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Well please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 3. Psalm 3 as we continue to work our way through the Psalms of David. I'll read Psalm 3 and then we'll look at it in some detail. 

Psalm 3, beginning in verse 1, a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Lord, how they have increased to trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, there is no help for him in God. Selah. But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill, Selah. I lay down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people. Selah. 

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, we thank you for the blessed reality that it causes us to reflect on how good and how glorious you are. As the psalmist here reports, salvation does belong to you and blessing comes from you, and we rejoice in that. We thank you for the gospel of our salvation, for the mercies that we have received through our Lord Jesus Christ. and we praise you for his life, his death, his resurrection from the dead, and his session now at the right hand of God Almighty. We ask that you would forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness, anything that would darken our minds. We pray for any and all who are dead in their trespasses and sins, that you would awaken them, that you would show them their sin and show them that remedy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Guide us by your Holy Spirit, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 

Well as we looked at Psalms 1 and 2, I argued that Psalms 1 and 2 function as an introduction to the entirety of the book of Psalms. And that in Psalm 1 specifically, it's not a general description of godly men, but rather it's a specific description of the godly man, the Lord Jesus Christ. So in Psalm 1, we have his character described, his conduct given, and then in Psalm 2, his reign, his power, his authority, and his glory. 

Now as we come to Psalm 3, we continue to see the emphasis in this Psalm on Christ as subject, Christ as object, Christ as composer, Christ as singer and prayer of the entirety of the Psalter. Now David functions like a type, and a type in the Old Testament is a person, a place, a thing, an event that points forward to or prefigures or foreshadows the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Psalm 3 is about David. We see that in the superscription. It tells us a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. But he's functioning typically. He's pointing us forward to David's greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ. and the psalm also applies to the people of God as they are united to Jesus Christ in faith. So it's David, it's Christ, and it's us that are described or spoken to with reference to Psalm 3. 

Now the psalm is ascribed to David specifically and the historical context is given. Notice there, it's called a superscription, the little words that come before verse one, those little words that come before verse one would be verse one in the Hebrew Bible. So a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Now remember the second psalm deals specifically with rebel nations and their opposition to Yahweh and his anointed, his Christ. It shows us the rage, the contempt that the nations show to the living God.

Well now David reflects upon an incident in his own career. He reflects upon a particular time, actually he writes this psalm in the midst of a particular time when he faced something like that. So it furnishes us an example from the life of King David who functions typically to point us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. The psalm ultimately is about Christ and I hope to show that as we move through.

So as we look at Psalm 3, it breaks down into three places, three particular points. First, the affliction of the psalmist, notice in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the conviction of the psalmist in verses 3 to 6. And then it ends with the petition of the psalmist or his prayer in verses 7 and 8.

Now in terms of the affliction, again, it applies to David. Verse 1 in the Hebrew Bible, a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Now there are 13 psalms that have a historical superscription that locate us back in the Old Testament. If you turn to 2 Samuel 12, we see something of the situation that David was facing when he composed this psalm.

2 Samuel 12 is where the story of Absalom's rebellion actually begins. And in 2 Samuel 12, Absalom is not mentioned. What happens in 2 Samuel 12 is that the prophet Nathan rebukes David for his having committed adultery and murder. And so Nathan reproves David. David repents. But then there is this promise of consequence by God with reference to the household of David. Notice in 2 Samuel 12 10. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. And he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this son. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the son. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die.

So what we see there is consistent with the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. God does forgive, but there are oftentimes temporal consequences associated with our rebellion. And that's precisely what is promised here to David. His sin is forgiven. The blood of Jesus Christ the righteous cleanses him from all sin, but there are consequences predicated on his murder and his adultery, and that is what is announced here. There's going to be adversity in his own home.

So in 2 Samuel chapter 13, Absalom is introduced. He's a son of David. He has a lovely sister named Tamar, and another one of David's sons, Amnon, rapes her. And then, of course, Absalom bides his time and eventually assassinates or executes his brother Amnon. David knows about this, and David is angry about this, but David doesn't do anything about this. Now, David was the king, but the king didn't have the right to have his sons murder one another. That was simply unacceptable. If that happened today, we'd all denounce that as a bad thing. Well, it was a bad thing in that time as well.

