22. “Taking Refuge in the God Who Saves” (Psalm 3)

 

Psalm 3

I was intending to preach a different Psalm this morning – at least earlier this summer as I was thinking about Psalms we might look at together. 

But as I was reflecting on some of the Psalms we’ve considered so far this summer –  This Psalm really spoke to me – A few weeks ago we looked at Psalm 1 and then two weeks ago – Psalm 2 – and these two I said form an introduction to the whole book – They give us what we need to read and pray the rest of the Psalms – the first Psalm orients us to this way of wisdom – a life rooted in the Love of God and his word – having God’s word filling their mind and directing their steps; the second Psalm points us to God’s promised king and urges us – in a world with so many troubles –  seek refuge in God and God’s king.  

And – in Psalm 3 – we see David doing this very thing.  So many of the Psalms are written out of experiences of deep pain and struggle, with the harsh realities of suffering and evil in the world – with times when we are brought low and we feel despair – like last week when MacKenzie helped us consider Psalm 42. 

In Psalm 3 – we see David – taking refuge in God.  We see a person facing incredibly challenging circumstances, and yet he is rooted in the love of God – and he takes shelter in the God who saves. 

(outline) I’d like us to look at this Psalm this morning first connecting our lives to the situation David is facing, and then using this Psalm to help us to see how we can take refuge in God.  

If you have your Bible or bulletin out, that will be helpful – look with me first at how David describes what’s going on – 

In Psalm 3 – notice the repetition of the word “many.”  V. 1

O LORD, how many are my foes!

Many are rising against me;

2 many are saying of my soul,

“There is no salvation for him in God.”

You get the feeling of this growing pressure – there is a growing multitude who are against David.  When we get to v. 6 – we see the word “many” again – and now it is many thousands who have surrounded David all around… enemies with teeth who want to devour him….   

You could imagine how the pressure and pain of a situation like this would be soul crushing….

Now, initially it might not seem like this connects to your life at all.  

At various points in my life – I naively would have said – I don’t have enemies – by that  I meant – my situation is nothing like David’s – and we’ll get into the specifics in a min – 

but – I don’t have people trying to kill me or going around spreading lies about me – trying to me down or do harm to me.  But I say this is naïve – – because if we will listen, the Bible opens up our eyes to the existence of this kind of pressure that is very real – Jesus tells us – “In this world you will face trouble” – and we know that sometimes that trouble surrounds our lives bringing crushing pressure.  

If we will listen to what the Scriptures say, they speak openly about  the reality of spiritual enemies – real evil in the world – dark spiritual powers – remember Eph 6 – how we began the service – just a little over a month ago Geoff preached on that text as we wrapped up our study in Ephesians. Spiritual evil is real – spiritual evil is at work in the world.  The Bible is very straight forward about the reality of Satan and evil spiritual powers at work in the world – seeking to destroy God’s good creation and in particular people made in God’s image –  We have enemies.  

And the Bible calls death – ‘the last enemy” – 

It’s very easy  to live significant parts of life like death is a reality out there – but not a personal reality for me – how surprised we are when all of a sudden deteriorating health, or a diagnosis, or the death of a loved one hits home hard for us.

It’s not a stretch to connect our lives to what’s being described in Ps 3 – some of us have people in our lives that have caused deep hurt and harm to us – you’ve experienced abuse, or someone has spread damaging lies about you, or someone you thought was a friend betrayed you, or someone who said they would never leave has forsaken you – 

All of us face the pressures and sufferings of life in a broken world – all of us face the reality of spiritual evil whether we acknowledge it or not, all of us have the last enemy – death – ready for us with it’s devouring teeth.  

Do you have a refuge?  Who or what can keep you, protect you, save you when everything falls apart?  

Let’s consider David’s situation: 

If you look at the superscript of Psalm 3, often printed as small font at the beginning of many of the Psalms in your English Bible – it reads – A Psalm of David, When He Fled From Absalom His Son.  

