In the first two verses, David laments his situation. Absalom, his son, had turned the people’s hearts away from him and raised an army to remove the kingdom from David. David laments his many enemies. He laments that they have risen up to kill him. He laments that they know God will not come to his aid because he sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah. But David, having repented of his sin, refused to cave to their charges. Verses 3 and 4 tell us of his firm faith in the God who has served all his life and in whom he entrusted himself. He knows God will protect and answer his prayers when he cries out to Him. Because of his faith, David sleeps and awakes in the morning, knowing God has preserved him from his enemies for another day. He asserts that he will not be afraid of thousands of those who have gathered themselves against him.  In the following two verses, he makes his plea to God. With a good night’s sleep, the world looks better, and with the energy of the early morning, he finishes his Psalm and writes, “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 on your people! Selah.”

There is some discussion on what the “slap in the face” might mean in the commentaries. Craigie says, “The words are symbolic; to smite someone on the cheek was to administer a gross insult.”[1] If that is what David meant in this Psalm, he says that his enemies have cast gross insults at him, rising against him, but God will return the abuse on David’s behalf. “As the psalmist had been insulted by the words of his enemies, so now he prays for an insult to be administered to them.” interestingly, David never sought to take his revenge. When Shimei threw dirt and insults at him, David’s general wanted to kill him. But David refused to retaliate. He did not want to go to war with Absalom. He never struck back at Saul, who tried to kill him several times. Like in this Psalm, David entrusted retaliation to God. Jesus taught his followers not to return insult for insult when he said, “Turn the other cheek.”

There are several Psalms of imprecation. They call for God to “rise” and act on behalf of His people against their enemies. The exciting thing about these Psalms is that it shows David’s commitment to let God bring Justice to those who wronged him. This appears to be the basis of “turning the other cheek.” It might sound like David calls for radical violence when he mentions “breaking the teeth” of his enemies. In Psalm 57:4, the Psalmist calls for God’s intervention on his behalf with his enemies and describes their insults as coming from their teeth. The phrase it uses is “whose teeth are spears and arrows.” Spears and arrows are said to be “hurled,” and when Jesus was on the cross, his enemies “hurled” their words at him. In Psalm 3, David is not retaliating but trusting God to take up his cause. Paul leaves the saints in Rome with sound advice when he says in Romans 12:19, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” This might be what the last verse means when it says, “salvation belongs to the Lord.” Then another “Selah.” Stop for a moment and reflect on this.

[1] Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1–50. Vol. 19. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated.