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Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 3:1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Psalm 3:1-8 ANOTHER pair of psalms follows the two of the Introduction. They are closely connected linguistically, structurally, and in subject. The one is a morning, the other an evening hymn, and possibly they are placed at the beginning of the earliest psalter for that reason. Ewald and Hitzig accept the Davidic authorship, though the latter shifts the period in David’s life at which they were composed to the mutiny of his men at Ziklag. { 1 Samuel 30:1-31 } Cheyne thinks that "you will find no situation which corresponds to these psalms," though you "search the story of David’s life from end to end." He takes the whole of the Psalms from 3 to 17, excepting 8, 15, 16, as a group, "the heart utterances of the Church amidst some bitter persecution"-namely, "the period when faithful Israelites were so sorely oppressed both by traitors in their midst and by Persian tyrants" (" Orig. of Psalt. ," pp. 226, 227). But correspondences of the two psalms with David’s situation will strike many readers as being at least as close as that which is sought to be established with the "spiritual kernel of the nation during the Persian domination," and the absence of more specific reference is surely not unnatural in devout song, however strange it would be in prosaic narrative. We do not look for mention of the actual facts which wring the poet’s soul and were peculiar to him, but are content with his expression of his religious emotions, which are common to all devout souls. Who expects Cowper to describe his aberrations of intellect in the "Olney Hymns"? But who cannot trace the connection of his pathetic strains with his sad lot? If ever a seeming reference to facts is pointed out in a so called Davidic psalm, it is brushed aside as "prosaic," but the absence of such is, notwithstanding, urged as an argument against the authorship. Surely that is inconsistent. This psalm falls into four strophes, three of which are marked by Selah. In the first ( Psalm 3:1-2 ) the psalmist recounts his enemies. If we regard this as a morning psalm, it is touchingly true to experience that the first waking thought should be the renewed inrush of the trouble which sleep had for a time dammed back. His enemies are many, and they taunt him as forsaken of God. Surely it is a strong thing to say that there is no correspondence here with David’s situation during Absalom’s revolt. It was no partial conspiracy, but practically the nation had risen against him, " ut totidem fete haberet hostes quot subditos " (Calvin). Shimei’s foul tongue spoke the general mind: "The Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom". { 2 Samuel 16:8 } There had been sin enough in the king’s recent past to give colour to the interpretation of his present calamity as the sign of his being forsaken of God. The conviction that such was the fact would swell the rebel ranks. The multitude has delight in helping to drown a sinking man who has been prosperous. The taunt went deep, for the Hebrew has "to my soul," as if the cruel scoff cut like a knife to the very centre of his personality, and wounded all the more because it gave utterance to his own fears. "The Lord hath bidden him," said David about Shimei’s curses. But the psalmist is finding refuge from fears and foes even in telling how many there are, since he begins his complaint with "Jehovah." Without that word the exclamations of this first strophe are the voice of cowardice or despair. With it they are calmed into the appeal of trust. The Selah which parts the first from the second strophe is probably a direction for an instrumental interlude while the singer pauses. The second strophe ( Psalm 3:3-4 ) is the utterance of faith, based on experience, laying hold of Jehovah as defence. By an effort of will the psalmist rises from the contemplation of surrounding enemies to that of the encircling Jehovah. In the thickest of danger and dread there is a power of choice left a man as to what shall be the object of thought, whether the stormy sea or the outstretched hand of the Christ. This harassed man flings himself out of the coil of troubles round about him and looks up to God. He sees in Him precisely what he needs most at the moment, for in that infinite nature is fulness corresponding to all emptiness of ours. "A shield around me," as He had promised to be to Abraham in his peril; "my glory," at a time when calumny and shame were wrapping him about and his kingdom seemed gone; "the lifter up of my head," sunk as it is both in sadness and calamity, since Jehovah can both cheer his spirit and restore his dignity. And how comes this sudden burst of confidence to lighten the complaining soul? Psalm 3:4 tells. Experience has taught him that as often as he cries to Jehovah he is heard. The tenses in Psalm 3:4 express a habitual act and a constant result. Not once or twice, but as his wont, he prays, and Jehovah answers. The normal relation between him and Jehovah is that of frank communion; and since it has long been so and is so now, even the pressure of present disaster does not make faith falter. It is hard to begin to trust when in the grip of calamity, but feet accustomed to the road to God can find it in the dark. There may be an allusion to David’s absence from sanctuary and ark in Psalm 3:4 . The expectation of being answered "from His holy hill" gains in pathetic force when the lovely scene of submissive sacrifice in which he sent back the Ark is recalled. { 2 Samuel 15:25 } Though he be far from the place of prayer, and feeling the pain of absence, the singer’s faith is not so tied to form as to falter in the assurance that his prayer is heard. Jehovah is shield, glory, and