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Commentary on Psalms 3 verses 1–3
The title of this psalm and many others is as a key hung ready at the door, to open it, and let us into the entertainments of it; when we know upon what occasion a psalm was penned we know the better how to expound it. This was composed, or at least the substance of it was meditated and digested in David's thought, and offered up to God, when he fled from Absalom his son, who formed a conspiracy against him, to take away, not his crown only, but his life; we have the story, 2 Sa. 15, etc. 1. David was now in great grief; when, in his flight, he went up the Mount of Olives, he wept greatly, with his head covered, and marching bare-foot; yet then he composed this comfortable psalm. He wept and prayed, wept and sung, wept and believed; this was sowing in tears. Is any afflicted? Let him pray; nay, let him sing psalms, let him sing this psalm. Is any afflicted with undutiful disobedient children? David was; and yet that did not hinder his joy in God, nor put him out of tune for holy songs. 2. He was now in great danger; the plot against him was laid deep, the party that sought his ruin was very formidable, and his own son at the head of them, so that his affairs seemed to be at the last extremity; yet then he kept hold of his interest in God and improved that. Perils and frights should drive us to God, not drive us from him. 3. He had now a great deal of provocation given him by those from whom he had reason to expect better things, from his son, whom he had been indulgent of, from his subjects, whom he had been so great a blessing to; this he could not but resent, and it was enough to break in upon any man's temper; yet he was so far from any indecent expressions of passion and indignation that he had calmness enough for those acts of devotion which require the greatest fixedness and freedom of thought. The sedateness of his mind was evinced by the Spirit's coming upon him; for the Spirit chooses to move upon the still waters. Let no unkindness, no, not of a child or a friend, ever be laid so much to heart as to disfit us for communion with God. 4. He was now suffering for his sin in the matter of Uriah; this was the evil which, for that sin, God threatened to raise up against him out of his own house (Sa2 12:11), which, no doubt, he observed, and took occasion thence to renew his repentance for it. Yet he did not therefore cast away his confidence in the divine power and goodness, nor despair of succour. Even our sorrow for sin must not hinder either our joy in God or our hope in God. 5. He seemed cowardly in fleeing from Absalom, and quitting his royal city, before he had had one struggle for it; and yet, by this psalm, it appears he was full of true courage arising from his faith in God. True Christian fortitude consists more in a gracious security and serenity of mind, in patiently bearing and patiently waiting, than in daring enterprises with sword in hand.
In these three verses he applies to God. Whither else should we go but to him when any thing grieves us or frightens us? David was now at a distance from his own closet, and from the courts of God's house, where he used to pray; and yet he could find a way open heaven-ward. Wherever we are we may have access to God, and may draw nigh to him whithersoever we are driven. David, in his flight, attends his God,
I. With a representation of his distress, Psa 3:1, Psa 3:2. He looks round, and as it were takes a view of his enemies' camp, or receives information of their designs against him, which he brings to God, not to his own council-board. Two things he complains of, concerning his enemies: - 1. That they were very many: Lord, how are they increased! beyond what they were at first, and beyond whatever he thought they would have been. Absalom's faction, like a snow-ball, strangely gathered in its motion. He speaks of it as one amazed, and well he might, that a people he had so many ways obliged should almost generally revolt from him, rebel against him, and choose for their head such a foolish and giddy young man as Absalom was. How slippery and deceitful are the many! And how little fidelity and constancy are to be found among men! David had had the hearts of his subjects as much as ever any king had, and yet now, of a sudden, he had lost them. As people must not trust too much to princes (Psa 146:3), so princes must not build too much upon their interest in the people. Christ, the Son of David, had many enemies. When a great multitude came to seize him, when the crowd cried, Crucify him, Crucify him, how were those then increased that troubled him! Even good people must not think it strange if the stream be against them and the powers that threaten them grow more and more formidable. 