But then Absalom flees, and then Absalom returns, and then Absalom essentially takes over the kingdom. So when David writes Psalm 3, he knows something of affliction and hardship and difficulty and trial. In fact, if you turn over to 2 Samuel chapter 15, you'll see how Absalom functioned. He basically was a usurper. So we've got the consequence of David's sins announced in 2 Samuel 12, and then the usurpation by David's son, his treachery, chapter 15, specifically in verses 1 to 12a. What did he do? He worked the crowd. He worked a crowd, he basically led all Israel after him. He was a gregarious, handsome fellow, he was quite popular, he was quite skillful, and he was able to basically entice the people of Israel to follow him in leadership and not David.

And then if you look at the end of verse 12, it says in the second part, and the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number. So he had this treachery about him, he had this great deal of influence, and ultimately there was rebellion in David's kingdom. Again, suggested by Psalm 2, the nation's rage, the people plotting a vain thing against Yahweh and against his Christ.

So in Psalm 3, David writes this when he's facing something in a similar sort of a situation. And it's come from his own son. Now, when we went through John's gospel, when we went to John 18, the Garden of Gethsemane, we saw some parallels there between the Lord Jesus and David. They both crossed the Brook Kidron. They both have to deal with a betrayer by the name of Ahithophel in 2 Samuel and Judas in the New Testament. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is that antitype of what we find in Psalm 3.

And as we continue on in our survey of Psalm 3, we notice that David not only bemoans the difficulties in a specific situation, but he also lived a life of affliction. So verse 1 in Psalm 3, a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Lord, how they have increased who trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, there is no help for him in God.

So the affliction of external attacks, he understood that all too well. He had to deal with Saul when he first comes to the throne. He had to deal with the wars of the Philistines. He had the internal afflictions, the adversity that didn't depart from his house. Absalom murdering Amnon, Amnon having raped Tamar, and then Absalom usurping his kingdom and basically taking over his throne, such that the entirety of the nation, save a few, were on the side of the usurper.

David speaks concerning the difficulties of his own heart when he says, And I think a very good observation at this point by way of a practical one is simply this. When Absalom raises up, when he engages in this usurpation, when he effectively turns the entirety of the nation against his father and toward himself, David doesn't come apart at the seams. David writes Psalm 3. When afflictions hit us, when trials come our way, whether they be external or internal, what happens to us at times? I'm not suggesting you compose a psalm, but I am suggesting you pray the psalm. I am suggesting you sing the psalm. I am suggesting that instead of losing our ever-loving minds when affliction hits us, we take recourse to David's God. That's what David displays in Psalm 3.

All of these things are upon Him, and what does He do? He writes Psalm 3. All these things come upon us, and what do we do? We run and hide. We basically complain. We whine. We wonder why God would ever allow such a thing to ever like this to happen to us. David exemplifies for us Christian conduct in the midst of affliction. And that is precisely what he does here in verses one and two. Lord, how they have increased to trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, there is no help for him in God. Selah.

And I would suggest for a man like David, it wasn't Saul's persecution and attempt to hunt him down and kill him that was the most troublesome thing in his life. It probably wasn't wars with the Philistines either. I mean, David was the sort of fellow who collected foreskins from them in order to secure a bride. It wasn't those external afflictions. It was the allegation made by his enemies that there's no help for you in your God. That's what evokes from him his particular complaint here in verse 2.

Many are those who say of me there is no help for him in God. That's what hurts the man of God. The suggestion that perhaps his God has turned away from him. It is that which causes David to cry out.

Now in terms of Jesus, I think you see the connection. Lord, how they have increased who trouble me. He came to his own, his own received him not. Many are they who rise up against me. Remember the Sanhedrin, the latter part of Matthew's gospel? What do they do? They incite the crowds. They entice the multitudes. Not praise the Lord of glory, not bow down and kiss the Son of glory, but away with him, away with him, crucify him.

And didn't our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross receive the same attack that David expresses here in verse 2b? There is no help for him in God. Remember on the cross in Matthew 27, The Sanhedrin, the religious leaders, the crowds, they say, he trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of God. Isn't that in essence the same sort of attack that is launched against David? There is no help for him in God. Let him cry out to God. Let's see if God will help him. He's made himself to be the son of God. Certainly the father should come to his rescue and to his aid.

It's the same antipathy, it's the same enmity, it's the same rage, it's the same opposition. David, using a historical event in his own life, typically shows us what's going to happen when his greater Son comes to save us from our sins.

But as well, if you look at verse 8, specifically it says, salvation belongs to the Lord, your blessing is upon your people. Christ's afflictions are our afflictions. Our afflictions are Christ's afflictions. Remember on that road to Damascus when the Lord Jesus comes to conquer Saul of Tarsus and Saul says, who are you, Lord? What does Jesus say? I'm Jesus whom you are persecuting. What does that indicate? It indicates that Augustine is right when he speaks this concerning Psalm 3. This psalm can be taken as in the person of Christ another way, which is that the whole Christ should speak.