strengthener to the man who cries to Him, and it is by means of such crying that the heart wins the certitude that He is all these. Again the instruments sound and the singer pauses. The third strophe ( Psalm 3:5-6 ) beautifully expresses the tranquil courage which comes from trust. Since sleeping and safe waking again in ordinary circumstances is no such striking proof of Divine help that one in the psalmist’s situation would be induced to think especially of it and to found his confidence on it, the view is to be taken that the psalmist in Psalm 3:5 is contemplating the experience which he has just made in his present situation. "Surrounded by enemies, he was quite safe under God’s protection and exposed to no peril even in the night" (Riehm, in Hupfeld in loc.). Surely correspondence with David’s circumstances may be traced here. His little band had no fortress in Mahanaim, and Ahithophel’s counsel to attack them by night was so natural that the possibility must have been present to the king. But another night had come and gone in safety, disturbed by no shout of an enemy. The nocturnal danger had passed, and day was again brightening. They were safe because the Keeper of Israel had kept them. It is difficult to fit this verse into the theory that here the persecuted Israelitish Church is speaking, but it suits the situation pointed to in the superscription. To lie down and sleep in such circumstances was itself an act of faith, and a sign of the quiet heart which faith gives. Like Christ on the hard wooden "pillow" during the storm, or like Peter sleeping an infant’s sleep the night before his purposed execution, this man can shut his eyes and quiet himself to slumber, though "ten thousands have set themselves against him." They ring him round, but cannot reach him through his shield. Psalm 3:6 rises to bold defiance, the result of the experience in Psalm 3:5 . How different the tone of reference to the swarms of the enemy here and in Psalm 3:1 ! There the psalmist was counting them and cowering before them; here their very number is an element in his triumphant confidence. Courage comes from thinking of the one Divine Ally, before whom myriads of enemies are nothing. One man with God to back him is always in the majority. Such courage, based on such experience and faith, is most modest and reasonable, but it is not won without an effort of will, which refuses to fear, and fixes a trustful gaze not on peril, but on the protector. "I will not be afraid" speaks of resolve and of temptations to fear, which it repels, and from "the nettle danger plucks the flower" trust and the fruit safety. Selah does not follow here. The tone of the strophe is that of lowly confidence, which is less congruous with an instrumental interlude than are the more agitated preceding strophes. The last strophe, too, is closely connected with the third, since faith bracing itself against fear glides naturally into prayer. The final strophe ( Psalm 3:7-8 ) gives the culmination of faith in prayer. "Arise, Jehovah," is quoted from the ancient invocation, { Numbers 10:35 } and expresses in strongly anthropomorphic form the desire for some interposition of Divine power. Fearlessness is not so complete that the psalmist is beyond the need of praying. He is courageous because he knows that God will help, but he knows, too, that God’s help depends on his prayer. The courage which does not pray is foolish, and will break down into panic; that which fears enough to cry "Arise, Jehovah," will be vindicated by victory. This prayer is built on experience, as the preceding confidence was. The enemies are now, according to a very frequent figure in the Psalter, compared to wild beasts. Smiting on the cheek is usually a symbol of insult, but here is better taken in close connection with the following "breaking the teeth." By a daring image Jehovah is represented as dealing the beasts of prey, who prowl round the psalmist with open mouth, the buffets which shatter their jaws and dislodge their teeth, thus making them powerless to harm him. So it has been in the past, and that past is a plea that so it will be now. God will be but doing as He has done, if now He "arise." If He is to be true to Himself, and not to stultify His past deliverances, He must save his suppliant now. Such is the logic of faith, which is only valid on the supposition that God’s resources and purpose are inexhaustible and unchangeable. The whole ends with confident anticipation of an answer. "Salvation belongeth unto Jehovah." The full spiritual meaning of that salvation was not yet developed. Literally, the word means "breadth," and so, by a metaphor common to many languages, deliverance as an act, and well-being or prosperity as a state. Deliverance from his enemies is the psalmist’s main idea in the word here. It "belongs to Jehovah," since its bestowal is His act. Thus the psalmist’s last utterance of trust traverses the scoff which wounded him so much ( Psalm 3:2 ), but in a form which beautifully combines affiance and humility, since it triumphantly asserts that salvation is in God’s power, and silently implies that what is thus God’s "to will and do" shall certainly be His suppliant’s to enjoy. Intensely personal as the psalm is, it is the prayer of a king; and rebels as the bulk of the people are ("ten thousands of the people"), they are still God’s. Therefore all are included in the scope of his pitying prayer. In other psalms evil is invoked on evil-doers, but here hate is met by love, and the self-absorption of sorrow counteracted by wide sympathy. It is a lower exemplification of the same spirit which breathed from the lips of the greater King the prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me. Psalm 3 Morning thoughts J. J. S. Perowne. With returning day there comes back on