Former Blackout Artist

LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him. ” But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. – Psalm 3

Psalm 3 provides us a front row seat to a prayer from David to the Lord during one of the most stressful times in his life. His enemies greatly outnumbered him, and worst of all his own son wanted him dead. To the outside observer, it seemed that David’s reign might soon be coming to a tragic end.

But the entirety of King David’s life would be defined by his faithful and obedient response to God while in the midst of enormous pressure.

As we listen in on David’s lament to the Lord, the magnitude of his concern cannot be overstated. “Many are my foes; Many rise up against me. Many are saying that you, Lord, will forsake me.” It seems as if all of Israel have turned against him.

But then David reminds God that he has full trust in Him. “You, Lord, are my shield of protection; You are worthy of my glory; You, God, are the One who gives me the courage and strength to continue the fight. You hear me and you answer me from your heavenly throne. It is because of you that I rest peacefully at night without worry; and it is because of you that I awaken in the morning and have life.”

This is not to suggest that David wasn’t experiencing a fair level of anxiety. He was human after all. But David knew that the antidote to fear was to call upon the Lord in prayer and praise.

In this 3rd psalm of David, we can’t help but note the foreshadowing of another King approximately 1000 years later.

Jesus had many enemies who rise up against him. Many would mock him and exclaim that God would forsake him too. But Jesus had complete trust in His Father in heaven. He knew that God would protect him and keep him safe so that he could fulfill His Father’s will. He prayed to Him continuously with thanksgiving and praise. He slept peacefully, whether it was in a boat during a storm or with his enemies looking for every chance to have him killed. They laughed at him and said that God would never deliver him. And yet three days after they finally caught him, crucified him, and put him in the tomb, God would deliver him from death.

The Christian life will likewise come with enormous pressure. Perhaps not because we have 10,000 enemies closing in on us, but there will be moments of anxiety and fear. And when those anxieties and fears come, we can respond to them the same way David did, with prayer and praise to the Lord, our Sustainer and our Deliverer.

They said that God wouldn’t rescue David, but He did. They said that God wouldn’t rescue Jesus, but He did. And today, they say God will not rescue Jesus’ followers, but He will. And we know this because God rescued Jesus.