is working in David: “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” David’s eyes go away from the multitude of his enemies to a look of faith at the Lord.
The Lord as a shield is a favorite metaphor of David. He has experienced the shield of the Lord before. In Psalm 18, recounting his deliverance from Saul, David calls the Lord his rock and his shield. Here the Lord is a shield about him or covering him, not a normal shield that partially covers the body.
Having the Lord as a shield, David knows that his soul hasn’t been abandoned by the Lord. Christians may go through terrible afflictions, but they know that none can snatch them out of the Lord’s hand. He is a shield no one can break through.
David says that “the Lord is my glory,” meaning that David is denying any self-sufficiency. This is the kind of situation that makes clear what is always true-- only the Lord can deliver him. The Lord is my glory also means that I have no glory of my own, but I glory in the Lord.
And the Lord is “lifter of my head.” Weary David was refreshed by the Lord; he didn’t lift his own head from the bowed position it was in, but the Lord did. All his hope is in the Lord and that is never misplaced hope. Such a God-centered prayer in such a dismal plight! We should learn from this psalm what the apostle Paul also taught us: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” What a difference the Spirit of the Lord makes in our souls!