the monarch's heart the recollection of the enemies who threaten him, a nation up in arms against him; his own son heading the rebellion, his wisest and most trusted counsellor in the ranks of his foes ( 2 Samuel 15-17 ). Never, not even when hunted by Saul, had he found his position one of greater danger. The odds are overwhelmingly against him. This is a fact which he does not attempt to hide from himself: "How many are mine enemies." Meanwhile, where are his friends, his army, his counsellors? Not a word of allusion to any of them in the Psalm. Yet he is not crushed, he is not desponding. Enemies may be as thick as leaves of the forest, and earthly friends may be few, or uncertain, or far off. But there is one Friend who cannot fail him, and to Him David turns with a confidence and an affection which lilt him above all his fears. Never had he been more sensible of the reality and preciousness of the Divine protection. If he was surrounded by enemies, Jehovah was his shield. If Shimei and his crew turned his glory into shame, Jehovah was his glory; if they sought to revile and degrade him, Jehovah was the lifter up of his head. Nor did the mere fact of distance from Jerusalem separate between him and his God. He had sent back the ark and the priests, for he knew that God could still hear him from "His holy mountain" ( Psalm 3:4 ), could still lilt up the light of His countenance upon him, and put gladness in his heart ( Psalm 4:6, 7 ). Sustained by Jehovah, he had lain him down and slept in safety; trusting in the same mighty protection, he would lie down again to rest. Enemies might taunt, and friends might fail him, but the victory was Jehovah's, and He could break the teeth of the ungodly (Psalms 3:7,8). ( J. J. S. Perowne. ) A morning hymn A. Maclaren, D. D. The Psalm falls into four strophes; three of which are marked by "Selah." 1. Vers. 1, 2: The Psalmist recounts his enemies. As a morning Psalm this is touchingly true to experience. The first waking thought is often a renewed inrush of the trouble which sleep had for a time dammed back. His enemies are many, and they taunt him as forsaken of God. The Psalmist is finding refuge from fears and foes, even in telling how many there are, since he begins his complaint with "Jehovah." Without that word the exclamations of his first strophe are the voice of cowardice or despair. With it they are calmed into the appeal of trust. The Selah here is probably a direction for an instrumental interlude while the singer pauses. 2. Vers. 3, 4: The utterance of faith, based on experience, laying hold of Jehovah as defence. By an effort of will the Psalmist rises from the contemplation of surrounding enemies to that of the encircling Jehovah. This harassed man flings himself out of the coil of troubles round about him, and looks up to God. He sees in Him precisely what he needs at the moment, for in that infinite nature is fulness corresponding to all emptiness of ours. How comes this sudden burst of confidence to lighten the complaining soul? Ver. 4 tells. Experience has taught him that as often as he cries to Jehovah he is heard. The tenses in ver. 4 express a habitual act and a constant result. 3. Vers. 5, 6 beautifully express the tranquil courage that comes from trust. "Surrounded by enemies, he was quite safe under God's protection, and exposed to no peril even in the night." This suits the situation pointed to in the superscription of the Psalm. 4. Vers. 7, 8 give the culmination of faith in prayer. "Arise, Jehovah" is quoted from the ancient invocation ( Numbers 10:35 ), and expresses in strongly anthropomorphic form the desire for some interposition of Divine power. Fearlessness is not so complete that the Psalmist is beyond the need of praying. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) The number of a man's foes Joseph Parker, D. D. When a man's enemies increase fit number the man should bethink himself, for surely they will not increase without reason. This is a matter which cannot be decided without careful consideration. It is no argument against a man that his enemies are millions strong, nor is it any argument in favour of a man that his friends are at least equal in number. At the same time, it may be spiritually educative and useful to consider why there are so many enemies. Enmity may be founded on jealousy, or envy, or opposition of conviction; or upon assurance that the individual against whom the enmity is directed is pursuing a mischievous course. It is for the man himself to retire within the sanctuary of his own conscience, to discover his moral purpose in everything, and, according as his integrity can be proved to stand fast even in solitude and desolation. But there is a self-analysis that is irreligious. It is conducted upon wrong principles, and the conductor of it is resolved upon self-vindication, rather than upon an absolute discovery of truth, be it on which side it may. It should be remembered, too, that there are some questions which cannot be decided in solitude, the help of social influence is necessary to modify the judgment and chasten the feeling of the inquirer. A second thought arising in this connection is that the very fact of the enemies being all but countless in number may be a tribute to a man's greatness. Armies are not sent to cut down mushrooms or bulrushes. The very magnitude of the host encamped against a man may say without words how great the man is and mighty, and how worthy of being attacked. To leave some men alone is to withhold from them every moral and intellectual tribute. The numbers of a man's enemies may be a tribute to the very greatness which they desire to modify or overthrow. ( Joseph Parker, D. D. ) A soul's complaint to God F. B. Meyer, B. A. I. AN ENUMERATION OF TROUBLE (1, 2). Though God knows all, it relieves the