Perhaps no one was more acquainted with frequent threats to his life than King David. King Saul tried to kill him several times to prevent him from becoming king. In 2 Samuel 15, his own son, Absalom, attempted to stage a coup against him. 2 Samuel 15:30 describes David in a pitiable state. It’s in this setting that David wrote Psalm 3. In his prayer in Psalm 3, David provides an example of the believer’s response to a life-threatening, highly emotional situation. When you are dealing with threats, whether physical, spiritual, financial, or emotional, you can do like David: tell God about your situation (vv. 1–2), turn your attention to God (vv. 3–4), and trust God to save (vv. 5–8).
The prayer begins with a summary of David’s situation. Through a ruse, Absalom had turned the “men of Israel” against David (2 Samuel 15:6). So David prays, “Many are rising against me.” This betrayal at the hands of his own son was personal and devastating. Even worse, David goes on to say that his enemies doubted God would save him. In effect, the people believed God no longer wanted David as king! David told God about his situation.
Rather than seeking revenge or attempting to physically enforce his will on the people, David prays, “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” David turns his attention from his enemies to God. He expresses confidence in his relationship with God and God’s desire to save him. While it often helps to recognize the source of our problems, we must not dwell there. Like David, we must turn our attention to God.
Finally, David announces his confidence in God’s salvation. David was a battle-tested warrior, a successful military leader, and a shrewd thinker. Yet, in the face of a threatening situation in which his own son sought David’s position and his life, David did not trust in himself. David trusted in God’s salvation, just as he had done when he met the Philistine giant Goliath with nothing but a sling and a handful of stones (1 Samuel 17).
All fears come from the awareness of threats (real or imagined). How can the believer rely on God and overcome fear? Like David, you can tell God about your situation, turn your attention from the threat(s) to God, and trust in God’s salvation. Like the psalmist we can say, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).
Clay Leonard