2. That they were very malicious. They rose up against him; they aimed to trouble him; but that was not all: they said of his soul, There is no help for him in God. That is, (1.) They put a spiteful and invidious construction upon his troubles, as Job's friends did upon him, concluding that, because his servants and subjects forsook him thus and did not help him, God had deserted him and abandoned his cause, and he was therefore to be looked on, or rather to be looked off, as a hypocrite and a wicked man. (2.) They blasphemously reflected upon God as unable to relieve him: "His danger is so great that God himself cannot help him." It is strange that so great unbelief should be found in any, especially in many, in Israel, as to think any party of men too strong for Omnipotence to deal with. (3.) They endeavoured to shake his confidence in God and drive him to despair of relief from him: "They have said it to my soul;" so it may be read; compare Psa 11:1; Psa 42:10. This grieved him worst of all, that they had so bad an opinion of him as to think it possible to take him off from that foundation. The mere temptation was a buffeting to him, a thorn in his flesh, nay, a sword in his bones. Note, A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of help in God; you cannot vex him with any thing so much as if you offer to persuade him that there is no help for him in God. David comes to God, and tells him what his enemies said of him, as Hezekiah spread Rabshakeh's blasphemous letter before the Lord. "They say, There is no help for me in thee; but, Lord, if it be so, I am undone. They say to my soul, There is no salvation" (for so the word is) "for him in God; but, Lord, do thou say unto my soul, I am thy salvation (Psa 35:3) and that shall satisfy me, and in due time silence them." To this complaint he adds Selah, which occurs about seventy times in the book of Psalms. Some refer it to the music with which, in David's time, the psalms were sung; others to the sense, and that it is a note commanding a solemn pause. Selah - Mark that, or, "Stop there, and consider a little." As here, they say, There is no help for him in God, Selah. "Take time for such a thought as this. Get thee behind me, Satan. The Lord rebuke thee! Away with such a vile suggestion!"
II. With a profession of his dependence upon God, Psa 3:3. An active believer, the more he is beaten off from God, either by the rebukes of Providence or the reproaches of enemies, the faster hold he will take of him and the closer will he cleave to him; so David here, when his enemies said, There is no help for him in God, cries out with so much the more assurance, "But thou, O Lord! art a shield for me; let them say what they will, I am sure thou wilt never desert me, and I am resolved I will never distrust thee." See what God is to his people, what he will be, what they have found him, what David found in him. 1. Safety: "Thou art a shield for me, a shield about me" (so some), "to secure me on all sides, since my enemies surrounded me." Not only my shield (Gen 15:1), which denotes an interest in the divine protection, but a shield for me, which denotes the present benefit and advantage of that protection. 2. Honour: Thou art my glory. Those whom God owns for his are not safe and easy, but really look great, and have true honour put upon them, far above that which the great ones of the earth are proud of. David was now in disgrace; the crown had fallen from his head; but he will not think the worse of himself while he has God for his glory, Isa 60:19. "Thou art my glory; thy glory I reckon mine" (so some); "this is what I aim at, and am ambitious of, whatever my lot is, and whatever becomes of my honour - that I may be to my God for a name and a praise." 3. Joy and deliverance: "Thou art the lifter up of my head; thou wilt lift up my head out of my troubles, and restore me to my dignity again, in due time; or, at least, thou wilt lift up my head under my troubles, so that I shall not droop nor be discouraged, nor shall my spirits fail." If, in the worst of times, God's people can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that all shall work for good to them, they will own it is God that is the lifter up of their head, that gives them both cause to rejoice and hearts to rejoice.
In singing this, and praying it over, we should possess ourselves with an apprehension of the danger we are in from the multitude and malice of our spiritual enemies, who seek the ruin of our souls by driving us from our God, and we should concern ourselves in the distresses and dangers of the church of God, which is every where spoken again, every where fought against; but, in reference to both, we should encourage ourselves in our God, who owns and protects and will in due time crown his own interest both in the world and in the hearts of his people.