surcharged heart to tell all unto Him. The foes were "many." They quoted his sin as a reason for supposing that God had forsaken him ( 2 Samuel 16:7, 8 ). The word "help" is "salvation," which belongs only unto God. II. AN EXPRESSION OF UNFALTERING TRUST (3, 4). God our shield ( Genesis 15:1 ). It is a good thing to use the voice in prayer as our Lord did. Words keep the heart awake ( Hebrews 5:7 ). III. AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MERCY (5, 6). It was the perfection of trust to be able to sleep under such circumstances. But it is possible ( Mark 4:38 ; Acts 12:6 ). If we are where we should be God will save us, if not from, then in our troubles. IV. AN URGENT ENTREATY. He counts his foes as wild beasts, harmless because their jaws are broken and their teeth dashed out. They may prowl around, but they cannot hurt. ( F. B. Meyer, B. A. ) The great trials of life Homilist. I. A GOOD MAN UNDER GREAT TRIAL. 1. It involved great dangers: the danger of losing his palace, throne, reputation, life. 2. It came from an unlikely source. From his own and favourite son. 3. It was morally deserved. He had committed heinous crimes. His guilty conscience added much to the weight of the trial which now befell him. II. AN ALL-SUFFICIENT FRIEND UNDER GREAT TRIAL. Here Jehovah is presented as — 1. A protecting; 2. A glorifying; 3. A restoring; 4. A prayer hearing; 5. A life-sustaining friend. III. A RIGHT MORAL TEMPER UNDER GREAT TRIAL. Two characteristics in David's temper at this time — (1) courage; (2) prayerfulness.David's whole soul seems to have gone out in this prayer, and in truth all true prayer is earnest. "As a painted fire," says a brilliant old writer, "is no fire, a dead man no man, so cold prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no devotion, no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without edges, as birds without wings. Cold prayers always freeze before they reach heaven. As a body without a soul, much wood without fire, a bullet in a gun without powder, so are words in prayer without fervency of spirit." ( Homilist. ) The via dolorosa E. S. Prout. The title is, "A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son" ( 2 Samuel 15-18 ). I. NONE ARE EXEMPT FROM TROUBLE. The man who sorrows is a king, even David. All meet together in sorrow, for it is the lot of all. II. TROUBLES OFTEN COME IN TROOPS. "How are they increased that trouble me." So was it here with David, and so was it with Job. All sorrows are akin, and hence they come in crowds. III. OUR TROUBLE MAY BE OUR SIN FINDING US OUT. It was so with David here. "The backslider ill heart shall be filled with his own ways." IV. TROUBLE IS APT TO STAGGER OUR FAITH IN GOD. The enemy took advantage of David's troubles, and said to him, "God hath forsaken thee, and left thee." Men in trouble are prone to run into one of two extremes — despair or indifference. We are not to steel our hearts against chastening, for God means that we should feel it; nor, on the other hand, are we to faint. Doubt God's very existence sooner than His mercy. defines suicide to be "a desertion of our post." We are to be like that Roman soldier who stood to his post in the sentry. box at Pompeii, when the scoriae of Mount Vesuvius buried it with the city. V. THE POWER OF SUSTAINING GRACE UNDER AFFLICTION IS HERE SEEN. "I laid me down and slept." There are myriads today who are able to testify of the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. David in flight finds God his Shield and high Tower, though he has but six hundred men. Ahithophel at court, backed by an army of twelve thousand troops, is in despair, and hangs himself. God keep us from unsanctified affliction. ( E. S. Prout. ) The harassed man Homiletic Review. 1. One element of the harassment is multitudinousness of trouble. A characteristic feature of the trouble time with Absalom. 2. Another element is unkind and taunting speech. The cruel scoff — "no help for him in God" — cuts like a knife to the very centre of his personality. 3. Another element is a kind of internal despair. It sounds in the first sentences of the Psalm. What are the resources of the harassed man? Turning Godward. He flings himself out of the coil of troubles round about him, and looks up to God. The thought of God as possessing precisely what he, amid his harassments, needs. God is the three things he needs — "shield," or defence; "my glory"; and the "lifter up of my head," for God can both cheer the harassed man's spirit, and restore to him the consciousness of his own real dignity, notwithstanding his trials. I came upon the most beautiful illustration of all this the other day. One of those spiritual Christians, a Stundist as they call them in Russia, was standing amidst a lot of Russian criminals in the courtyard of a Russian prison, chained with them, and sentenced with them to Siberia for his faith's sake. His fellow prisoners were jeering at him. "But you're no better off than we are. You are wearing the bracelets, as we do; if your God is of any use to you, why doesn't He knock off your chains and set you free?" The man replied reverently: "If the Lord will, He can set me free Wen now; and though my hands are chained, my heart is free." He was freed. But though he had been obliged to trudge the weary way to Siberia, for his free heart God would still have been shield, glory, the lifter up of the head. Calmness and courage can come to the harassed man. There is this possible mood for the harassed man — confident expectation. Salvation belongeth unto God; Thy blessing is upon Thy people." ( Homiletic Review. ) Many are they that rise up against me. The Psalmist's complaint Robert Rollocks. The superscription of the Psalm indicates the occasion of its composition ( 2 Samuel 15 ). I. THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS COMPLAINT. It proceeds from a heart at once oppressed by the grievousness of its sorrows, and terrified at the number of its enemies. The severity of the trial is evident from its progressive character. He has adversaries who even blaspheme God, and insultingly say of His servant, "There is no help for him in God." The best men have many faults, and sin often appears sweet to them. So God suffers them to taste the unpalatable fruit of transgression; but He even extracts sweetness from its very bitterness, educing from chastisement amendment of life, and help heavenward. Good men flee to their heavenly Father in the day of trouble, and this fact shows that the very nature of punishment is transformed. II. THE NATURE OF HIS TRIAL. The Psalmist sighs over the extreme severity of his trials. But God never lays more upon His own children than they are able to bear. The sense of gracious support in the hour of trial is an evidence that God is assuaging grief and providing a way of escape from it. When the wicked are punished there is no such alleviation, nor any access to God. III. THE SOURCE OF HIS COMPLAINT. It does not proceed from mere human nature. The complaint originates with the Spirit of God, and with that spirit of adoption which He sheds abroad in the heart. The son, conscious of his father's affection, expostulates in the midst of his chastisement. He even feels that God suffers with him, and is deeply affected by the trials which He Himself sends. We shall do well to imitate David's complaint in our time of trouble, ever seeking profoundly to realise God's love in Christ Jesus. ( Robert Rollocks. ) There is no help for him in God. Psalm 3:2 Help in God A. Thomson, D. D. David had grieved God, and God had threatened to "raise up evil against him out of his own house." The threatening was fulfilled in the rebellion of Absalom. Then he seemed so helpless that, in the language of mockery and exultation, his enemies said, "There is no help for him m God." But David was not altogether cast down. He did not give way to despondency; he placed his confidence and found his refuge in the protection of Almighty God. From all he had been taught to believe, and from all that he had been privileged to feel respecting the ways of His providence, he was fully persuaded that light would rise out of darkness, and order out of confusion, and safety out of peril. Thus it should be with all who have that deep and enlightened piety by which David was distinguished. The time of affliction is the time for trying faith and patience, for manifesting the energy and perfection which belong to them, and for enjoying the consolation which they are so well fitted to impart. It matters not what your trials and your sorrows be; your support and your solacement remain unchangeably the same. The larger sorrows are as much within the reach of God's sovereign and absolute control as is the most inconsiderable evil that can possibly befall you. Suppose your distresses are the result of your transgression, still do not despond, or allow your confidence in God as your God to be impaired. You would have cause for despair if you hardened yourselves against Him, but none if you are penitent. He is neither vindictive nor relentless. Beholding you in the face of Jesus Christ, He becomes your Father, your Protector, and your Friend. Amidst all his sins and sufferings the Psalmist had recourse to the exercises of devotion. He retired into his secret chambers, or he went into the public sanctuary and addressed himself to God in prayer and supplication. To be successful in prayer we must seek in the appointed way, "out of His holy hill." Whatever be the evils we suffer, let this great truth be firmly believed in and constantly remembered — "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord." ( A. Thomson, D. D. ) Selah. Psalm 3:2, 4, 8 Stop and think Michael Eastwood. That seems to sum up the several meanings of the word "Selah." Some say it is a direction to the musicians to play an interlude while the singers ceased; some regard it as a direction to the players to stop and tune their instruments. Others see an injunction to raise heart and voice, harp and organ, to their fullest capacity. Others see a reference to eternity, as if one interposed, "World without end, Amen!" Many regard the word as equivalent to certain well-known signs in music, bidding you turn back and repeat. In any case, it is as if a solemn rock ("sela") stood right across our path, bidding us "stop and think." On the ground of this injunction meet all meanings, however divergent they seem. "No help for him in God." Stop and think. Selah looks forward as well as back. God has been a shield for David; He can also lift up his head once more, and invest him with glory, the sunshine of the Divine countenance. For us who conduct the services of God's house, "Selah" has a message. It bids the preacher rightly divide the word of truth. It bids him compare truth with truth, bringing out things new and old, and fixing each in its most telling place. It says — tune your hearts, voices, instruments. Seek inspiration, do justice to the Divine message and the gospel song, so that with holy passion, and sacred emphasis, and heart-felt pathos you shall lead our hearts to God, and incite our minds to things eternal. ( Michael Eastwood. ) But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me. Psalm 3:3-5 A man's best confidence in trial Joseph Parker, D. D. These verses show how much a man may have in reality when he seems to have absolutely nothing in appearance. David has described his estate as one of loneliness, amounting almost to utter desolation, so far as social relationships are concerned. He seems to be alone in the very midst of threatening and desperate enemies. His soul is mocked and his prayers are blown aside by the furious opposition of his pursuers. What, then, has David even in the midst of all this loss and peril and fear? He himself seems to give an inventory of his riches. 