Now when Augustine is using whole Christ here, he's not talking about the two natures in the one person. He's talking about Christ the head and the church his body. So whatever afflictions we have, Jesus is able to say, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. The same sorts of afflictions our Savior received, for instance, when he says in 1518 in John's Gospel, if the world hates you, know that it hated me first. So whatever was true of the master, whatever is true of the head, is gonna be true of the body.

So Augustine again, this psalm can be taken as in the person of Christ another way, which is that the whole Christ should speak. I mean by whole, with his body, of which he is head. Aquinas agrees, the church and its head standing fast amidst the storms of persecution. So some would suggest, well when you get Jesus into each of these psalms, there's nothing really in it for us. Oh, there's everything in it for us. If you put Jesus into these psalms, it removes David from the historical context. Of course it doesn't. Type anti-type. Those in union with Christ were in this psalm. In fact, we ought to pray the way that David prayed, the way that Jesus prayed.

Lord, how they have increased to trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, there is no help for him in God. Selah. This is the first occurrence of Selah. It appears about 71 times throughout the Psalter. It's three times in the Prophet Habakkuk. That's it in the Old Testament. And Ash basically explains the definition this way. He says, let me find my notes here. Oh, we do not know what it means. Most likely it indicates, musically, semantically, or both, a pause. Perhaps a pause for reflection. Even if it doesn't, Luther's suggestion that we take it as a prompt to meditate cannot do any harm. So that's a good way to understand that say law. Take a moment, reflect, pause, consider, meditate and contemplate.

And this is a good place to do that. Lord, how they have increased who trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me there is no help for him in God. Bit of a thought, bit of a reflection, bit of a contemplation on that, and now movement into the conviction of the psalmist in verses 3 to 6. And I want to break this down into two subsections. First, the reasons for his confidence in verses 3 and 4. and then the effects of his confidence in verses 4, 5, and 6.

But notice in terms of the reasons for his confidence in verses 3 and 4, he speaks of the protection of God, verse 3, and then the nearness of God in verse 4. See, this is biblical prayer. Biblical prayer acknowledges problems and hardships and trials. We don't do God any favor by pretending that everything's always okay. You don't find that concept in Scripture. You find psalmist saying, Lord, there's many that have risen up against me. which that risen up against me is the same language in 2 Samuel chapter 18, a reflection upon what had happened in terms of Absalom's rebellion. There was a rising up against King David and against his crown.

But we don't do God any favors by trying to pretend everything is only ever okay. As I've mentioned before, when you ask somebody how are you doing, you're probably not looking for a life history. Well, you know, on Tuesday I had a rough morning. I dropped a coffee on my foot. You probably aren't looking for that. Maybe you are. If you want to hear my week, come and see me and I'll tell you all about it. We kind of predicate that of God, too. We can't burden Him with all our issues and our troubles and our afflictions and our hardships. Why not? Isn't that The point? Doesn't Simon Peter say, cast your burdens upon him. Why? Because he cares for you.

This is biblical prayer. Lord, things are a mess. Enemies are surrounding me. The multitudes of them rise up against me. We just went through some prayer letters in the 9.30 hour and the various persecutions upon the people of God throughout the world. And our brother Steve rightly reminds us, when we read these things going on in communist China, think about our own situation. Oh yeah, we're not as far down the road as communist China, but neither were they at one time. Right? It didn't just happen. But, you know, Bill C-9, where they want to clamp down on any kind of hate speech that might possibly ever offend anybody, seems calculated to go after scripture and scriptural preachers. It's not wrong for us to say, God, help us with courage, with strength, with a resoluteness, with a determination not to shrink back in the face of the federal government. We're not gonna run and hide, Lord, we wanna honor you, we wanna praise you, we wanna contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

God calls upon us to call upon him. There's nothing wrong with this kind of prayer.