It is shown in various statements and examples of holy Scripture that God has used domestic disputes, rebellion and multiple disasters in the punishment of sin. The purpose of David was to chastise and to edify life through the psalm, so that no one would do evil, or violate the law of God or experience what befalls a sinner. David was fleeing his son because he had acted unchastely; he was fleeing his son because he had violated purity in marriage; he was fleeing his son because he had departed from the law of God, which says, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery.” … Many today wage wars in their homes; one is opposed by his wife, another is besieged by his son; one is ruled by a brother, and another by a slave; and each one is in anguish and afflicted. He fights, wages war and is harassed by war, and no one can understand why. But if he had not planted the seeds of sin, it would have never happened that thorny plants and prickly bushes would grow up in his home; if he had not hidden the glare of his sins, his home would not burn.
It is also necessary to indicate the difference between the term diapsalma and the song of the diapsalma, or in short what their meaning is. While diapsalma means a change of tune and alteration of rhythm, then, and not a shift in thought, as some commentators believed, so does song of the diapsalma, since frequently singers changed the tunes according to the availability of instruments. So it indicates alternation in styles and rhythms, not change in ideas. It is, in fact, ridiculous to mention anything else, though some commentators have come up with extraordinary notions, like the Spirit coming on the author at one time and withdrawing at another, which did not happen—perish the thought. I mean, the Holy Spirit did not grant the authors the grace of addressing the text in the manner the demons do to those unaware of what they are saying; rather, he implanted in their mind complete understanding, and on receiving this knowledge they gave voice to it to the extent of their capability, not uttering what they did not understand in the manner of the seers but having complete knowledge of the force of their words. As I said, therefore, the occurrences of diapsalma and songs of diapsalma are changes in rhythms and styles, not alterations in ideas. The movement of thought also reveals this: after the reference diapsalma you never find the following thought in opposition to what precedes, being instead sequential and consistent. Hence it is clear that the occurrence midstream of diapsalma involved no interruption to the thought of the text, instead perhaps altering the rhythm in keeping with the norms of music and rhythm applying at the time.
When the great David served as interpreter for the Spirit, he related in his song the things that he had previously learned, and if he was taught something additional while he was speaking, he submitted to the Spirit who was making the hearing of his soul resound and stopped the music, and when he was filled with these thoughts he related these matters, again entwining the words with the melody. One who has comprehended the term in a definition might say, then, that diapsalma is a pause that occurs suddenly in the midst of the singing of a psalm in order to receive an additional thought that is being introduced from God. Or, one might rather define it as follows. diapsalma is a teaching from the Spirit that occurs in a mysterious manner in the soul, when the attention given to this new thought impedes the continuity of the song.… In the third psalm he spoke first about the distress and hardship that occurred when his enemies “rose up against” him. Then he separated that part with the diapsalma and put his trust in the one who was causing that sound of salvation to resound mysteriously in him and said, “But you, Lord, are my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.” Again, when he has stopped the music, saying, in accordance with that gracious voice that he has made his own, “I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy mountain,” he is taught what the solution is for the hardship that is common to human ills. And after he has been taught the mystery related to the passion of the Lord in the sudden illumination of the Spirit, he assumes the character of the Lord and says, “I lay down and slept, and I was raised, because the Lord will help me.”
He who offers no grounds for hate and enmity may have enemies for no reason. Such are all who endure persecution because they live righteously for Jesus Christ. To these the Savior says, “Blessed are you when people revile you and when liars speak evil against you on account of me.” This is what happened when David had many enemies for no reason such as Saul and Absalom and those who accompanied them. For they attacked without cause him who was a righteous man and had often shown them much goodness and gentleness.
This psalm can pertain to David or to Christ, and through him to all the saints.
"O Lord, how are they multiplied that trouble me!" [Psalm 3:1]. So multiplied indeed were they, that one even from the number of His disciples was not wanting, who was added to the number of His persecutors.
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SUMMARY
Psalm 3:1 opens with a raw, immediate cry from King David, expressing profound distress and an overwhelming sense of being outnumbered by his adversaries. This initial lament, precisely contextualized by its superscription as David's flight from his rebellious son Absalom, encapsulates the shock, pain, and deep betrayal he experienced. It sets the stage for a psalm that courageously transitions from desperate anguish to an unwavering affirmation of trust in God, even when circumstances appear dire and hope seems distant.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalm 3:1 employs several powerful literary devices to convey David's anguish. The most prominent is Apostrophe, as David directly addresses "LORD" (Yahweh), immediately establishing a personal and intimate appeal to God in his distress. This direct address sets the tone for the entire psalm as a desperate yet faithful conversation with the divine. The verse also uses Hyperbole to convey the overwhelming nature of David's opposition; while the number of his enemies was certainly great, the phrasing "how are they increased... many are they" emphasizes the feeling of being utterly swamped rather than a precise count. This exaggeration effectively communicates David's emotional state of shock, despair, and the perceived impossibility of his situation. Furthermore, the verse functions as the Exposition of a Lament Psalm, introducing the central conflict and the speaker's anguish, which will then be followed by a plea for help and an expression of trust. The Superscription itself acts as a unique literary device, providing crucial historical and biographical context that enriches the reader's understanding of David's emotional and spiritual state, transforming a generic cry into a deeply personal and relatable narrative of betrayal and trust.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalm 3:1 lays bare the universal human experience of feeling overwhelmed and betrayed, even for those divinely chosen. Theologically, it affirms that lament is a valid and necessary component of faith; true piety does not suppress pain but brings it directly to God. David's immediate cry to the LORD, despite the apparent hopelessness of his situation, underscores the biblical principle that God is our first and ultimate refuge, regardless of the magnitude of our adversaries. This verse sets the stage for the psalm's profound move from anguish to an unwavering trust in God's protection and deliverance, demonstrating that even in the darkest valleys, faith finds its anchor in the sovereign power and faithfulness of Yahweh. It connects to the broader biblical narrative of God's people facing overwhelming odds, yet finding their strength and salvation in Him alone.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalm 3:1 offers profound encouragement and guidance for contemporary believers facing overwhelming challenges, betrayal, or a sense of being outnumbered by life's difficulties. It validates the raw human emotion of distress, showing that even a man after God's own heart, a king, experienced profound anguish and expressed it openly. Our instinct in crisis should be to follow David's example: to turn immediately to the LORD, pouring out our complaints and fears without reservation. This act of honest lament is not a sign of weakness but a powerful demonstration of faith, acknowledging God's sovereignty even over our most painful circumstances. It reminds us that our initial response to trouble should not be to strategize, despair, or lash out, but to bring our burdened hearts before the One who sees, hears, and is able to deliver. It encourages us to lay bare our deepest fears and vulnerabilities before God, trusting that He is both capable and willing to intervene.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is the superscription "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son" so important for understanding Psalm 3:1?
Answer: The superscription is critically important because it provides the essential historical and biographical context that unlocks the depth of David's anguish. Without it, Psalm 3:1 would simply be a generic lament about enemies. Knowing that David is fleeing from his own son, Absalom, as detailed in 2 Samuel 15-18, transforms the verse from a general complaint into a poignant expression of profound personal betrayal and public humiliation. It highlights the unique pain of a father being rejected and hunted by his own flesh and blood, making David's cry "how are they increased that trouble me!" all the more agonizing and relatable for anyone who has experienced deep personal hurt. This specific context amplifies the psalm's themes of trust in God amidst overwhelming and deeply personal adversity.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalm 3:1, with David's cry of overwhelming opposition and profound betrayal, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the life and passion of Jesus. David, the anointed king, suffering at the hands of his own people and even his son, powerfully foreshadows the ultimate suffering of the Son of David, Jesus Christ. Jesus, too, experienced a multitude of adversaries; indeed, "many... increased that trouble[d] Him" and "many... that [rose] up against Him," culminating in His passion. He was betrayed by a close disciple (Matthew 26:47-50), abandoned by His followers (Mark 14:50), and rejected by His own nation (John 1:11). Yet, unlike David, who fled, Jesus willingly faced His adversaries, trusting in His Father's ultimate redemptive plan. David's lament in Psalm 3:1 is a human cry for help, but Christ's suffering, though equally real, was a deliberate, redemptive act, absorbing the full weight of human sin and opposition. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus became the true "shield" and "glory" (Psalm 3:3) for all who trust in Him, offering deliverance from the ultimate enemies of sin, death, and the grave, thereby fulfilling David's hope in a way far grander than David could have ever imagined.