1. He has a sense of security. "Thou art a shield for me." The image of Divine protection under the type of a shield is of frequent occurrence in Scripture. 2. He has a sense of prayer. He describes God as the lifter up of his head: the meaning is, that though sore driven he could still turn his eyes towards heaven, expectant of spiritual deliverance and benediction, and that even when his enemies were most heavily pressing upon him he was lifted up higher than any of them — a target to be shot at; but he knew that no arrow of the enemy could strike the head that was divinely sustained. 3. Then David points out the fact of his own enjoyment of the quietness and refreshment of sleep, — "I laid me down and slept." An eye so critical as this could never be without an object of Divine care upon which to rest. We are too prone to think of God as only at the head of battles, and as leading great hosts in orderly procession; we forget that He giveth His beloved sleep, that He dries the tears of sorrow, and that He does about us the work of a servant, ministering to our life in patience and tenderness, and all bountifulness of love. The warrior who talks about a shield, and who rejoices in the lifting up of his head, recognises in sleep the benediction of God. God will never allow Himself to be excluded from what may be termed the more quiet and domestic spheres of life. ( Joseph Parker, D. D. ) My shield and my glory J. H. Jowett, M. A. This is a sweet song, and all the sweeter when we note the estate of the songster. Some circumstances set the sweetness of music in pronounced relief. It is the song that rises out of dreariness that exercises such a fascinating ministry. Look at the outside of the Psalmist's life. His external comfort was disturbed. His piety was questioned, and his fellowship with the Divine was denied. Man fails him. He retired more entirely upon God. In God he found that which transcended comfort, he found peace. In God he found that which transcended success, he found glory. In God he found that which transcended human regard, he found the approbation of the Divine. The figure of the shield is a beautiful one. It suggests the all-sufficient protection which comes from the companionship of God. The Lord will not permit my external circumstances to injure my spirit. The Lord will also be a shield against the foe within. When the circumstances are unfriendly, man is apt to become embittered. The hostility may nourish revenge. Failure may make a cynic. The winter time may breed envy, malice, and uncharitableness. I need some defence against these foes within. "Man needs re-enforcing against his worse self." I claim all the real protections as the ministry of the king. "My glory" In the approbation of God I find my honour. The crown that man can give me, man can take away. God's crowns are worn not as external dignities, but as spiritual dignities which adorn the soul...Men were unfriendly, circumstances were unsympathetic; this man "cried unto the Lord, and He heard him." There was a constant festival of fellowship, of fruitful responsiveness between man and his God. ( J. H. Jowett, M. A. ) God a shield "Often," says John Paten, during his early days on the island of Tauna, "often have I had to run into the arms of some savage when his club was swung, or musket levelled at my head, and so clung round him that he could neither strike nor shoot until his wrath had cooled down." One day, while toiling away at his house, the war chief and a large party of armed men surrounded the plot where he was working. They all had muskets besides other weapons. They watched him for some time in silence, and then everyone levelled his weapon at his head. Escape was impossible, speech useless. His eyesight went and came in a moment. He could do nothing but pray, and the text came into his mind, "Whatsoever ye shall ask," etc. The natives retired a little to another position, and they all levelled their muskets again, and urged one another to shoot, and ultimately withdrew. Once again was he saved as a bird from the snare of the fowler. God a helper in time of trouble W. T. Stead. Gerhardt was exiled from Brandenburg by the Grand Elector in 1659. The said Grand Elector wished to tune his pulpits. Gerhardt refused to preach save what he found in God's Word. Notice to quit was thereupon promptly served upon the intrepid preacher; he tramped forth a homeless exile, accompanied by his wife and children. Wife and weans at night, wearied and weeping, sought refuge in a wayside inn; Gerhardt, unable to comfort them, went out into a wood to pray. As he prayed, the text, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass," recurred to his mind, and comforted him so amazingly that he paced to and fro under the forest trees, and began composing a hymn, Englishised by John Wesley , beginning with the verse — "Give to the winds thy fears. Hope and be undismayed: God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears; God shall lift up thy head."Returning to the inn, he cheered his wife with the text and the hymn, and they went to bed rejoicing in the confident hope that God would take care of them. They had hardly retired before a thunderous knocking at the door aroused them all. It was a mounted messenger from Duke Christian Meresberg, offering him "Church, people, home, and livelihood." So, adds the Chronicle, the Lord took care of His servant. ( W. T. Stead. ) The Lifter up of my head Revival Joseph Irons. This verse is the triumphal shout of David when under peculiarly trying circumstances. Happy is the man who makes God's ordered and