But he moves from this affliction, this rehearsal of his affliction to the conviction that he has in his heart. And notice again the protection of God in verse three, but you, O Lord, are a shield for me. My glory and the one who lifts up my head You are a shield for me. Genesis 15.1, God's promise to Abraham, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. The psalmist invokes this language throughout the Psalter, specifically in Psalm 5.12, Psalm 28.7, Psalm 119.114. And notice again, but you, O Lord, are a shield for me. It's literally around me. You think of a shield, I'd hold it this way, and it protects a particular vital area of the body. It's good, it's necessary, gotta have it. Shield in the one arm, weapon in the other, ready to do battle. The shield of Yahweh is around us, which is helpful because the enemies are around us as well. And if we just protect that vital area, we're liable to be attacked from behind. But David's able to say, but you, O Lord, are a shield around me. It is a blessed image. Protection is what is invoked here by David.

So again, notice, he's in the midst of affliction. He's on the run, as it were, having been ejected from his kingdom by the prowess of his son. And he doesn't say, Lord, where are you? Why have you let me down? No, David understood 2 Samuel 12, 10 to 12. He understood the consequences associated with his murder and adultery. David understood that. But he also understood the reality that God is always a shield. And I think this psalm really expresses faith, because when we, again, are afflicted, the thoughts that typically go out of our minds is God's protection. We end up on the run, and what do we say? God, where are you? What's happened? What have I done?

David invokes God as the protector, but he speaks of him as my glory. John Gill explains, he is the glory of his people, in whom they glory, and by whom they are called to eternal glory. And it will give it to them and reveal it to them, even an eternal weight of it, which the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared unto. So he rejoices, and God is protector. You've surrounded me. You've given me that shield around me. You are my glory. But as well, he says, you are the lifter up of my head. The one who lifts my head. I think that speaks to a position of advantage. It speaks to triumph and victory. It's used negatively of the wicked in Psalm 83 at verse two. It's used positively of the righteous in Psalm 27. It's used messianically in Psalm 110, seven. What does that priest who's of the order of Melchizedek do after he renders judgment against his enemies? He lifts up his head.

David understands that while the world around him has collapsed, while the world around him has lost its mind, while the government that he had been involved in had crumbled, You're my shield. You're my glory. And you are the lifter up of my head. Brethren, again, that's the way we pray. Afflictions do not remove our confidence in who God is. Afflictions cause us to reflect upon who our God is and to function accordingly. Get that. If you don't get anything else, brothers and sisters, get that. Because that's an emphasis that comes loud and clear in the psalm.

And then notice the nearness of God in verse 4. We speak in terms of theology, of God's transcendence. That means He's removed, He's holy, He's separate from us. We also speak in theology of God's imminence, His nearness to us, the fact that He hears us, the fact that He answers us, the fact that He cares for us, the fact that He has sent His Son into this world's centers to save. So David reflects on that. Not only is God a protecting God, my shield, my glory, and the lifter up of my head, but when I called to God, when I called to God, when He was on His holy hill of Zion, He heard me. That's been his track record. That's been his pattern. That's been his faithfulness with reference to David and his kingdom.

As Spurgeon says, we need not fear a frowning world while we rejoice in a prayer-hearing God. We need not fear a frowning world while we rejoice in a prayer-hearing God. That's verse four. I cried to the Lord with my voice and he heard me from his holy hill. It's a good place for us to say, ah, it's a good place to meditate, a good place to contemplate, a good place to reflect, a good place to ponder.

But then notice the effects of his confidence in God is specifically in verses five and six. He speaks of his comfort and of his courage, not God's courage, but his courage in God. Note the comfort that he receives from this blessed conviction. I lay down and slept, I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. Sleep is a blessing, isn't it? Kids are going, no, I don't want to have a nap today. Boy, when you're 59, you look forward to that nap. In fact, you wake up in the morning and you think, man, I get a nap later on. And after that nap, you get up and you say, I get to go to bed later. It's beautiful. Naps are wasted on the youth, brethren.

Don't we mark health by way of sleep? Now brethren, we've all suffered insomnia. I would suggest Psalm 3 as a helpful corrective if it's a pattern in your life. But look at what the psalmist says. I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustained me. Don't we measure health in that way? I'm not sleeping well. What does that mean? You need a new pillow, you need some new sheets. No, you need a fresh dose of who God is. You need to get your mind wrapped around that he's your shield, he's your glory, he's the lifter up of the head.

Remember, a psalm of David when he was fleeing from Absalom and the insurrection that occurred to David. I gotta tell you, brethren, I wouldn't have slept. I'd be constantly with my advisors. I'd be constantly with that band of few that stuck by me in the midst of the insurrection. I'd be biting my fingernails down to the third knuckle. I would be a mess. I don't know that sleep would come easy at all. We measure health that way, don't we? We measure a level of anxiety. You see it or you hear it all the time in popular parlance. Oh, I'm not sleeping well. It usually means I'm working too hard, I've got big things going on, I've got troubles, I've got issues, I've got challenges. Probably not the usurpation of your kingdom. Probably not the rebellion of your son Absalom. Probably not the crumbled kingdom that you were stationed by God to govern. And yet in the midst of this, in the crucible, I lay down and slept. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. It's a promise of God. Leviticus 26.6, I will give peace in the land and you shall lie down and none will make you afraid. I will rid the land of evil beasts and the sword will not go through your land.

