Psalm 3:8

“Salvation belongeth unto the Lord”

• […] salvation or deliverance is only in the hands of God. By these words, David not only claims the office and praise of saving for God alone, tacitly opposing His power to all human succor; but also declares, that although a thousand deaths hang over his people, yet this cannot render God unable to save them, or prevent Him from speedily sending forth without any effort, the deliverance which He is always able to impart. In the end of this psalm, David affirms that this was vouchsafed, not so much to him as an individual, as to the whole people, that the universal church, whose welfare depended on the safety and prosperity of his kingdom, might be preserved from destruction. JC
• A most beautiful conclusion this, and, as it were, the sum of all the feelings spoken of. The sense is, it is the Lord alone that saves and blesses: and even though the mass of all evils should be gathered together in one against a man, still, it is the Lord who saves: salvation and blessing are in His hands. And as Gregory Nazianzen says, “Where God gives, envy can avail nothing; and where God does not give labor can avail nothing.” Martin Luther
• This verse contains the sum and substance of Calvinistic doctrine. Search Scripture through, and you must, if you read it with a candid mind, be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is the great doctrine of the word of God. Our opponents say, “Salvation belongeth to the free will of man; if not man’s merit, yet at least to man’s will;” but we hold and teach that salvation from first to last, in every iota of it, belongs to the Most High God. It is God who chooses His people. He calls them by His grace; He quickens them by His Spirit, and keeps them by His power. CHS

“thy blessing is upon thy people”
• Thy blessing is, or rather, let it be, (so he closeth with a prayer) upon thy people; either upon my friends and followers, who alone are thy people, the rest being rebels to thee as well as to me; or, upon all thy people Israel, to preserve my friends, to convince and convert mine enemies, and to save the body of the nation, which without thy mercy are likely by this civil war to be brought to utter ruin. MP
• At Jehovah’s free disposal stands salvation, in all its fullness. In connection therewith David first of all thinks of his own need of deliverance. But as a true king he cannot before God think of himself, without connecting himself with his people. Therefore he closes with the intercessory inference: Upon thy people be thy blessing! Instead of cursing his faithless people he implores a blessing upon those who have been piteously led astray and deceived. This… has its counterpart in the “Father forgive them” of the other David, whom people crucified. The one concluding word of the Psalm casts a bright light into the very depths of his noble soul. K & D, Franz Delitzsch
• […] lift up your hearts, and pause, and meditate upon this doctrine. “Thy blessing is upon thy people.” Divine, discriminating, distinguishing, eternal, infinite, immutable love, is a subject for constant adoration. CHS

Personal Summary:

Just as in the last verse we were able to point out the recurring theme of the wicked being destroyed over these first three Psalms, now we see yet another pattern which has concluded all three Psalms. In 1:6 “the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous;” (Amplified translation) or in the Hebrew, “the Lord is knowing the way of the righteous”. He is actively involved with knowing the ways and the works of the righteous, He knows it completely, it is fully understood by the Lord. In 2:12 we are told that “blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” And now we end with a blessing yet again. The wicked have dared to dream that the threats of a just, righteous God are idle in some way, that He will not see them through. But God has assured them that is not the case. In the same way the people of God have failed to believe His promises. He assures us over and over again of this fact showing us that the doubt isn’t based on whether or not He will do as He has said but on our own faithlessness in our walk. God consistently assures the wicked of their damnation and the righteous of their reward. In these first three psalms, as in other places in the bible, they are often paired together for contrast. These are two groups of people being weighed on eternal scales. God assures us the scale always tips in favor of the righteous whom He has set aside for Himself.

And while it is important that we never allow ourselves to doubt the faithfulness of God, it is more important that we understand why that is. The reason is because from start to end our salvation never will and never has depended on our individual merit or works, it depends exclusively on Him. As John Gill said concerning this verse, “[…] the glory of salvation belongs to the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit, and should be given to the Father as the contriver of it, to the Son as the author of it, and to the Spirit as the applier of it.” What greater assurance of salvation can there be than that? An omnipotent God cannot fail in His endeavors; His will is always seen through to the end. It is this ultimate assurance that we are given to begin the verse... salvation is the Lord’s! It belongs to Him!

The second consideration must be considered in light of the first otherwise man, in all his vanity, will undoubtedly forget that it was not he who died on the cross in payment for his sin against God. The blessings do not flow from his own doing but the doing of God through the work of salvation and the effort our mighty God has exerted in securing our spot in Heaven and in sustaining us on this earth. If for one moment God were to remove His protective hand from mankind it would be sure and utter destruction. In the blink of an eye we would cease to exist and apart from his grace would all equally be burning in the depths of hell. Thank be to Him that is not the case and not only does He save us, but He also stays the course with us and blesses His people until we are home with Him forever more.