Peace in the Storms of Life - Psalm 3 (Psalms 3)

2:23So, that's what I'm doing, and I do intend a lot of these to be focused on God's salvation and what he's doing in the earth. So, Psalm 3. Why don't we commit this time to the Lord and just jump right in? Heavenly Father, we just recognize that the book of Psalms contains so much of your inspired words from the rising from the pains that. Agonies and perplexities and difficulties and joys and celebrations of this earth. Father, in the Psalms, we find just the whole range of human emotions. And so, Father, I just pray that you would open up this particular Psalm to us tonight as we begin our journey, that you would be exalted, that you would be glorified, that the truths that were written down by David would find resonance within our souls and would cause us to look upwards and cry out to you. And all this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. So, Psalm 3.

3:45I'll just read it here. I'll put it up on the overhead. And probably won't be able to read it, but we'll break it down in a little bit. Psalm 3, the Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. 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. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept. I awoke again. The Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people. So, the Psalm, I just see a theme here about how to have peace in the midst of the storms of life. But the Psalm, really, a couple of things, just looking at it from a large perspective. First, it's a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. So, there's a whole history happening there, and I'm not going to go into it, but I can say this: that David's kingdom had risen in revolt against him, or at least a large portion of it. David fled from Absalom his son. And so, all the difficulties, all the perplexities, all the pains, all the agonies that went along with that on so many levels. And it's important to understand that also David at that time, he had not been a good husband. He should have stayed with one wife.

6:00Instead, he chose to marry and marry and marry and marry and marry. And of course, he wasn't as bad as his son Solomon, but he wasn't a good husband. Second thing, he wasn't a good father. And I know it's somewhat shocking to say about the sweet psalmist of Israel, but sure enough, David would not qualify to be a pastor of a church by biblical standards. And yet God used him so many ways, and certainly God's grace and blessing was upon him despite his failures. But he was largely not a good husband, not a good father, and not a good king at times. And this bred a bunch of rebellion, and he was receiving much of the consequences of his own sowing, the fruits of his own sowing. He reaped what he sowed, and so in this particular episode of life, he was fleeing from his son Absalom, who rose in revolt against him.

7:18Second element of this psalm to point out is there are three Selahs. One, two, three. Selah, Selah, Selah. And what the psalmist is saying. Is stop and think about this. Take a pause. And so, what we will do is we will break this psalm down into those three portions: Selah, Selah, Selah. And we'll look at each thought, pause, and move on. Okay, so first is the first two verses: O Lord, how many are my foes? Word for foes, enemies, adversaries, afflictions, those around me. How many are my foes? Many are rising up against me.

8:14That's the picture of this rising tide of distress, rising up and overwhelming David. So you get this picture. We just had a bunch of Houston floods, right? You've seen some pictures of water rising up, floods reaching unprecedented levels. And you see there are many pictures of people stranded. And well, you get this picture in your mind of this rising tide of distresses that are just coming up and over David. Adversaries, adversaries. If you look at them, look at what they're doing. There's this rising tide of distresses. Yes. In context, we're talking about physical enemies, but these enemies are also enemies of soul. There are all kinds of perplexities going on, and certainly as we relate it to our circumstances, there are many things that rise against our souls. There are distresses. You can't go through life without encountering just a lot of distresses. But look at what they're doing. Many are saying, Of my soul. Look at what they're doing. They are tormenting. They are taunting David's soul. These distresses, these adversaries that are rising up are speaking directly to the core of David's being. They are taunting. They are tormenting his soul.

9:55And all of these distresses are aimed at one lie. One lie. You see it there at the end of 2nd verse 2? There is no salvation for him in God. They are telling my soul there is no salvation. And the word there is Yeshua, the word we get Jesus, Joshua. There is no salvation for his soul. This guy has gone too far, even this. God is not going to help him now. David, you've crossed the line. David, God Himself is against you. There is no salvation for you at all.

10:48That's the lie. You look around as you go through life. You are going to meet these often find yourself in circumstances and sometimes seemingly overwhelming at times, this rising tide of distresses aimed at one lie. There's no help for you and God. God Himself cannot help you or will not help you. Single lie. You know, my wife and I were out for a walk this afternoon just talking about this. And we're talking about this phenomenon that seems to be quite frequent now. Pastors committing suicide.

11:46Getting so overwhelmed. Pastors distressed to the point of taking their own life. Those who minister to those who are depressed, and we see, we look. Live in a culture now of depressed people with all of our advances, with all of our so-called breakthroughs. We seem to be more depressed than we've ever been as a society. And these depressions, where it's aimed at one lie, there is no salvation for you and God. There is no reason to go on living.