Psalm 4, we'll see it God willing next week. Verse 8, I will both lie down in peace and sleep for you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety. Proverbs 3, when you give your ear, your attention, your heart to the law of God, when you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

Brethren, there is a help to insomnia. There is a corrective to anxiety. Isn't this what Jesus taught in Luke 18? Jesus taught that instead of anxiety, men should pray. Paul echoes this in Philippians chapter four, be anxious for nothing but in everything, with prayer, supplication and thanksgivings, let your requests be made known to God.

I don't want to scold. I don't want to lecture. I don't want to be the older brother or the dad saying, you got to get it better. But brethren. We've got a pattern here in the way that godly people respond to hardships and crisis and difficulty and affliction. They don't run and whine. They don't run and hide. They don't try to escape. They run to that refuge which is God Most High. They exult in the fact that He is their shield, that He is their glory, that He is their lifter up of the head. And what that provokes, or promotes rather, in their own lives is a soft enough pillow so that they're able to sleep.

Notice as well the courage that results in this. Verse 6, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Note the connection with Psalm 2, specifically at verse 2, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his Christ saying, Well, David sees the same thing in his own situation. David prophesies by Psalm 3 of what's going to obtain in the life of Messiah, his greater son.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Notice David's resolution. How do you get to the point where you say, I will not be afraid? Because you've reached down deep, figured out that you're better off than others. No, no. It's because God's my shield. God's my glory. God's my lifter up of my head. If those things are true, then I'm not going to be afraid. That's the connection, brethren. It's not that David had, you know, an extra effusion of courage built into his DNA, though I would argue he probably did. But God is his shield. Therefore, I will not be afraid. Do you see that connection?

That's Paul's point in Romans 8. If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8.31. Who is He who condemns? It is God who justifies. It's beautiful logic. In other words, when we reflect upon who God is, there are effects, a comfortable bed, a courageous spirit, such that we're able to say what David says in verse 6, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Look at 27.3, same sort of a motif, Psalm 27.3. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. So David has a resolution here that doesn't remove the reality that there's still opposition. Notice that David's prayer doesn't result in an immediate calming of the kingdom. It's going to take a little while before Absalom gets caught in that tree by his gorgeous head of hair and then is pierced through by several spears. In other words, praying to God, trusting in God promotes sleep, promotes courage, but doesn't remove hardship. 

See, that's where I think we get short-sighted. I prayed and we're still in this mess. Find where prayer gets you out of messes. I see the opposite. Prayer keeps you through the messes. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because your rod and your staff, they comfort me. It's always a walking through. It's not a stopping in, it's a walking through that valley of the shadow of death. 

Ash picks this up. When it comes to verse six, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Ash says, nothing has changed. The many thousands have set themselves, as in battle array, all around him, intensifying the threat with encirclement. There is no way out. And yet, everything has changed. All around him is danger, and yet all around him is his father's shield. And so he sleeps unafraid. 

You see, the confidence that we have in our God produces that comfort that we have in God, represented here by a good night's sleep, and the courage that we manifest for God. 

so that if they do throw legislation our way, we ought to say, with David, in Psalm 3.6, I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who have set themselves against me all around. We should hear echoes in Paul's words in Romans 8.31, if God is for us, who can be against us? Or Jesus teaching in Luke 18, the importunate widow. If that unjust judge, who didn't fear God nor regarded man, gave the verdict to that woman, what's Jesus... implication or conclusion. Therefore, shall not God avenge his own elect who cry to him day and night? If this importunate widow gets her verdict from an unjust judge who doesn't regard God or men, if that unjust judge is gonna give it to her, shall not God avenge his own elect who cry to him day and night? 

The obvious answer, brethren, is yes, he shall. He will, he is covenanted to, David understands this. 

Now David moves finally into petition. Specific request in the midst of these things. And it's very clear, the petition is verse 7a, arise, oh Lord, save me, oh my God. That takes less than a second to say. Let's just give it a second. That's good praying, brethren. That's good praying. Well, it wasn't 20 minutes. The pastoral prayer in churches is called the long prayer. The long prayer. This ain't a long prayer, but it's an effective prayer. It's very quick, it's very succinct, it's very short, and it pretty much speaks to everything going on in David's life, doesn't it? Save me, arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. 

