Thoughts On the Psalms: Psalm 3

As we prepare to get into the third Psalm, I would like to revisit the first two briefly and introduce something that just jumped out at me as I was reading the third Psalm. David is a type of Christ, and His writings heavily point to God and His plan for us. As I read through the third Psalm, it seemed very connected to the first two, so I was going to group them together, but then I read further. It’s not just the first three that seem like they go together; it’s the first eight. 

Then I kept reading, and what I seem to have stumbled onto is a series of eight groups that lay out the plan God has for us, His people, in poetic form! Naturally, I am super excited to share what I have learned with all of you, so I would like to introduce the first series here and briefly revisit it from the first two Psalms. I hope it gives extra meaning to the Psalms for you as it has for me!

The first series, which contains the first eight Psalms, is a mini overview of the overall series and it also contains God’s plan within it. 

In the first Psalm, we saw that the righteous are blessed and planted solidly. Nothing can move them, and nothing can shake them. There is also a promise of judgment for the wicked contained there, and it continues into the second Psalm, which gives us a promise of Jesus. It is a promise of Jesus coming to judge, but it also promises salvation for those who take refuge in Him. 

If we break that down even further, the first Psalm is what Israel could have been if they had obeyed God, and it is what would have happened to their enemies. It is the promise that the sacrifice of the Son of God gives to us, the Passover. 

The second Psalm is the result of the promise that Jesus’s crucifixion brought with it—salvation for those who seek Christ and destruction for those who don’t. It is the aftermath of the crucifixion, the rest of the promises, and the first day of Unleavened Bread.

The third Psalm corresponds with the last day of Unleavened Bread, the day the Israelites likely came through the Red Sea. 

The fourth Psalm corresponds to Pentecost with a promise of setting apart. The giving of the Holy Spirit and baptism. 

The fifth Psalm corresponds to Trumpets with a prayer for deliverance for God’s people and a promise of destruction. 

The sixth Psalm corresponds to Atonement with grief, repentance, and deliverance from evil. 

The seventh Psalm corresponds to the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles with a promise of the judgment that follows the second resurrection. 

The eighth Psalm corresponds to the Last Great Day with a promise of all things made new and the glory of God.       

This is just a brief overview; we will explore each one in more depth as we proceed. Today is the third Psalm, corresponding to the last day of Unleavened Bread. With just a brief glance over, we can easily see the story of crossing the Red Sea within the Psalm. Spiritually speaking, it represents us as we are set free from the bonds of slavery and find our rest in the one who created us. 

Psalm 3:1 NKJV A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many [are] they who rise up against me.

This is a Psalm of David, written at a time when he was most despairing of life and deliverance. It’s one thing to have an angry king chasing you and trying to kill you; it’s another when the angry man is your son. On the flip side, this is how the Israelites felt and how we felt before we turned to God. We had many afflictions, many sins that rose up against us and tried to drag us down. 

Psalm 3:2-3 NKJV Many [are] they who say of me, "[There is] no help for him in God." Selah 

3 But You, O LORD, [are] a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

Many claim that God does not help us or that our faith is in vain, but as David contrasts in verse three, our God is a shield, our glory, and the one who lifts up our heads to safety. Our enemies mock us and declare that we have no help in God, but our entire hope is in God and His deliverance. 

Verse two is the first time that we encounter the word “Selah,” and it will become a common sight as we go through the rest of the Psalms. There are many ideas of what Selah might mean, and some of them could be just as correct as the others. The general consensus is that it was some sort of musical notation common in that day and age. The explanation I like the most is that it means to pause or rest at that point before you continue on, and I can easily see how, in the case we have here, that would greatly emphasize the contrast David was trying to draw. 

Psalm 3:4 NKJV I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah 

Our cries to God are powerful and do not go unheard. Here again, we have a break with Selah as the Psalmist prepares to move on. These two lines are synthetic in nature as they carry out the flow of the Psalm from the contrast of people mocking through to our salvation and deliverance lying with God. 

(Exodus 14) In the greater story, the Israelites discovered themselves trapped against a body of water known as the Red Sea with no hope for deliverance. Moses cried out to God, and He heard him. In our story, after repentance and forgiveness of our sins, we often find ourselves trapped once again by sin as we prepare for baptism, just as the Israelites did as they prepared for theirs.

Psalm 3:5-6 NKJV I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me. 

6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set [themselves] against me all around.

God gives the Psalmist peace and he is able to sleep even surrounded by the enemy. He knows he has nothing to fear when God is on his side. These lines continue in synthetic form as the Psalmist approaches the crescendo of his poetry. 

Romans 8:31 NKJV What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [can be] against us?

Just as he knew his safety lay in God, so too do we. We can sleep in peace knowing that God stands watch over our house and our families. We have nothing to fear as long as God is near. So, the Israelites also slept as the wind blew all night to split the sea so they could cross. Surrounded by terrain and the enemy, their only hope lay in God and His mercy. He delivered them spectacularly as we see in the next verses. 

Psalm 3:7 NKJV Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Here, we have a synonymous structure as the Psalmist tells us of the outcome of his prayer to God. All of his enemies have been destroyed, and their threat to him has been struck down. Teeth are generally poetic language for an ability to be dangerous and pose a threat, and as we see here, everything that made them dangerous was broken off. In David’s story, I would imagine that this came after the first part of the victory, but likely before his son was killed. 

In the Israelite's story, the Red Sea crossing broke the back of Egypt’s military power and might. They had no teeth left with which to pursue the Israelites any further, and it was God’s doing, not the people’s. 

Psalm 3:8 NKJV Salvation [belongs] to the LORD. Your blessing [is] upon Your people. Selah

In a final crescendo, the Psalmist gives all glory to God and declares that His blessing is upon His people. This echoes the song of Moses that Israel sings after the Red Sea victory and echoes our song of victory at baptism. God has cleansed us from our sins and given us the downpayment of His Spirit, a promise that we will be His Sons. Christ’s death was the final victory over sin, and when we take His death upon us at baptism, sin’s teeth are shattered into a million pieces, and we become new creations in Jesus!

So, the final verse concludes with one last Selah as the Psalmist gently finishes out his tremendous work of poetry and prophecy. As David fled for his life from his own son and was filled with despair, he recognized something that we would do well to remember. God has given us tremendous blessings of protection and deliverance through His Son, Jesus. We have nothing to fear from sin, men, or death, for as David says, salvation belongs to the Lord!

P.S. As you go through this Psalm, I recommend reading through the account in Exodus 14 as well as 2 Samuel 15-18 for the account of David fleeing from his own son Absalom to get a sense of what David went through. 

©Kyle Bacher 2024