Scripture: Psalm 3
Translation:
3.1A Davidic song, during his fleeing from
the presence of Absalom, his son.
2Yahweh, how my enemies have become many!
Many people are rising up
against me!
3Many people are saying to my soul,
“There is no salvation for
him by God.”
Selah.
4But You, Yahweh, are a shield around
me—my glory—
and the One Who holds my
head up high!
5With my voice I called out to Yahweh,
and He answered me from the
Mountain of His Holiness!
Selah.
6I lie down and sleep!
I wake up, because Yahweh helps
me!
7I’m not scared by tens of thousands of
people,
who take their stand all
around against me!
8Rise up, Yahweh!
Save me, my God,
because You punch all my enemies on the jaw!
You break the teeth of
wicked people!
9The salvation belongs to Yahweh!
Your blessing is on Your
people!
Selah.
The Point I’m Stressing: Yahweh SAVES!!!
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Heading (v.1)
b.
Statement of the Problem
(vv.2-3)
c.
Summary of David’s Response
(vv.4-5)
d.
David’s Response Detailed (vv.6-9)
A Rest
B Yahweh
protects/helps
C Enemies don’t induce fear
D Plea to
Take Action to Save
D’ Plea to Save
C’ Yahweh deals with enemies
B’ Yahweh
saves
A’ Blessing
2.
Themes
a.
Speaking
i.
Much of the psalm is
oriented towards the speaking of the enemies in v.3, but then also on the
verbalized request from David to Yahweh
ii.
Yahweh answers, which takes
the form more of action than words, but Yahweh’s answer address the evil
speaking of the enemies in v.3 by breaking their jaw in v.8, also the blessing
of v.9 while it is clearly in terms of actions, may also imply the spoken
priestly blessing
b.
Response/Answering
i.
The psalm is set up as an
answer to the smack talk of David’s enemies, the response and answer is as much
verbal as non-verbal, which takes the form of Yahweh’s active intervention
against David’s enemies
ii.
The first response is from
David when he prays/screams for help and holds on to the promise and power of
Yahweh
iii.
The second response is from
Yahweh for David as summarized in v.5,
iv.
Vv.6-7 and vv.8c-9 are also
Yahweh response to David’s request, which is bluntly state in v.8a-b
c.
Enemies
i.
Described at the beginning
of the psalm as many, hostile, and verbally discouraging/disrespecting
ii.
Later described in vv.7-8
as wicked, militarily threatening and defeated
d.
Yahweh is stronger/bigger
i.
This comes especially in
v.4, but it also is highlighted by the negative, where the enemies accuse
Yahweh of either powerlessness, non-existence, or indifference in v.3
ii.
It also is reinforced by
Yahweh’s decisive action of punching jaws and breaking teeth
iii.
It is also implied by
David’s confidence in the face of terrifying foes in v.7 and David’s ability to
sleep in safety and wake up again
iv.
The theme of Yahweh saving
in general strengthens this idea
e.
Praying
i.
The whole psalm is
something of a prayer, or at least a record of a prayer
ii.
The psalm turns on David’s
prayer, both in the first half and in the second half
iii.
Also, note the naturalness
of the conversation between David and God
iv.
Note the honesty
v.
Note the faith and hope
vi.
Note the strength it imbued
vii.
Note the joy its answer
induced
viii.
Note the peace made
possible through it
f.
Yahweh takes action
i.
This is a main theme which
comes through in the discussion of Yahweh answering and breaking jaws and teeth
ii.
It is implied via David’s
hope and dependence on it
iii.
It is indicated by the
theme of Yahweh’s salvation as well
iv.
The call upon God to act
strengthens the theme as well as Yahweh’s actual acting in response to the call
g.
Confidence/Trust/Hope
i.
There is an undercurrent of
confidence and trust and hope in David towards Yahweh
ii.
His prayers are based on
the hope and trust that Yahweh will answer them
iii.
The psalm in part turns on
the accusation that David’s confidence, hope, and trust in Yahweh is misplaced,
and then the vindication of that hope and trust and confidence
iv.
It is indicated by David’s
ability to rest, his clinging to it in v.4, and the declaration at the end that
Yahweh owns salvation and blesses His people
v.
The confidence is so strong
that the numerous enemies do not dissuade it, even when those enemies are
intensely personal
h.
Salvation
i.
This is the main theme of
the psalm: Yahweh saves
ii.
The root for save/salvation
appears 3 times, salvation twice (v.4 and v.9), and save once (v.8)
iii.
The salvation of Yahweh is
the main issue, people deny He saves, but the argument of this psalm is that He
does
iv.
It tells the story of how
He has saved, saves, and will save
v.
It is implicitly a call on
people to trust that He will save
vi.
It is all about asking Him
to save
vii.
It is all about trusting
Him to save
viii.
It is all about His actual
salvation. He saves by answer, He saves by granting peace and protection, He
saves by smashing in faces, He saves David, but He also saves His people
ix.
He saves despite the odds,
opposition, or perceived impossibility
x.
He saves despite what
people say, He saves in part for His own vindication, as well as the
vindication of those who trust in Him
xi.
He is the God Who saves,
and thus Who responds to calls for salvation
xii.