12:32End it now. There's no salvation. There is no better day. And that's the lie that just keeps being driven into the minds of our society. There is no help for them. There is no salvation for you and God. And that's where depression is going to take you. When you start looking at overwhelming circumstances and you start thinking about, okay, I can't get, how am I going to get? And even God Himself is against me. And then you won't turn to God.

13:13And so, what David can do right here in this situation, he can go down one or two routes. He can believe the lie or he can look to the one who speaks the truth. So, and I've just written down a few exhortational thoughts here, but how do you have peace in the storms of life? They're certainly going to come. Well, number one, expect a lie. Expect a lie. The storms of life are going to start promoting a lie. There's no help for you and God. There's no Yeshua for you. There's no salvation.

14:12Shift gears here. That's the need. Anyone want to add to that? Comment. Surely the world we live in, right? Let's go on to the next Silah. Pause and think. So, if we've seen in the first couple verses a head being overcome by a tide of distresses, in the second two verses, we see this head rising above the tide of distresses. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me. You, O Lord. Many are saying to my soul, there's no help, but you, O Lord. Are a defense, a shield. The idea here: around me, about me. And really, this, you are all around me. You are before me. You are behind me. You are around me. You are after me. You are beside me. You are between me. You get the picture. What the enemies are saying contradicts the reality of who God is. You are a shield. You are a defense in, around, by, in between. You are between me and my adversaries.

15:43And what's interesting about this is keep in mind, David's distresses, a lot of them, were brought on by himself, right? This isn't just, like, we're not just dealing with a situation here where, okay, here's David just doing everything right, doing everything wonderful, minding his own business, and all of a sudden, this great. No, there's a lot of personal failures in David in this. Part of what he is experiencing is, to a large degree, his fault. And sometimes in those situations, we will be like, okay, yeah, there's no help because really I blew it. And so now I'm to blame. I have failed.

16:30But here's David. He's like, okay, even in the midst of all of my failures and the part that I own in this, here is David saying, but you, O Lord, are a shield about me. That's the truth. You are my glory, and you are the lifter of my head. So here's the truth. When you want to have peace in the storms of life, first of all, you need to expect to lie. Second, you need to believe the truth. God is our protector, God is our significance. You are my glory. You are my honor. You are the weighty one in my life. You are what matters. You are my identity, my significance.

17:28And you are my hope. You are the one causing the lifting of my head. You are causing my head. You are the lifter of my head. And so you see this rising tide of distresses promoting the single lie that would just certainly overwhelm the psalmist. And then you see this head rising above. And so it is affirming that truth, believing. That truth that then leads the psalmist not to despair but to pray. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Listen, God answers prayer, he is the God who saves.

18:22And when you hear that voice, or those voices, or that chorus of voices, or that drumbeat of choruses, that is just hammering in your mind, there is no help for you in God. You say, ah, God is a shield about me. He wants me to cry aloud to him. He is the God who saves. And so the psalmist cries aloud to the Lord, and the Lord answered because he's the God who answers prayer. And so this takes us to kind of that high point in the Psalm. Psalms kind of go in a chiastic structure. Sometimes the emphasis, the main element that is happening is right there in the middle. And so here the psalmist cries aloud to the Lord, and then everything changes. Everything changes. Look at what he says.

19:23I lay down. I'll go on and I lay down and slept. I'll think. About that for a second. So we go from this rising tide of distresses to this head lifting above, crying out to God. God answers him, and it is in that answer that there's rest. God is the one who answers, and you see this psalmist. Now you see this soul at peace. Okay? And you think about this, it has historical roots. What does David do?

20:02I slept. I fled. I was cursed. I got out of town, left my kingdom, and I went and I went and slept. You see the peace that came over his soul. Listen, it is otherworldly, this kind of peace, in this kind of situation. And inevitably, you're going to face difficulties and situations, and many of them will be brought about by your own stubbornness and hardness of heart. And yet, even then, you are to cry aloud to God who saves. There is salvation in no one else.

20:56But I lay down and I slept. You see, just this soul. At peace. You know why he's at peace? Because he's resting in the truth. So when you encounter these storms of life, in order to have peace, you need to expect a lie, you need to believe the truth, and then you need to rest in the truth. I lay down and I slept and I woke again. You know why I woke again? For the Lord sustains me. The Lord sustained me.