Pool gives this gloss, arise, bestir thyself on my behalf and be no longer as an idle spectator of my enemies. Come to my aid, Lord. Absalom, my son, has rebelled against me. Come to my aid, Lord Jesus in Gethsemane. Jesus, on the cross, Father, into your hand I commit my spirit, praying the very Psalter itself. 

So the petition is very brief, very concise, very clear, and one we don't need a lot of explanation of. Arise, oh Lord, save me, oh my God. It's not tough to understand, is it? Save me, save my kingdom, save my bacon, save my family, save my life, save me, God, arise, please, come to my aid. But note the precedent that the petition is founded upon. The precedent, something in the backdrop. That's verse eight, or verse 7b. For you have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone, you have broken the teeth of the ungodly. You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone, you have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

It's usually at times like these that people say, you know, this is where we got to be suspicious of some of these psalms. You know, that just sounds pretty vicious. To suggest that God smites on the cheekbone and God smashes teeth? It's not the popular image that we have of God, is it? We prefer the older grandfatherly fellow with a cane and with a long beard and only doling out good things to everybody.

Where does David steal his soul? The past judgment of God. the vindication of God and of God's people in history. Look at the language. The first part deals with contempt. You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You see it used in a contemptuous way in Job 16.10. First Kings 22.24. Now Zedekiah, the son of Canaanah, went near and struck Micah on the cheek and said, which way did the Spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you? Micah 5 uses it as well. We see that with the Savior standing before the Sanhedrin when they slap him on the face. It's a condemned, it's a striking on the cheekbone. And that's precisely what he is saying God does, for you have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. That kind of contempt, that kind of derision. connected with what we see in Psalm 2, Psalm 2.4, he who sits in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold them in derision, then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure.

See, for David, these weren't things to be avoided. These were things to ground your petitions on. The past judgment of God over his enemies is the present buoy for the soul in the midst of hardship and affliction and difficulty. So not only do you smite them on the cheekbone, but notice what he goes on to say there in verse eight, or verse seven. You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. The enemies here are viewed as wild beasts. And think about it. Think about wild beasts and their strength in the teeth. I looked at Google or AI, I don't even know what I'm doing now. I think it was AI. How much is the average weight of a lion? They can get up to like 500 pounds. That's not average, that's high end. Bears, three to 500. Grizzly, up to 700. Brethren, I'm not suggesting this in any other way than to say, I wouldn't fear wrestling with a lion as much I still wouldn't welcome it, but I wouldn't fear it as much if he didn't have those long fangs and those claws by which he grabs me, pulls me down, bites me, and then kicks on me to rip flesh. That the psalmist uses this for the enemies of God? is altogether appropriate. You see this convention. You see this used elsewhere.

I don't want to take us too far afield, but notice what he says. You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. See how that works with reference to the petition? Verse 7a, Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. Why do I offer up this petition? Because I've seen it in the past. I've seen it in the past. I've seen you strike my enemies on the cheekbone. I have seen you break the teeth of the ungodly. The enemies are viewed as wild beasts whose strength is in their teeth, and God Most High is able to break those teeth, to shatter those teeth, to defang the enemies of Yahweh, to defang the enemies of His Christ.

Notice as well the comfort for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in a present calamity is the past faithfulness with an emphasis on vindictive justice on the part of God. I would suggest that the promised destruction of the enemies of God, as furnished by past evidences of God's destruction of his enemies, are supposed to actually be a comfort to the church.

See, this is where we apply the Psalter to Jesus, and then we start to, well, how could he cry down plagues and curses upon his enemies? because it's biblical to cry down plagues and curses on your enemies, as long as they're God's enemies. As I've said many times, I get cut off on Wellington. I don't invoke an imprecatory psalm to destroy that car. But we're with David in Psalm 139. Do I not hate those who hate thee, O Lord? The psalm that celebrates the divinity of the omnipresent, omniscient God who knits us together in our mother's wombs ends on, do I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord?

