This psalm is compact, yet powerful prayer for deliverance.
“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.” (Psa 3:1-8)
David, while fleeing from his son Absalom, wrote this Psalm pleading for God to deliver him. I ended up reading 2 Sam 15 along side this Psalm and found it helpful for the broader context. The holy mountain he refers to is the Mount of Olives – the same place Jesus and his disciples would later go to pray and worship.
Side note: interestingly, the Mount of Olives is only mentioned twice outside of the Gospels and Acts: once in 2 Sam 15, and once in Zec 14, which is a prophesy of Jesus’ second coming. This does seem to be a holy mountain, only recorded in scripture as a place of prayer, worship, and refuge/escape – but that may be a longer topic…
Back to David, who not only seeks physical refuge, but spiritual and emotional refuge as well. He refers to God as “a shield around me”. Shields are an interesting piece of apparel – they work defensively, protecting the person from incoming harm, but they also work offensively as something with which you could strike an opponent and knock them off balance (or break their teeth maybe?).
David realizes that the Lord is His protector, champion, deliverer, and his provider – though David was not on this physical journey alone, he puts all of His trust in God. He notes that it’s the Lord who wakes him from sleep, and grants him sleep though there are armies surrounding him.
My prayer for today is that I rely on God for absolutely everything – every aspect of my life from my basic needs to my emotional and physical health. Not only that, but I need to put the well-being of others into His hands as well: “May your blessing be on your people” (v8) Just as David knew he couldn’t carry the nation of Israel on his own, I too must realize I can’t carry my friends and family on my own strength – God needs to be their primary support, and can work through me as He chooses.
~ Conqueror in Training