Chuck Larsen

Psalm 3 deals specifically with Absalom’s revolt against David. Psalm 4 picks up again on the trials of facing pagan nations as expressed in Psalm 2, where the writer asks, “why do the nations rage?” In verse 1 of Psalm 4, David speaks to God in prayer. Then in verse two, he says to his accusers. “That’s always the way it should be. Before speaking out to people, be sure you’ve prayed up to God.”^[1] Verse two says, “O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah.” He asks another question of those that sound off against God and His anointed. “O men” is a phrase that addresses those men of authority or power. David might still be focusing on Absalom’s rebellion and those in leadership who joined him, or he’s looking around him at the pagan nations. Tesh says, “Who were these men? Absalom’s lieutenants, opposed to David? Israel’s leaders, turning from Yahweh to idols in a time of drought? Foreign kings taunting oppressed Israel? Or personal enemies of the psalmist, vilifying him? Whoever, specifically, were involved, it was another circumstance in which the ungodly set themselves against those who sought the way of the Lord.”^[2]

Regardless of their specific identity, “The leadership has gone astray. They are opposed to the king and have shown their hostility in two ways.” The first way deals with David’s honor. I prefer “glory” instead of “honor.” That’s a better translation of the Hebrew word, and it shifts the focus from David to God.  That David’s enemies attack him, as God’s divinely appointed King, they attack and scoff at God’s glory. “Second, they characterize themselves by a diligent pursuit of what is ‘vain’ and ‘deceptive.’ These words explain how they have trodden the king’s glory into the ground by betraying it for an unspecified worthless cause.”^[3] David puts his faith and confidence in God alone. His enemies trust in armies and soldiers.

In Psalm 62:7, David says, “In God is my safety and my glory, the rock of my strength.”  In contrast to his enemies, who hope and trust in human means, David trusts in God. “David reasons, who can overcome God to tear me down? If God is my glory, who will accuse or shame me? If God is my rock, what storm can shake my composure? If God is my refuge, what weapon can reach me and do me harm? David’s resolve shows what a difference it makes when a believer fixes their salvation on God alone. If we rely on money, a worldly reputation, high positions, or other earthly resources, then we can never have the peace of which David speaks. These things are often lost or taken away. But by committing all that we are and hope for into the care of God, the Christian enters into the peace of his perfect security.”^[4]

^[1] Courson, Jon. 2006. Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume Two: Psalms-Malachi. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

^[2] Tesh, S. Edward, and Walter D. Zorn. 1999. Psalms. The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin, MO: College Press.

^[3] VanGemeren, Willem A. 1991. “Psalms.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, 5:82. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[4] Phillips, Richard D. 2019. Psalms 42–72. Edited by Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Iain M. Duguid. Reformed Expository Commentary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

This Psalm begins by giving the choirmaster instructions regarding those who play stringed instruments. But it also attributes this Psalm to David. Although the introductions to these Psalms are not numbered, they are still part of the inspired text. This was the subject of a fascinating article in the “Bible Study Magazine.” It had a compelling case for the introductions being part of the original texts of these Psalms. “Most English Bibles display the superscriptions in fine print. This suggests to the modern reader that these superscriptions are secondary somehow. But this is not what we find in our best manuscripts.” The article explains that the introductions to these Psalms are acknowledged as part of the inspired text as far back as the famous and respected Aleppo Codex (ca. AD 930). Further, in the ancient “Masada Psalms Scroll,” which dates to the first century BC, we see the same introductions as we see in the Aleppo Codex. Then, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, we find that the introductions are “always the first part of the psalm text in normal writing. Yet again, there is no indication that they are secondary or added later.”[1]

We should consider the introductions as part of the Psalm. Psalm 4 begins with, “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” First of all, David calls for God to hear his prayer. We can identify this as a prayer because it addresses God in the second person as prayers do. We speak to God, “you.” He acknowledges God’s faithfulness to him in the past. David might be referring to his escape from his son, Absalom’s rebellion. God has been good to David. All the things he has accomplished find their source in God’s goodness.