This is not confined in the Psalter. It's not absent from the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 16, 22. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, that's too bad. I hope it all works out for him. No, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Let him be damned to hell. What about Galatians 1, 6 to 9? If another comes and preaches another gospel, which is no gospel, let him be damned to hell. What about 2 Timothy chapter 4, Alexander the coppersmith did me much hard, may the Lord repay him. What about 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, when the apostle says it's right with God to pay back with vengeance those who trouble you. What about the souls underneath the altar in Revelation chapter 6, how long oh Lord till you avenge our blood. with a fourfold hallelujah in Revelation 19 after the whore and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. What's the resounding theme in heaven? Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Brethren, the past judgments of God and the fact that he defeats his enemies serves as a present reminder that when we pray, arise, O Lord, and save me, he can do it. Perhaps as the people of God in the church in the 21st century, maybe, maybe it might help us to reflect occasionally on the teeth-destroying God of unrivaled power and perfect justice. to perhaps pray the Lord's Prayer in a way consistent with what we see of God as portrayed in this altar. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I know that in heaven there's not abortion clinics. In heaven there's not sexual perversion funded by the civil state. I know there's no maid in heaven.

Brethren, let us pray that God brings judgment upon his enemies. And if that sounds, you know, revolutionary, this is what David is doing. This is what David's anti-type, Christ, does. This is what the Bible says. Arise, O Lord, save me. Why? Because I know it's in you to do it. You've smitten in the past on the cheekbone, and you've destroyed the teeth of those who are ravening wolves. Or back to our illustration, bears and lions. Brethren, this is praying. This is what it should be like. And then he ends in terms of the foundation. So the petition comes in verse seven. We've got the request, we've got the precedent. And then the foundation ultimately of his prayer, of his psalm is verse eight. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people. the exact contrast of what he's being attacked with. Look back at verse 2, because it's been 20 minutes since we saw it. Many are they who say of me, there is no help for him in God. How does he end the psalm? Salvation belongs to God. Just like in Revelation chapter 7, when they're praising before the throne, what do they say? Salvation belongs to the Lord our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne. 

David understands what side his bread is buttered. He understands that salvation belongs to the Lord. This is an emphasis throughout the Bible. Remember the prophet Jonah. What does he learn after his time with the great fish? Salvation is of the Lord. What does Hannah rejoice in? Godly Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. God is my salvation. What about Mary and Luke? What does she say? I rejoice in God, my salvation. This is everything for the people of God, the salvation of God. 

And then he goes on with reference to verse 8, your blessing is upon your people. This affirms what he's already suggested in verse 3, God's our shield. God is our glory, God is our lifter up of the head. Paul affirms this in spades in Ephesians 1, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. As a result of God most high and his many blessings, we have the spirit who seals and guarantees us to that final inheritance. 

God is the God of salvation. God is the God of blessing. God is the God of Psalm 3. And this is what steals the soul of David in the midst of hardship and affliction and trial and difficulty. I just want to end with a couple of quick thoughts. 

First, the pattern in the life of David. David is described in Scripture as a man after God's own heart. a man after God's own heart. Surely, you'd think that if you had that sort of special parking spot, it would only ever be good. No, it wasn't always good. He's out in the fields right now, when he writes Psalm 3, because his own son took his kingdom away. Again, that's something I don't, I can't enter into that. I just can't. Can't enter into what we're reading about on a regular basis from Mayan Mar. Just can't experientially, existentially, I can't relate. But I think it's bad. And with David, it was bad. He had afflictions, he had hardships, he had trials, he had difficulties. 

But he had this constant conviction of a protecting and sovereign God in the midst of it. Samuel Pierce says, when any say there is no help for us in God, that we are hypocrites, that we are so and so, look to the Lord. Confess to his praise that he is your shield, your glory, your protector and the lifter up of your head. In other words, it's gonna happen to you too. That affliction, that hardship, that difficulty, what do we do when it comes? We imitate David. We find our hope and confidence in the blessed God. 

As well, this produces in him a prayerful spirit. Men always ought to pray and not lose heart, Luke 18.1. How many times do we lose heart without prayer? How many times do we reject or resist or neglect prayer? Well, I know I should pray more. I know I should read the Bible more. I know I should come to church more. I know that that would help me fundamentally to deal with my afflictions and hardships and trials.

Well, why don't you do it? Do you ever just kind of get frustrated? You know, we all have those moments in our lives where we just realize at some foundational level we gotta get it together. We just gotta get it together. Might be financially. I've been spending like a sailor on shore leave. I gotta get better. We all come to that place, don't we? We can't walk upstairs without wheezing. So we realize, you know what, I'm gonna start walking around the block a few times. We all gotta get it together.