21:35He upholds. He is sustaining me. And so I awakened. He is sustaining me. And then look at what he says. Not only you see this soul at peace, this soul at peace can sleep, can trust, but second, a soul at peace does not despair. Look at what he said, verse 6. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. I'm not going to despair. I'm not going to believe the lie. I'm not going to despair, even if a great number surround me on every side, and even though they arrange themselves in overwhelming proportions against me. Me, I am not going to be afraid because I know that the Lord is my protector in, around, beside, above, beneath, between. He is a shield that totally encompasses me.

22:48So his soul is at peace because he rests in the truth. And so will we. At some point in life, you're just going to have to come to this word and just believe and just rest in it. Take it as truth because it is truth and just let that and then go to sleep. The Lord is going to wake you. He will sustain you. There is help for you and God, and I don't care who you are.

23:25So then, it's not going to be afraid. Now, look at his prayer. Look at this prayer. This prayer for salvation. Okay, the voices are telling him there is no salvation for him in God. And he's saying, oh, yeah, there is. And so he prays, Arise, O Lord. You get up. You take your stand. It's an imperative plea. Lord, you must fight this battle. You must take your stand. Because I cannot. You deliver. You cause victory. Yeshua, you Yeshua me.

24:19You deliver me, my God. You arise. You take your stand. And this is a prayer for salvation for himself. Save me, O my God. And look at God. And he prays for salvation from God's enemies. For you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Now, that's an interesting description. What an interesting prayer here, right? Arise, O Lord, save me. Okay, so you get the distresses. They're overwhelming. There are these voices. There is no salvation for you, in God. It says, oh yeah, rise, O Lord, save me, and strike all my enemies on the cheek.

25:17You break the teeth, and you cause their teeth to be shattered. You break into pieces. Wrong. You know, you think about this. If, and I have seen on an occasion when somebody is opening their mouth and saying something they shouldn't say, and a parent reaches across the room, pow! And it usually silences them, right? Something that wasn't me, by the way, that did that, or had it done to me. But sometimes when people, seen the occasion when somebody is saying something so offensive that there's this knee-jerk response, just to, or I should say, open-palm response to slap them across the face. Silence! You should not speak like that, right?

26:19And so you hear that the language is strong. You strike all the enemies on the cheek, and the word is, you have smitten, you have struck to pieces the jawbone of my adversaries and the teeth of the wicked you have put into a state of brokenness and destruction, smashed, shattered. Now, why do you think he's talking about jawbone and teeth of the wicked? What are they saying? There is no salvation for you in God. They'll never say that again. In fact, I'm not going to say anything, right? That's the picture right here. He silences the lie, he silences the lie.

27:29And then the truth. The truth emerges. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord. That's who he is. That's what he does. Yeshua belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people. So he prays. He prays for himself, save me. And that salvation is from God's enemies, from the lie. Rise, O Lord, deliver, and may those voices be permanently silenced. That says there is no salvation for you and God. So cry to the Lord. I don't care what the perplexity is, I don't care what the difficulty is, whether it's internal issues, internal sin, whether it's difficult situations on the Outside, whether it's circumstances, whatever that may be, the circumstances in life are to drive us to cry out to the Lord that we might not just hear about his salvation, but that we might experience his salvation day in, day out, that we come to know by second nature God is the one we go to in whatever circumstances that distress us, and they themselves become opportunities, issues, or catalysts for us to be in closer union with the God who saves. And it is significant that the name here over and over is Yeshua, Yeshua, Yeshua. Of course, God's ultimate answer is sending Christ.

29:27That is his ultimate expression of salvation for his people and the blessing that is upon his people. Take a look at the cross. Never, ever doubt again that he is the Lord who saves, and he saves all who come to him. But you look at this verse, the end of it. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon the people. This is the truth that is in opposition to the lie, right? What is the lie?

30:09Chapter 2, I mean, verse 2, there is no salvation for him in God. And the psalmist takes us through this experience that he goes, he cries aloud, and he experiences God's salvation, and then he settles, salvation belongs to the Lord. No, there is, and then your blessing be upon your people. They say that the lie is there is no salvation. And the truth is, oh, yes, there is. And one day all those voices will be silenced.

30:45Say the opposite. Any thoughts? Any applications? Anything that somebody wants to add to? We've got a few minutes. Yes, sir. I think this psalm shows what we, as you said, what we see in society, but more specifically when society pushes God away, then they start to see a lack of purpose for living, which leads to a lack of respect for life, which leads to that notice that we see both in the unborn, the old, and in between with suicide rates. You can see that in Europe, more specifically, but happening in America and other places. And the answer for that problem is the same thing, the same conclusion David gets to, which is what he's the same, like the focus on the Lord. Salvation. And that is the truth that drives you away from a purposeless life, a meaningless life, a meaninglessness for others' lives as well.