sure covenant all his salvation and all his desire. Three things in the passage. I. FAVOUR. For Jehovah to become our "shield." If your religion is not opposed, it is not worth your having. Real godliness, real Christianity, cannot exist without being opposed. Sin is always opposed to grace. We are opposed on our journey heavenwards by ourselves. The Father shields us with His fixed decrees The Son shields us with His imputed righteousness. The Holy Ghost shields us by His operations in the soul. II. OUR ORTHODOXY. "Thou, O Lord, art my glory." Theology may be brought into a very narrow compass; here it is in two words, "my glory." Every doctrine, every privilege, and every practice must glorify Him. The words "my glory" contain the idea of fixedness, in opposition to fickleness. III. THE REVIVAL. The lifter up of my head." In times of experimental depression. From nature's ruin and degradation. This work is carried on by the Comforter's ministration. ( Joseph Irons. ) I cried mate the Lord with my voice. Psalm 3:4 Turning to God in prayer Robert Rollocks. I. THE PSALMIST'S EXULTATION. "But Thou, O Lord." The second part of the Psalm shows how David's sense of the Divine presence and protection impelled him to rejoice, as if he were delivered from trial, although not yet actually set free. No sooner does he complain to God than he begins to experience consolation, for never does anyone flee to the Saviour for refuge in vain. But to particularise: what kind of help does the Psalmist receive when he seeks Divine aid? He fled from Absalom defenceless, and God, like a shield, completely protects him: he was in disgrace, God becomes his glory; prostrate, and God lifts up his head. In a word, Jehovah supplements every deficiency. This is ever true. Dost thou desire wisdom? He will be thy wisdom. Glory? He will be thy glory. Riches He will be thy wealth. Yea, He Himself will be all that thou cravest. The sweet sense of Divine compassion cannot be repressed, but will find vent in confession. Thus God is glorified, and the consciousness of His favour is increased by the very act of acknowledgment. II. METHOD OF GAINING DELIVERANCE. The Psalmist therefore unfolds the method which he, had adopted — turning to God in prayer — "I cried unto the Lord with my voice." For let no man think that God bestows His grace on those who do not seek it, or opens the heavenly door to those who do not knock, still less to those who despise and refuse His proffered mercy. In this way He disciplines our faith, although He never grants the least favour because there is anything meritorious in our prayers. III. THE DIVINE RESPONSE. "And He heard me" — from the heavenly sanctuary, and also from the earthly tabernacle then radiant with the Divine presence. This is added so that all may know that God answers supplications, in harmony with His will, as quickly as we offer them, and thus causes success in prayer to stir us up to renewed petitions. The answer which was vouchsafed to David — God replying by deeds rather than by words — is specified at the end of the next verse, "the Lord sustained me." What he had stated before in several words, "Thou art a shield for me my glory, and the lifter up of my head," he afterwards expresses in a single phrase, "the Lord sustained me," thereby indicating his sense of Divine protection in the very midst of persecution. ( Robert Rollocks. ) Prayer answered John Rutledge, of Buffalo, a godly sailor, was used very much in winning his swearing, licentious fellows for the Saviour. They had left Buffalo when the lake was still dangerous with floating ice, and they had accomplished three-quarters of their way, when one morning, to the great alarm of crew and skipper, they saw the ice closing upon them. There was just a narrow passage straight ahead, and it was fast closing. If the ice close it will crush the ship to pieces like a tinderbox, and they will all be lost. The men's faces grew white, for the wind ceased and the calm came, as if to let the ice nip them and grip them to destruction. John Rutledge asked the skipper's leave to go down to his cabin and pray. The captain was a godless man, but eternity was nigh, and he believed in John Rutledge. He had sailed with John for many a voyage; and the Christian had commended Christ by his life. Happy soul when the man that works by you, — when your comrades, at any rate, acknowledge your fidelity to Jesus. They may not like you, but yet they believe in you up to the hilt; and they trust in you even when they profess to despise you. John Rutledge got the skipper's leave to go down to the cabin and pray. As he was there on his knees a few of the men gathered with him, and amongst them the captain. Rutledge prayed that God would guide the vessel, that God would steer the craft, that God would deliver them. The men heard, and listened attentively. As they returned to deck, the man at the wheel greeted them with, "There is hope. — The wind is nor'-nor'-east." The wind began to "sough" and sigh and fill the sails, and the ice began to part; and the men said to the captain, "Shall we spread more canvas?" "No," he replied, "not a stitch. Somebody else is guiding this ship. Let her alone." A happy life is that when difficulties come, when rebellions arise, when doubts all drop upon deck, for the man to be able to say, "Let her drive; there is Someone else controlling and guiding." I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. Psalm 3:5 God's protection of the helpless T. F. Crosse, D. C. L. The reason why we sleep in peace and rise up in safety is, "the Lord sustained me." This is one of those truths, long familiar and unrealised, which later on m our spiritual life may become to us fresh discoveries. Underneath the beating of every heart, and underneath the whole order of human things, and