The awful situation referenced here is recorded in 2 Sam 15 and following.  One of David’s sons, Absalom, stages a coup – he seeks to suddenly overthrow his Father as the king and take over.  For many years Absalom had been conspiring against his Father, David the king.  Absalom got up early in the morning and would position himself at the city gate – then when anyone would come to try and seek the king asking for help with a legal judgment as they did in that time, Absalom would make David look incompetent – he would say that there was no official from David they could talk to – But that he, Absalom – would help to make the situation right.  He would say to people looking for justice and help – if only I were in charge – I would give good and fair judgments to all who came to me.  

Little by little, Absalom did things like this to steal the hearts of the people.  And then at the right time, he sends secret messengers to the tribes of Israel and proclaims himself to be King.  And as the people come around and begin to support Absalom as king, David is forced to flee Jerusalem – to leave his throne and his home.  

NOW – Try to imagine how devastating and painful this would be.  David’s done the on the run thing before, but that was earlier in his life.  He’s at a point in his life now where he has enjoyed a period of time as the rightful king.  It’s like he’s made it.  But now all this is being taken away.  

Maybe you could imagine yourself – you’ve worked so hard, you’ve given yourself to your career, you’ve done the years of schooling, you’ve lived on a shoe string budget, you’ve put in long hours and late nights, finally you arrive and you’re beginning to taste and enjoy the fruit of your labors, you’ve hit the sweet spot in your life BUT THEN and all of a sudden your company goes belly up, OR something happens at your job that you get blamed for, maybe it’s not even your fault, your name is dragged through the mud…. And your career is over.  You thought you had arrived, but now it’s all gone.  

But then add to this – David’s been betrayed, he’s been conspired against, he’s been stabbed in the back….and it’s none other than his very own son.  A son who David would have held in his arms as a baby, a son who David would have known as he grew up – taking first steps, growing into a young boy, and then a young man, and now this son, wants to overthrow his father….. he wants to kill David.  

Some of us know this kind of pain in broken family relationships, where something has happened to ruin and destroy the vision for what we longed for in our family – perhaps even some of us have experienced betrayal or rejection from someone close to us…. 

It seems as if Every earthly pleasure, every comfort has vanished for David.  It’s like everything in his life is crumbling.

This is a doomsday kind of situation….. 

What’s your worst nightmare?  When you let your mind go with worry or anxiety, when you doomsday and think about what might happen, the worst that could happen….. what is that for you?      

This is what is actually happening in David’s life….. 

AND what does David do?  What do we see in this Psalm – 

We see him taking Refuge in God – 

First – consider the result – what David is able to do in this doomsday situation – in all this – David is able to have peace – David can get a good night’s rest.  Look at v. 5 – 

One Hebrew Scholar (Motyer) paraphrases the beginning of v. 5 like this – 

“Imagine me, placed as I am, getting a good night’s sleep.” 

Sleeping is one of the most vulnerable things we do.  Any scary movie where things happen to people when they sleep or in their sleep is playing off this basic observation and truth – when we sleep, we are vulnerable.  And the fact that every day we need to sleep, ideally 8 hrs about 1/3 of the day, is a constant reminder of how little control we have, how vulnerable we are.  

We can’t be in control, we can’t be the one’s who protect ourselves, who guard ourselves ….. every time your head hits the pillow it is a reminder that you are vulnerable….

David’s on the run.  David has many thousands of enemies against him rising against him…..And yet, David is able to sleep.    

How is this possible?  You would think his mind would be so full and so busy with worry, with anxiety, with anger, with deep hurt. 

Here’s what makes all the difference for David – 

1. 3 of our Psalm – in the midst of all that’s going on – there is a deliberate contrast, a deliberate turn – 

But you, O LORD (LORD all in caps, is the Hebrew of God’s personal name Yahweh, the name associated with God’s covenant – – this isn’t just any God – This is the God who has revealed himself in Scripture – who has freely chosen to bind himself to his people, making promises and demonstrating his faithfulness in history.)  