The two phrases in this Psalm that struck me are; first, He identifies God as the “God of my righteousness.” Then he asks God to continue being merciful to him. When I think of the phrase “my righteousness,” I think of the righteousness of God as Paul uses it in Romans. In and of himself, David knows he has no righteousness to hold up before God. Just as Habakkuk and Romans teach us, the only righteousness we have is faith: “The righteous shall live by faith.” The only righteousness that we can have is a righteousness deposited in our account from the account of our Savior, who fulfilled all righteousness for David and for us prophetically. Williams says it well, “In a word, God is righteous, and He has given His righteousness to David.”^[2] This explains David’s plea for mercy.  He knows he’s a sinner. He knows he does not deserve God’s blessings in his life, so whatever God bestows on him, whatever prayer God answers for him, will be based on God’s mercy. Williams wraps up his explanation of this verse: “David’s address, ‘O God of my righteousness,’ also points to the final gift of righteousness given in Jesus Christ. Christ is righteous because He has fulfilled the law in perfect obedience to the Father. It is Christ who dies on the cross, not for His own sins (for He had none), but for our sins. When we receive Christ, we receive also His righteousness. Paul writes, ‘For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (2 Cor. 5:21). God hears us when we call because we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Indeed, we all may say God is the ‘God of my righteousness.’”^[3]

[1] https://www.logos.com/grow/superscriptions-in-psalms/

^[2] Williams, Donald, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1986. Psalms 1–72. Vol. 13. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

^[3] Williams, Donald, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1986. Psalms 1–72. Vol. 13. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

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.

At the end of verse 2 in this Psalm, we see the first occurrence of the word “Selah.” I suggest that it is a pause. It’s not just a pause in the music but a pause for reflection on what was just said or sung. There are three “Selahs” in this Psalm. The first one finishes David’s lament about his many enemies who have risen against him and cast doubt on God’s good intentions for David. The “Selah” at the end of this verse suggests we pause and think about that. We all have enough troubles in our lives and perceived enemies to be able to relate to this Selah. The second “Selah” comes at the end of verse 4 after David expresses his confidence in God’s loving protection and care for him even amid his troubles. David asserts his abiding faith and trust in God. Ellsworth calls this the “Selah of faith.” The final “The final “Selah” comes at the end of the Psalm after verse 8.

Verses 5 and 6 contain part of the thought that should be considered when we get to the pause at the end of verse 8. Because David holds firm to his faith in God and his conviction that God will hear his plea and answer him, he can say in verses 5 and 6, “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” Sleep is a gift from God to a heart at peace. Psalm 127 and verse 2 says, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Further, David can enjoy sleep amid such extreme opposition because he knows God is not sleeping but remains vigilant. Psalm 121:3-4 says, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Selah! Think about that.

David woke from his sleep because God had sustained him. This is an interesting thing to think about because in the story of Absalom’s rebellion, his most trustworthy advisor urged Absalom to go and kill David that very day. He told Absalom not to wait. But David sent another adviser to Absalom that God used to dissuade him from pursuing David that day. God’s intervention lead Absalom to listen to the second advisor and it proved the undoing of Absalom’s rebellion. It was God’s direct intervention in moving Absalom to accept the bad advice that gave David another night’s sleep and preserved his life. But when David wrote, “I woke again, for the Lord sustained me” he was literally correct. He had been given another day of life and the opportunity for his forces to regroup. They did and ultimately destroyed Absalom’s rebellion. Selah! Think about what God might be doing behind the scenes when you sleep. He’s always on guard and working to fulfill his good intentions for our lives.