underneath the world and all worlds, there is forever a present active sustaining power from one generation to another, and that power is the power of God. The same truth is equally true if stated more widely. Whether we take as our measure the short time of the earth turning on itself, or the longer time of the earth travelling round; whether we speak of the day or of the sum of all the year, with its multitude of thoughts, its complexity of circumstances, its frequent risks and incessant occurrence of events; — still there is always abiding over us the same Divine protection, never tired, never slackening. Some people are so situated in life that they have but very little pressure and very few cares. All along the path of life seems smooth to them. That is but a tame life, and unless we have the nerve to make ourselves useful in some way, time so passed is a yoke which soon sits uneasy on the shoulder. Days wasted are a bad investment of life, and a dark account to be laying up. But the many are blessed with the pressure of responsibilities, and obliged to take up the happy burden of usefulness. All Christian burden bearers have laid them down to sleep, and risen again feeling that a benefit has been conferred on them, a sustaining hand has been bearing them up, and their good God has been giving to the human trial the promise He speaks of, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." The Hebrew word translated "sustained" means to place the open hand under a thing to support it. The Sept. renders by a word meaning "to take hold of one another by the hand, the weaker being so supported." How does the kindness of God support the weakness of all Christians? He tells His own secret in Colossians 1. It is done by His Christ and our Christ. There He says how He has qualified us to partake of the portion of the saints in light; how He has rescued us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. It is in Him, He says, we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins. Let us count up, discover, and consider these many mercies until our heart warms into some honourable and loving recognition of this care, which is never tired of us and never leaves us. We may feel confident from the past that God will take care of us in the future. ( T. F. Crosse, D. C. L. ) Sleeping and waking Samuel Pascoe. One of the mysteries of life of which men hardly think at all is the mystery of sleep. "Death's twin sister," it has been called. Into its secrets the cleverest man cannot pierce, though all men share its blessings. See the tired man worn out after a heavy day's work, or burdened with care. He flings himself on his bed, his day's work or his day's trouble, his foremost, ever-present thought. Kind sleep touches his eyes. His fatigue is forgotten, his cares are gone. What thought strikes us most forcibly as we look on the picture of the sleeper? Surely the thought of helplessness. The strongest man asleep cannot defend himself or help himself. And yet the millions of mankind daily lie down to sleep, and daily rise again, safely and in peace. Why? We know why, though we so often carelessly forget it. Because God is with us always, never leaving us for an instant to ourselves; about our path and about our bed; the Almighty Father, with more than a mother's love and tenderness. Ought we not to have, at least, David's faith? I say "at least" because we know so much more

3:1-3 An active believer, the more he is beaten off from God, either by the rebukes of providence, or the reproaches of enemies, the faster hold he will take, and the closer will he cleave to him. A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of help in God. See what God is to his people, what he will be, what they have found him, what David found in him. 1. Safety; a shield for me; which denotes the advantage of that protection. 2. Honour; those whom God owns for his, have true honour put upon them. 3. Joy and deliverance. If, in the worst of times, God's people can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that all shall work for good to them, they will own God as giving them both cause and hearts to rejoice. 3:4-8 Care and grief do us good, when they engage us to pray to God, as in earnest. David had always found God ready to answer his prayers. Nothing can fix a gulf between the communications of God's grace towards us, and the working of his grace in us; between his favour and our faith. He had always been very safe under the Divine protection. This is applicable to the common mercies of every night, for which we ought to give thanks every morning. Many lie down, and cannot sleep, through pain of body, or anguish of mind, or the continual alarms of fear in the night. But it seems here rather to be meant of the calmness of David's spirit, in the midst of his dangers. The Lord, by his grace and the consolations of his Spirit, made him easy. It is a great mercy, when we are in trouble, to have our minds stayed upon God. Behold the Son of David composing himself to his rest upon the cross, that bed of sorrows; commending his Spirit into the Father's hands in full confidence of a joyful resurrection. Behold this, O Christian: let faith teach thee how to sleep, and how to die; while it assures thee that as sleep is a short death, so death is only a longer sleep; the same God watches over thee, in thy bed and in thy grave. David's faith became triumphant. He began the psalm with complaints of the strength and malice of his enemies; but concludes with rejoicing in the power and grace of his God, and now sees more with him than against him. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord; he has power to save, be the danger ever so great. All that have the Lord for their God, are sure of salvation; for he who is their God, is the God of Salvation.