David says – “But YOU, Yahweh – are a shield about me,”

The image of the shield is something used frequently in the Psalms.  Because again and again the Psalms remind us – we are vulnerable.  And in this broken world, a world with enemies, with sickness and disease, with war, with sorrow and loss and pain…… YOU NEED A SHIELD.  YOU NEED A REFUGE…. YOU NEED A PROTECTOR…. 

David says to Yahweh – 

You Yahweh are my glory, and the lifter of my head. 

In Hebrew, the word for glory is a word that means “weighty.”  Something that has glory is heavy, it is weighty, it is important, it really matters.  

In our lives we search for glory and we are after glory because we want our lives to matter, we want them to be significant.  We don’t want empty lives, weightless or meaningless lives.  

To use an image from Psalm 1 – we don’t want lives that in the end amount to nothing and are scattered by the wind…….We want glory. We want rootedness and flourishing and depth.  

And the problem of seeking for glory in this world – the Hard reality and Truth that David is experiencing is that the things in this world can and will decay, they can be taken, they can betray, they can and will eventually die and be lost.  

We all need a shield –  What’s your shield – Where do you look for your protection, the thing that makes your life safe?  Is it God?  or is it something in this world…..

We all desire and long for glory –  What’s your glory? What do you hope will give your life in the end a weightiness; what will make it last and have significance? 

What the Scriptures repeatedly show us and what we see in this Psalm is that…..

In a world that is broken, in a world with real evil – it is only the LORD, Yahweh, the Creator who can sustain you and keep you and lift your head and be your glory that will never fail…. 

At this point in his life – David’s earthly glory seems like it’s lost, But David has peace because the one who is his glory is Yahweh.  

This is why David cries out to the LORD v. 4 

I cried aloud to the LORD,

And v.7    Arise, O LORD!

Save me, O my God!

Because the LORD can answer.  Because God transcends this world.  His life, his being is not stuck in this world and subject to the brokenness of this world.  And yet the infinitely great Creator cares about this world, cares about the details of your life and my life and can answer from his Holy Hill, he can come down and deliver;  he can work salvation for his people.  

1. 8 Salvation belongs to Yahweh, who is committed to blessing his people.  

Do you believe that? Is that real to you? 

You see, David is awake and in tune with reality.  His belief in God goes deeper than agreeing with the fact that God exists – Who God is, what God has promised, has gone deep into David’s heart and life – we see a man living his life – rooted in the love of God – in the shelter of God’s promises – moment by moment in his distress.  

When your life is rooted in the Love of God and when God is your refuge it is possible for God to be more real, more weighty than the enemies surrounding you.  It’s possible to experience the supernatural peace and hope that flows from seeking refuge in God that is more real and more weighty than all the other stuff happening in your life.    

With the remaining time, I want us to consider one specific application we can see from Psalm 3 of the difference seeking refuge God makes, one specific example of how God being your shield and glory can transform your life.  

And it’s this – how seeking refuge in God changes the way you deal with the voice of condemnation.  

Notice in v. 2  where David writes –  many are saying of my soul,

“There is no salvation for him in God.”

The voice of condemnation speaks to you at your core – your soul, your life.  The voice says something like this: you’re obviously disqualified from God’s help – look at what’s happening in your life, it’s hopeless, there’s no help from God in this.  

In the historical situation of 2 Sam, at least one example of this voice of condemnation is from a man named Shimei.  

2 Sam 16 as David and those loyal to him are leaving Jerusalem, heading off into the wilderness, into exile, Shimei follows David along the hillside opposite him, cursing him, throwing stones at him, kicking and flinging dust at him, shouting at David, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! The LORD has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul…. The LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom.  Your evil is on you……. You deserve this David, this is what you get for all you’ve done…..”  

Do you know what it’s like to hear that voice – it could be from someone else – it could also just be the voice in your own head.  

this attack of condemnation, of accusation – can find various places to grab hold of in our lives.  

It can attack through doubt – doubt perhaps that there really is a God or if there is that this God would actually care at all about you.  

It can attack you at our core through guilt, something you’ve done – and it says to you – there’s no help for you in God….. you did this to yourself….. all that’s happening to you is really your fault.  