In verse 2 of the third Psalm, David laments that he has many foes, many are rising up against him, and many tell him that God has forsaken him. Even though he is struggling horribly with his own son’s rebellion and had to flee Jerusalem for his life, he won’t crumble to their attacks. He says in the next verse, “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. Selah.” David does not fret over his many foes because God is his shield. Even though David had sinned with Bathsheba and was guilty of the murder of Uriah, he did not fold in shame. When Shimei threw dirt at him and reminded him of his sins, he refused to retaliate because he knew God was his glory, not his own righteousness. He didn’t let the opposition destroy his faith and refused to yield to a pity party of depression and anxiety because God was the “lifter of his head.” God was his encourager through all his trials and hardships and even his sins.

He did not let the opposition, the accusations, the guilt, or the insults disparage his faith in God. He cried out to God in it all, and he knew that no matter what happened, God heard him and would answer his pleas for help. Now, stop and think about that. I suggest that is what “Selah” means. He also said it at the end of verse 2 when he pointed out all the opposition he faced. At the end of verse two, the selah has been referred to as “the selah of trouble.” Ellsworth explains the first selah this way, “He was facing the greatest trial of his life. His son had rebelled, and their respective armies were about to join in the battle. Absalom had made it his business to ridicule David’s faith. He and his supporters were saying: ‘There is no help for him in God.’ David’s troubles lead us to think about our own. We also have circumstances that cause us to pause and reflect. Sickness is such a time. So is the death of a loved one. And so are those times when our faith, like David’s of old, is being challenged.”^[1]

But the second selah at the end of verse 4 is the selah of “faith,” according to Ellsworth. “David did not allow the challenge to his faith to cause him to abandon it. He met the challenge to his faith by confessing his faith. He specifically confessed his faith in God as a shield that would protect him. This was not wishful thinking on David’s part. God had protected him many times! He also calls God ‘his glory.’ This is undoubtedly a confession of the majesty and sovereignty of God. Our trials become less trying when we place them in the glare of the greatness of God. Further, he confesses his faith in the tender compassion of God for him. He, the Lord, is the one who lifts the head. When David’s head fell to his chest in dejection and despondency, the Lord was there to encourage him. Finally, he confesses his faith in the readiness of God to answer prayer.” Charles Spurgeon writes: “We need not fear a frowning world while we rejoice in a prayer-hearing God.”

^[1] Ellsworth, Roger. 2006. Opening up Psalms. Opening Up Commentary. Leominster: Day One Publications.

David begins Psalm 3 by lamenting his many enemies. Even his son, Absalom, had raised an army against him. I find it interesting that the name ABSALOM is made of two words. The first word, AB, means father. The second word SHALOM is very familiar and means peace. Some argue it means “a father’s peace.” David’s son, Absalom, was anything but peace for him. He had won the hearts of the people from his father and raised an Army that drove his father from his home. Then Shimei threw dirt at David when he was fleeing Jerusalem for his life and cursed him. David begins his lament, “ 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.’ Selah.” Notice the repetition of the word “many.” Many foes, many are rising against David, and many are saying there is no salvation for him. We don’t know how “many” actually, but we know there were a lot of them that opposed David at this time.

David’s enemies are saying pretty much what Jesus’ enemies said while he was hanging on the cross. “If He is the Son of God, Let God save Him.” Insisting that there is no salvation for him from God attacks David’s faith. It’s the argument that God has abandoned him or that there is no God to look to for help. Williams says, “Here is the threat of practical atheism. It bears so many nuances.” The accusation has three affronts. The first attack is that God has abandoned us; the second attack is that we aren’t worth His attention anyway. The third attack concludes that we should give up our faith in Him and turn elsewhere for help.”^[1] God was with David when he slew Goliath and defeated the vast Philistine armies. But here, we see that God is not giving David the victory in this incident. Since God abandoned David, it was reasonable that Jerusalem’s people should also abandon him. After his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, we can see how David would now believe that he is not worthy of being delivered by God. Since David cannot count on God to deliver him from his enemy and he does not deserve to be saved by God, he should abandon his faith in God. So it is with us at times. God is allowing these terrible things to come into our lives and is not acting to deliver us. We, too, know that we are not sinless and can wallow in our sin, knowing that we don’t deserve to be saved anyway. We are tempted to abandon our faith in God. In verse 3, David begins with “But God….”

