Psalm 3 Summary

An outline of this Psalm:

I. David complains to God of his enemies (vs. 1,2)
II. Confides in God, and encourages himself in Him as his God (vs. 3)
III. Recollects the satisfaction he had in the gracious answers God gave to his prayers, and of his experience of His goodness to him (vs. 4,5)
IV. Triumphs over his fears (vs. 6) and over his enemies whom he prays against (vs. 7)
V. Gives God the glory and takes to himself the comfort of the divine blessing and salvation which are sure to all the people of God (vs. 8)

• How bitter David’s sorrow was under the conspiracy of his own household against him, which arose from the treachery of his own son. And when, in addition to this, he knew that this disaster was brought upon him by God for his own fault in having defiled another man’s wife, and for shedding innocent blood, he might have sunk into despair, and been overwhelmed with anguish, if he had not been encouraged by the promise of God, and thus hoped for life even in death. After he had humbled himself before God, he took courage; and being well assured of having obtained forgiveness, he was fully persuaded that God was on his side, and knew that he would always preside over his kingdom, and show himself its protector. But he, nevertheless, complained of his son, and of the whole faction involved in the conspiracy, because he knew that they wickedly rose up for the purpose of frustrating the decree of God. In like manner, if at any time God makes use of wicked and mischievous men, as scourges to chastise us, it becomes us first to consider this cause, namely, that we suffer nothing which we have not deserved, in order that this reflection may lead us to repentance. But if our enemies… rather fight against God than against us, let the consideration of their doing so be immediately followed by the confident persuasion of our safety under the protection of Him, whose grace, which He has promised to us, they despise and trample under foot. JC
• The two Psalms forming the prologue, which treat of cognate themes, the one ethical… and the other related to the history of redemption… are now followed by a morning prayer; for morning and evening prayers are surely the first that one expects to find in a prayer and hymn book. The morning hymn, Ps. 3, which has the mention of the “holy hill” in common with Ps. 2, naturally precedes the evening hymn of Ps. 4. K & D, Franz Delitzsch

This Psalm is rich with application to the lives of every saint. It can do nothing less for the man of God than to set His heart upon Christ and to live in the glow of His abundant grace and assurance. There are times in our lives, as any honest reflection will show, that we are under the assault of sin and have embraced it to some degree or another. Let us not think ourselves too special because we haven’t committed adultery and then murdered the spouse of the other party. There are many sins that we embrace and, even worse, justify because we have relegated them to lesser sins of no consequence. Not because the bible has told us they are of no consequence, but because our sinful hearts have told us this is so. Many of us have besetting sins we wrestle with. It may be covetousness, it may be lying, it may be slander, it may be envy, greed, anger, perversion, selfishness, conceitedness, petty theft (ever take some office supplies home from work?), lack of discipline in devotions and prayer; and who knows how many times God’s people break the Moral Law He has given us? I, with David, routinely pray that God will forgive me for my secret sins (Ps. 19:12). See, the point is this: we are so intensely sinful that we sin and never even know it. We keep our eyes out for the big sins and that is good, but the others escape us daily. Never can we become too full of ourselves and think we may not find ourselves under the same discipline of God that David found himself under. We certainly deserve it.

Let us strive for a better recognition of sin in our lives, let us pray the Lord will show us our sin and cleanse us from it to His glory. I heard a story of Martin Luther one time concerning sin. Martin Luther would show up to the confessional booth and confess sins for hours until the priest on the other side would demand that he leave. But by the time Luther had gotten to the door to leave the building he would be convicted by so many more sins that he could not be restrained from entering in and confessing his sins again. (What an act of mercy that God showed this tormented soul the doctrine of grace!) This is a wonderful example to each of us that we must be actively seeking to identify sin and mortify it in our own lives. This is the appropriate attitude to have towards sin!

But, should God’s hand of discipline put its weight upon us we cannot despair. We not only deserve it but the very fact that it is occurring speaks to the Father’s love for us as His children (Pr. 3:12). Thanks be to God that He cares enough for His children to form character in us that we may be better suited to serve Him. Let us not be like Adam who hid in the garden when God came to confront his sin (Gen. 3:8); rather, let us be like David, a man after God’s own heart, and cry out to Him (Ps. 51). Let us revel in the grace we are under because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Let us be, like David, men of prayer, men of faith, men of confidence in the Lord, men that are thankful for all of the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

Though this Psalm seems firmly rooted in the historical perspective of David; it can accomplish nothing less than to point us to Christ. For it is through Him that we are allowed to be God’s people and not His enemies, it is through Him that we are sustained, it is to Him we have committed our lives to; it is in Christ that we can rest sure in the promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. David had faith in the promises of God and waxed bold as a result; how much more so the New Testament believer since we have seen those promises fulfilled in the person of Christ, our great Prophet, Priest, and King!

A reflection on the blessings of God in your life will prove through experience that He is faithful and worthy of all praise, honor, and glory. You may not have troops seeking your life like David; but, like David, God has delivered you so many times that there is little room for doubt that He is who He says He is and will do what He has said He will do.

The great cloud of witnesses we have in our bibles all attest to the same thing, they all do so based on the work of Christ, and they all unanimously proclaim that they are “persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Therefore, cling to the cross of Christ and never let go. Be zealous to live for Him in all things until He calls you home to be with Him and this clay tenement is finally replaced as we are glorified with Him for eternity, never to be stricken with even the slightest doubt, sin, or pain again. Laus Deo!