It can attack us through our shame -– of course this is happening to you, you deserve it, you’ve always been different, broken, messed up, this is just what I deserve.  

And where do you think are we most susceptible to this voice of condemnation? 

When things are going wrong in our lives, right? When things turn and go bad,  that’s when it’s easiest for us to spiral and live as if the voice of condemnation is true. 

How many of us in a situation like David would just spiral?  Spiral into self-condemnation. Whatever failure, whatever hardship – in school or career, in a broken marriage or issues with our kids – to just spiral – “I’m such a failure, I’m such a looser, Look at what I’ve done, of course this is happening to me…”  

David doesn’t do this.  And listen…….David doesn’t do this, despite knowing with clarity that this situation he is in actually is a direct result of his own sin.  

If you know David’s story, you know that just a few chapters before this event with Absalom, in 2 Sam ch. 11 – David sins by committing adultery a woman named Bathsheba and then has her husband murdered in battle to try and cover it up.  And God, through Nathan the prophet, confronts David about his sin.

And in 2 Sam 12:10-11 – God says, because you’ve done this thing – the sword will never depart from your house… I will raise up evil against you out of your own house…… 

David had utter clarity that this situation is actually fall out from his own sin.   And yet even here – he does not spiral – he looks to the LORD, he entrusts himself to the LORD, 

Because here’s the question we have to be able to answer, THE question David can answer,  – What’s greater: my sin?  OR the grace and mercy and salvation of God?  What defines my core – my failure?  OR God my shield and my glory, and the lifter of my head?   WHO GETS THE FINAL WORD ON MY LIFE?    For David, the answer is crystal clear – it’s God.  

Wouldn’t it be great to have that level of clarity, that kind of confidence and hope in God?  

You can.  In fact, you have even more reason than David did to have this confidence and hope – 

Because of Jesus.   Whenever we read the Psalms – we not only read them like this morning – about the original writer and their situation – we are meant to hear the Psalms on the lips of Jesus – our God and King.  Jesus lived this Psalm.  

Think of Jesus, God in person in our world – in the midst of the storm on the sea – as the disciples are freaking out thinking they are about to die – Jesus – trusting in God – is able to sleep.  

Think of Jesus –  standing trial before Pontius Pilate, surrounded by the crowds, surrounded by many enemies….. – O LORD, how many are my foes, many are rising against me, many thousands have set themselves against me all around.  

Think of Jesus, crucified, hanging on the cross, surrounded by people mocking him, ridiculing him, condemning him….. 

Do you remember what they said – “Save yourself!   If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.  He saved others, he cannot save himself.  He is the king of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” (Matt 27:40ff)

Think of Jesus facing all this –  and yet he entrusts himself to the Father.  

He doesn’t just go to sleep and wakes the next morning – he goes to death.  But God raised him from the dead – Jesus cried out to God – God his shield, his glory, the one who lifts his head and God answered.  

God is the God who saves.  He is the God who is committed to blessing his people and we see in Jesus in his resurrection the ultimate vindication and ultimate rebuke of the enemies that would stand against us.  

If God is for us like this – who can be against us?   Who can condemn?  Who can bring a charge?   No one.  

Our sin has been forever dealt with through the abounding grace and love of God in Jesus.  

The power of death has been broken through the resurrection of Jesus.  The awfulness of death has been defanged.  

This is the God who says – come and seek refuge in me.  Root your life in my steadfast love and mercy.  Look to me and trust me to be your protection, your glory.  I am faithful, my promises are true.

What pressures are you facing this morning?  Where do you feel the brokenness of the world closing in on you?    Where is there guilt and shame, voices of condemnation speaking against you?  Or what about the reality of death that is before you…

Pray these words – let David lead you – a man who knew failure and sin and struggle – but trusted God …. And experienced peace and rest through God.  

Pray these words and let Jesus lead you …. The Son of God who took flesh and lived this Psalm – for you, for me – through him we can know God as our refuge – we can know – the God who saves.