Well, here it is, is the older brother and nagging father. When it comes to the things of God, we all have to get it together and keep it together. Where does your help come in affliction? If you're waiting for somebody else to come and deliver you, you're gonna have a long wait. It happens. It does happen. But brethren, we find our comfort, our solace, our shield, our glory, our lifter up of the head in God Almighty.

David is able to say in the midst of his life, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, and he's able to say at the end of his life, and the king took an oath and said, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress. That's what David's consistent report was. 2 Samuel 4, when everything's going wonderfully. 1 Kings 1, at the end of his life, when he's about to breathe his last. What was his constant refrain? God's delivered me. God's kept me. God's preserved me. God has strengthened me through my adversity and through my distress.

Brethren, it is the means that God has afforded for our spiritual good to be in Scripture, to be singing the Psalms, to be praying the Psalms, to be praying to God, to find our joy in who God is. And that's the second thing we learn, the power of the living God, who He is in His being. He is our shield. He is our glory. He is our lifter up of the head and who he is in terms of his power. He not only protects his people, but he does that by destroying his enemies. He crushes their teeth. He smites them on the cheekbone. He knocks them down. He destroys them.

Again, the church is at a place in our day and age where instead of shrinking back from the imprecations of David, we should be embracing that. We should be rejoicing in this God. We should be musing on the reality of II Thessalonians 1 when Paul says, isn't it right for God to repay with affliction those who trouble you? Of course it is. With the souls under the altar, how long, O Lord, till you avenge our blood? We don't shrink back from scripture, we rejoice in it. We pray it back to God.

And then I would suggest thirdly, there is something in this psalm again that points us to our Lord Jesus Christ. I would suggest first the incarnation of the son. We've already seen that. The Son, promised, the anointed that sits on the throne in Psalm 2 is a son of God. Not a son by creation, not a son by adoption, but a son by nature. He is begotten by the Father, Psalm 2.7. That Psalm 1 man is a man. The Son of God, Psalm 2, 7, is the man who took on our humanity. This is all reflected in John's Gospel. John 1, 1, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God, and that Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

So the incarnation of the Son is assumed in Psalm 3. He's going to have enemies. He's going to be set upon. He's going to be opposed. He's going to be resisted. And dare I say, he's going to die.

Notice in verse five, sleep is oftentimes euphemistically used in scripture with reference to death. I don't think it's a stretch to apply verses five and six to our Lord. I lay down and slept. Jesus in the incarnation assumes our humanity, he's surrounded by enemies, he's opposed by the world, the multitudes raise their fist against Yahweh and against his Christ, he's delivered up to die on the cross and he lay down and slept.

But notice the resurrection from the dead in verse 5b, I awoke for the Lord sustained me. Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. I lay down my life and I take it up again.

So the psalmist here, again, typifying our Lord Jesus in the incarnation, He lives, He dies, He's raised again, but then in connection to what we saw in Psalm 2, the exaltation of the Son.

So in Psalm 2, when the nations rage and the people plot of vain things against Yahweh and against His Christ, what does Yahweh do? He stations His Son at His right hand. He holds them in derision. He laughs at them. He keeps them in contempt and scorn.

But what happens with the Savior at the right hand of the Father? Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the outermost parts of the earth for your possession.

Isn't exaltation followed? We've got death, verse 5. We've got resurrection, verse 5. And then we've got exaltation, verse 6. I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who have set themselves against me all around.

So let the nations rage, let the peoples plot a vain thing. They're not gonna cast Jesus off his throne. They're not gonna stop the triumph of the kingdom of our blessed Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned at the right hand of God most high, says, this is true of me. The Father has given me the nations, go therefore and make disciples of all of them.

The triumph of the Son is ultimately seen in the way that he breaks the teeth of the world, the flesh, the devil, and ultimately death itself. Verses 5 and 6 are about Messiah. So is 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. But in particular, we've got the incarnate son who lay down, was awoken because God sustained him, and exalted to the right hand where there's no fear of the multitudes that seek to oppose his rule and reign.

And if you're not a believer here this morning, I want to encourage you to look to Jesus Christ. Because what the psalmist says about the enemies of God is true for the enemies of God. You will be smitten on the cheekbone. Your teeth will be shattered. There will be a defeat on that day. Make no mistake about it. We saw that in Psalm 2.

Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. That's where blessing is. That's where salvation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for Psalm 3. We thank you for all that it tells us about our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that you would indeed encourage us, help us to learn from the life of David, help us to find that comfort and confidence in who you are and what you've done, what you do, what you've promised to do. May these things encourage the church as a whole to have that comfort and that courage to glorify and honor you. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.