Before we look at verse 3, notice how verse 2 ends: “Selah.” Commentators are divided on the meaning of the word “Selah.”  We don’t know what it means, but some suggest it is a Hebrew word that gives musical direction to the singers. Some suggest it’s a blessing meaning “forever.” Others argue that it’s simply the way Hebrew punctuates sentences. But most say, and I agree, that it’s a call for the readers to pause and contemplate the meaning of what was just said. David is overwhelmed by his enemies. They have multiplied against him, and it appears all is lost. He’s being driven from his home, and death has become his imminent future. God is not delivering him; he doesn’t deserve to be delivered, so why have faith in God? Think about that. I’ve been there, haven’t you? Jesus identifies personally with David’s laments. He identifies with ours as well. He cried out from the cross, “Why have you forsaken me.”

^[1] Williams, Donald, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1986. Psalms 1–72. Vol. 13. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

According to the brief introduction, it was written by “King David on the occasion of his son, Absalom, leading a rebellion to take over the Kingdom.” Some commentators argue that this introduction doesn’t belong here and was added by some later scribe. But I think Williams is right. He says, “Setting this psalm in the context of David’s heartbreak over his son’s civil war lends historical color and concreteness to its interpretation. At the same time, the psalm could easily have been used before any battle by the king or those in command.  Moreover, it is now a psalm for Israel and the church, universalized beyond that fateful day with Absalom. As God’s people, we all have our enemies and battles to fight. So, while we accept the traditional ascription as probable and refer this psalm to David himself, this is our psalm too.”^[1]

In verse one, weary of all the opposition he has faced and is still facing in his life, David says, “O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me.” Absalom had raised an army against David. He had captured the hearts of many of the people in Jerusalem, and many supported his taking over the kingdom from his father. Women were no longer singing songs about the greatness of David, but they were looking at his younger replacement, Absalom. They chase David out of Jerusalem, and a man named Shimei throws dirt at David and calls him “a man of blood.” This might be a reference to his warlike nature or his murder of Uriah. Yes, indeed, there were many in opposition to David at this point in his life.

David was King.  Being King brings opposition and enemies. The more you have, the more people want to take it. But you don’t have to have very much to relate to David’s cry. Boice says, “I am sure that many people can identify with that. Perhaps you are one. You may not be facing an imminent military battle when you wake up most mornings, but you are facing a battle. The climate in the department of the company for which you work may be one of open warfare: Everyone is trying to defeat everyone else. The conditions are cutthroat. The weapons are rumors, lying, gossip, misrepresentation, even violence, bribes, or stealing. A friend told me how he had gone on a vacation, leaving his business in the hands of his partner. When he came back after only two weeks, the partner had managed to steal it away, leaving him with significant debts. How can any honest person survive in such a jungle? Again, you may not be facing thousands of enemies as David was. But how many enemies does it take to make life miserable and possibly lead even to the loss of your job? One will do, if he or she is determined enough. And you probably have more than that! In fact, the more prominent you are, the more enemies you will have and the more vulnerable you will be to them.”^[2]

We should not ignore the prophetic nature of this Psalm. It is pointing to the Messiah, the Son of David.  No one had more enemies than He did. The scribes and Pharisees opposed him at every turn in his ministry. The Sadducees plotted together in the Sanhedrin to have Rome execute Him. The soldiers spat on him and mocked him while they tortured him before hanging him on the cross. Even one of his closest friends, Judas, betrayed him to his enemies. And Peter, the closes of all, denied that he even knew him. People are “against” Jesus 61 times in the Gospels.

^[1] Williams, Donald, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1986. Psalms 1–72. Vol. 13. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

^[2] Boice, James Montgomery. 2005. Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.