31:42Very clear. Yeah. Yeah, if there is no God or He's distant, or we think that if we start believing the lie that there is no salvation for you in God, then we're left to these circumstances on our own, and they can be very overwhelming and distressing. And people just seem to be putting random periods at their lives through suicide because they somehow buy into this lie. There is no hope, there is no better days, and yet that goes completely contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture and the biography of Christ. So good, thank you.

32:26Other thoughts? Yes? Do you want to comment on the placement of this psalm? It's so close to the beginning, as a reason for that. Yeah, thank you. I didn't start at Psalm 1 or Psalm 2. Those are what usually happens when people start working their way through psalms. They start at 1, and then they go through 1, they go through 2, and then those get played a lot, and then we don't progress. And I had recently taught on those in Sunday school. But yes, I think that. The placement is significant because Psalm 1 begins with, who is the blessed man?

33:06Who is the blessed man? The one who delights. What? Yeah, he does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his Lord, he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree that's planted by water, that bears fruit, right? So there's this whole picture of what is the godly individual, what is their lifestyle, who are they listening to? They're letting the Word of God shape their lives. And then Psalm 2, you get the whole picture of the king. God has established the nation's rage. It opens up, and it's a picture of Christ, or it's God's Son. He has established his king. And nations, you need to be wise and bow down and serve the Son. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry with you and you perish along the way. So God has established his king. So the blessed man is the one who listens to the word of God, is shaped by the word of God. That shapes his thinking.

34:17And Psalm 2, yes, God has established his king. His king will rule. Nations pay attention to that. And certainly, as David comes into Psalm 3, he knows. God has promised. And I think there is a connection to that. Number one, he's been shaped by the Word of God, despite all his failures and all of his failings of the flesh. He is very much a follower of God, a listener to God, being shaped by God. And he responds appropriately when confronted with his sin. And so when these distresses come upon him, he playing on those psalms that have gone before, he knows what the Word of God says. And he also knows that God has made a promise to him personally.

35:10God has established his Davidic covenant. And so I do think there is a connection there. But certainly, there are a lot of general principles that we can derive from this applicable not just to David and his kingship, but those who are in Christ and belong to Christ. So yeah, I do think the placement is significant. So thank you. Other thoughts? Yes, ma'am. But it's interesting that he says both that he's blood and that he will go up against and when they're anxious against the practice Very good. Good observation.

36:09I got the first part of it. Yeah, you don't sleep when you're anxious, but yeah, you don't get up when you're depressed. Yeah, very good. Very good. Yeah. Yes, sir. Comment on in verse 7 when you mentioned the imperative that he has there, save me, O God. Just when I've read the Psalms, that's all over the place. Is that something to be emulated or sometimes or a negative? No, I think what you have here, you have a Hebrew imperative, and it's like if you just heard it, you'd think he's commanding God, but this is a prayerful plea. It's like, God, it's a desperation. You must. So, yes, I think we are to emulate this. We're not, this isn't just like a command of just, it's not an irreverent command. It is definitely an earnest.

37:30Desperate plea, and so I would say yes. In other words, because that's kind of always what I mean. You know, it's in a lot of Psalms as well: rise up to the Lord. And so in the Hebrew, it's an understood like desperate, please rise up. Yeah, well, I mean, the soul is being tormented, the soul is being lied to, and so salvation from enemies is a real salvation that we need to cry out for. Yeah, we want God to put now, of course, in the context of following Christ and loving your enemies, it's like we still want the lies put down. We still do not want the wicked to reign.

38:27And we do want their power broken. We want them saved. We want them in James. So, yeah, I know the precatory Psalms, you'll see David calling down curses on his enemies. But I certainly think to answer your question is that, yes, we are to have these earnest pleas. And in this context, I certainly think what he's saying is, yes, please save. You must save, or all is lost. And part of that is putting down the enemies.

39:08So does that help, Pat? Okay. Sorry. Yes, Mama. Just liking to if one of your children was in the pool and started drowning and said, Daddy, save me, that's sort of what that is. Yes, yes. You know, I'm going to go in under with them. Right, right. And if Big Brother is drowning little sister and she's saying, save me, you come in and get little brother off me, you know? You know, so I think in, and salvation is, and as you walk through, salvation is not just, well, let me just, salvation is from everything that harms the soul. The soul, the salvation needs to be, it's complete. It's total. We need to be saved from, we need to be saved to. You know, we need to be saved from our enemies. We need to be saved from ourselves. We need to be saved to God.

40:10And so salvation is a very multifaceted grace. And ultimately, we will be saved from everything that harms, torments our soul. And so that's the picture of salvation. And enemies, yes, the wicked. There will be a time when the wicked will, when their power will be completely broken. That's what Judgment Day. Judgment Day is really a day with the separation is really a day of salvation. Salvation from the harassment of those who hate God, from the Cains, who beat up the Abels, who destroy the Abels. And such were some of us. And so while we have life, we proclaim the good news so that people aren't taken captive by this lie. There's no salvation for you and God.

41:18That's the lie, and it is destroying lives. But we know better. There is salvation for you at every degree in God. So cry out to him. Keep crying out to him. He will answer. That's the truth. He does care. He made you. He loves you. He's got you here today. That's the truth. And let that. So if you want to have peace in the storms of life, expect a lie, believe the truth, rest in the truth, and pray in confidence. Any other thoughts? Got one more minute, and we'll. Yes, sir. You know, these days it's kind of hard for us to identify with David and the tribulation and the persecution he went through. Here in America, you know, part of the fact that we have all that many enemies trying to tear us down the way David did. What are some ways we can apply this? You know, in other words, I might tend to skip over a psalm like this and go, wow, this guy's really in trouble. I just kind of want to thank I read these psalms where David is being persecuted.

42:41Well, because it's in the Bible. I guess my question is an application to this apart from him being persecuted by physical people or yeah yes and I believe that there are a rising tide of distresses as I said if you take the foes and these are talking about sometimes that word can be used as afflictions or adversaries there are certain circumstances and distresses that come against us from all sides and they are aimed at promoting a lie and that is there is no help for you in God and so yeah I think this has far more broad speaking the broad principle goes beyond Militants against us, trying to take us down, but brings us face to face with a whole nother myriad of forces that surround us and tell us there is no help for us in God. And that can be philosophies, that can be feelings of guilt over sin, that could be over depression, that could be over the internal thoughts that we beat ourselves up with. So I think all of those ultimately find application here. And so it becomes a very real, tangible, touchable, personal psalm to all of us. Because I think we all go through those times where we start hearing, well, you can't turn to God. You've blown it this day. You're out of it. And so, yes, I think there's broader application. Anyone else see brought yes?

44:27Three of Psalm 4, our grandmother's psalm. And this is probably pretty picky, but many, many times over the telephone, I have read particularly verse 5 to a grandchild that suffered greatly with night terrors and going to sleep and not wanting to. And then with that always, Psalm 4, where it says, I will lie down in peace and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, can dwell in the same thing. I just think those are important verses for children that do have fears. Very good. So, mark that in your Bible. This is a good one for a child who is afraid at night. And so, yeah, that's a very good truth right there out of Scripture. Just go to sleep. The Lord is going to sustain you. Cry to Him, and He will answer. I saw another hand, and then we'll. Yes, ma'am.

45:31I'm sorry, the what? The horrors of being separated from God. And I think that's the thing we struggle with. I think, does God really love? Does God really love me? Does God really, you know, or are we just an extra can of 25-cent paint on the palate and he was really trying to go after something else? He had to be here this morning. But anyway, yes, I think we hear that all the time. The horrors of being separated. And the horrors and the lies that, okay, you're not in God's favor. You're somehow out of it.

46:26Yeah, yes, you are. That's what Christ is all about. Cry out to him. Okay, well, let's thank you for the conversation. Let's pray. Lord, we do thank you that you are the God who has allowed circumstances to rise up against us, even circumstances that have been brought about by our own sin and our own failure. You have allowed such circumstances to point us to you, to try our hearts to see if we would believe the lie or believe the truth and turn and cry out to you, there is salvation in you. Father, there may be people here tonight who have never put their faith and trust in you, and at this very moment they are outside of your grace. They are outside of saving faith. They're not beyond being saved, if they will turn. And so I pray tonight, Father, that if they have believed that there is no salvation for them in God, that they would turn right now, confess their sin to you, and ask you to come into their lives and take reign.

47:46So, Father, I'm going to give a moment here just to pause and let all of us lift up our prayers and our cries of salvation to you right now. Lord, have mercy upon all of us. Thank you for your promise of being our deliverer. Go with us in the truth. Go with us in your grace, and let us joyfully just walk behind you. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. You're dismissed.