The conclusion is not only
can Yahweh save, and not only can we ask Him to save, but that any and all
salvation ultimately belongs to Him! Which of course also means that no matter
how small the salvation may seem, it ultimately was the gracious work of the
Great and Powerful God Yahweh!
i.
Large numbers
i.
This comes up in v.3 and
then again in v.7-8, this is a big deal.
ii.
The point is the numbers
David is facing is insane, but this large number is foiled and superseded by
Yahweh singularity and yet greater power
3.
Poetic Devices
a.
Vv.2-3 parallel vv.4-5
A Lots of enemies (v.2)
B Enemies talking smack (v.3a)
C The Smack Talk: God can’t/won’t save (v.3b)
A’ Yahweh is a shield for David (v.4)
B’ David screams for help (v.5a)
C’ Yahweh Answers (v.5b)
So,
you have answers to the issues posed in the first section, the answer to lots
of enemies is a powerful God Who is with and for David, the answer to the enemies
smack talking is David talking to God, the answer to the smack talk that God
won’t/can’t save is God answering David’s prayer
b.
Yahweh’s action against the
enemies specifically eliminates the dissing of Yahweh, that’s they talk smack
against God and God smacks them so hard in the jar their teeth are shattered!
c.
The trifold repetition of סלה selah at vv.3, 5, and 9
seems to indicate three main sections, which is true in terms of how the author
is giving clues to the structure, but the first two sections as outlined above
are clearly a pair and the final section is chiastic, so at a larger level
there are two main sections, but the placement of the selah’s means that the
author is putting added focus on the opposition and contrast between the issue
in vv.2-3 and the answer in vv.4-5, thus, the antithesis and answer to the
smack talk forms a rubric for understanding the whole psalm. This conditions us
to expect a lengthier outline of David’s plea and God’s response
d.
The numbers of the enemies
is focused on at the beginning of the first section and the beginning of the
third (by selah count) or the second (by broader sections)
4.
Doctrines
a.
Yahweh saves, a theme that
only intensifies at the coming of Jesus Christ, but He does not just save us
eternally He saves us in time in our daily lives and stresses and needs
b.
Yahweh is omnipotent
c.
Yahweh is concerned with
His reputation/glory, and our perception of it
d.
Yahweh’s salvation is
dependable
e.
Yahweh cares about us and
what we are going through and what we are threatened by
f.
Yahweh’s character gives
peace
g.
Yahweh answers prayer
h.
Christians should pray
naturally, honestly, and trustingly
i.
Yahweh is worthy of all
confidence, Hope, and Faith!
5.
Notes
a.
Yahweh answering from His
holy mountain as a phrase seems to carry connotations of Yahweh coming to the
rescue, of not just help, but often it seems direct and powerful intervention,
if one compares to some of the other uses in the psalms and perhaps also Jonah
2
b.
The move to “Your blessing
is on Your people” in v.9b is an surprising and hopeful turn to see the
corporate application of the intervention of God on behalf of David, because
David is not so much talking about Himself, but the hope of all those who
belong to and believe in Yahweh for salvation!
Applications
1.
We have to trust in
Yahweh’s salvation!
2.
We should pray for
salvation when we need it! Yahweh doesn’t just want to save us eternally,
although that is the most important salvation He is working to achieve, He
wants to get involved in our daily needs! He wants to save when people be
trip’n! He wants to save when we are overworked, when we are sick, when we
don’t know what to do, when the odds are against us, when people taunt us that
we are wasting our time trusting in Yahweh!
3.
God is calling us to trust
Him not just to save us individually, but to trust Him to save us as a group!
To save our church, our youth group from destruction and death!
4.
Yahweh is the God of
vindication. He will vindicate His Own Name, and even our faith in Him! He will
ultimately vindicate us at the judgment, but sometimes He also vindicates us in
real life! But do we have the guts to trust Him to save!
5.
There is nothing and no
one, and no group of people that should cause us to fear and abandon hope and
faith in Yahweh, because if we do look at things, at people, at situations and
fear and let our hope and faith waiver, we have forgotten the God Yahweh really
is! We have forgotten that He is the One Who Saves! We have stopped clinging to
all that He really is! Sometimes the problem is not really that God has taken
His sweet time in saving, but that we have stopped clinging to Him as the God
of all salvation! We have forgotten that He IS a shield around us, that He is
our glory, that He is the One Who encourages us, exalts us, and vindicates us!
Sometimes the problem really is that we don’t believe that God can save, we
look at what we’re up against and give up hope, because we don’t think anyone
could save us, that is exactly what David’s enemies were saying, but really
that is profoundly arrogant of them and profoundly sad for us, because we have
forgotten exactly what will give us hope, and it is at least a little arrogant,
since we are denying what Yahweh has said!
6.
We need to believe that
Yahweh can and will answer powerfully, and even sometimes violently powerfully
7.
Sometimes it is those
closest to us who try to hurt us the most, but Yahweh can even save you from
those closest to you who are hurting you! God deals with those people, just
like He dealt with Absalom. Even verbal, physical, and sexual abuse God can
save you from! He can save you from the past wounds of those things and other
things, just as much as He can save you from things happening now! Yahweh’s
blessing is on His people, so there is hope for us no matter what we have
suffered, will suffer, or are suffering! And I want you to know that if someone
is physically or sexually abusing you, you can tell not just God, but me and I
will do what I have to do to make it stop
