The World Against Me – I Trust You to Save

Psalm 3

Transcript:

Dr. Stewart
The world against me, I trust you to save. That’s Psalm 3. Have you ever felt like everyone is against you? Have you had times like that? I had a time when I was early on in my career as a physician and I was sued by a patient, over a baby I delivered. And I can tell you, I felt very alone and isolated, felt like everyone’s looking at me. It wasn’t necessarily true. I have a patient and supportive wife who stood by me, even though it was difficult, and it was long, took years to resolve. I had a defense attorney, through my malpractice company, he was an advocate that came along and he actually defended me and encouraged me and protected me in the process, very thankful for him.

You know, there’s those who feel not only like people are against me, but like the whole world as against me. Can you think of any figures in Christianity that have had the world against them? Martin Luther comes to mind. Eric Metaxes wrote about this in a biography of Luther. And he says it’s widely agreed that Luther’s stand at Worms…that that sounds a little bit like a bad horror movie doesn’t it, but Worms is a place in Germany. It is where Luther refused to recant his writings before the authorities of the Catholic Church and the empire of his day and he said, “to go against conscience is neither safe nor right”. And in his final statement, “here I stand, I can do no other”. In taking this stand before the assembled powers of the Empire, against the theological and political players of his day, it was therefore against the whole medieval world. This was one of the most significant moments in human history. Luther was declared a heretic by the king and the Pope. He was a mark man. He would be hunted in order to execute him on the spot or the bring him back before the Pope for the same outcome. Luther was on his way back to Wittenberg with some loyal friends who kidnapped him and took him to a remote location to hide him from his pursuers. You gotta love those guys, that even in the thick of things, they stand by you, to protect you, to help you. We see guys like this in the story that we’re going to tell later. When the going gets tough, your friends stick by you.

Second example, Tom mentioned this guy a few weeks ago, a well known guy…not really…named Athanasius, born more than 1000 years before Luther, born in 296, he was considered a church father. He became a bishop in Alexandria, Egypt. Now, if you think about the church, does your mind go to Egypt? Not really, right, not North Africa. I thought Europe, Middle East, but not North Africa. But it was. Early in Athanasius career there was fighting within the church due to heresy. So the Roman Emperor Constantine asked all the bishops to get together, to put together a doctrinal statement in order to bring order and structure to the church. 300 bishops gathered and the result was the Nicene Creed, which corrected heresy started by a man named Arius, who brought into question the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ, that Jesus is both fully God and fully man and that the Trinity, Father/Son/Holy Spirit, are three in one. Both are foundational truths, absolutely foundational, for the church. There’s a shorter version of the Nicene Creed. You may have heard it or even said it, called the Apostles Creed. Have you heard of that? Did you say that a few times when you were growing up? I said that every Sunday when I was a young church goer and faithful, but that didn’t last. I think it’s useful to hear this. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic…that’s not Roman Catholic, universal…church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Athanasius helped write these truths down. Now this is a good summary of essential truth. He signed it, and so did Arius, the heretic, who oppose that. But after Constantine died, Arius gained power, and his heretical views spread. Athanasius had to go into exile. He was a bishop for 45 years, but he spent nearly 20 of that in exile. Five times he was exiled, he had to leave once for seven years. But he stood firm. During that time, he would continue to write and to preach and share his beliefs. And during that time, the world of his day opposed him. He was a good pastor and his people loved him. And he loved his people. It was clear. When he went into exile, a new Bishop would be put in place, but the people would say, he’s not our Bishop, we want Athanasius back. And five times, he came back. The people were glad. So during his lifetime, he devoted his entire life to speaking and writing about these foundational truths and the tide didn’t turn during his lifetime. But about a decade after his death, the Nicene Creed was adopted as the doctrine of the Christian church and it’s remained that way for 16 centuries, pretty substantial. Thank God for men who stand up for faith and their faithful followers who help and encourage them.

It’s a lot like Psalm 3. Psalm 3 is meant to be sung. It’s written by David and there are four parts to this and we’ll go through them as we unpack this. First, I want to go through a little background as to what was happening. If you read you’re heading in your Bible, what was happening at the time of this Psalm? Absalon, David’s son, was after him and David is fleeing from Absalon. Who is David? The King. Okay, what was his job before that? A shepherd boy, from shepherd boy to King of Israel. Who made him the king? God through Samuel, who anointed him. That’s in 1 Samuel 16. At the time there was another king named Saul, he was tall and handsome. And he seemed like he would have made a great king, but there was a problem with Saul. Do you remember what it was? Pride. He didn’t listen to God and do what he said. He didn’t obey God. And so he was rejected. So God’s looking for a new man. What do you think God looks for in this new man? Let’s read it together. 1 Samuel 7:16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” David was a man after God’s own heart, a shepherd boy who played the lyre and sang to God, 1 Samuel 16:23. God made a covenant with David, an everlasting covenant, 2 Samuel 7:12-15, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your own body, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Who does that talk about? It’s Jesus. It’s given to David but it’s his descendant, his offspring, who would be Jesus Christ. Continuing on. “I will be to Him a father and he will be to me a son. When he commits iniquity,” Who is that talking about? That’s David. Because Jesus was sinless, he had no sin. “I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as it did from Saul.” My steadfast love will not depart from him. So did David sin? Yeah, in a big way, committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered to hide it and to keep her for himself. Does God discipline him? Yeah, 2 Samuel 12:11, Nathan, the Prophet, says to David, “but I will raise up evil against you out of your own house”. And that’s what we’re seeing here in our Psalm. So God promised to judge David but he also promised that his steadfast love would not depart from him. Both things are true. Absalon is David’s son, who was banished for killing his brother Amnon, a man who raped his sister, Tamar. That sounds like evil in David’s house doesn’t it. Absalon runs away to another country for three years. He’s fearful of what his father will do when he comes back. David mourns for his son while he’s an exile. Eventually David’s convinced to let his son Absalom come back. Absalom comes back. And over a process of a few years, he undermines his dad and gathers followers to himself. In 2 Samuel 16:6, it says Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. He then plants seeds of distrust and more and more people flocked to him and Absalom comes with an army to overthrow David and take over, to become the new king. He plans to kill David. 2 Samuel 17:1-3 says the messenger comes to Dave and it tells him the hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalon. David flees for his life. And that’s where we are, Psalm 3.

Psalm 3, “O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, ‘there is no salvation for him in God’. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people!

So this comes in four parts. The first two verses are the first part. And if I had to put a heading on it, I’d say Desperate. “Oh Lord, how many are my foes, many are rising up against me.” There are thousands that became Absalon supporters. David’s army had progressively decreased and with it, his protection. The conspiracy was strong. Can you imagine being surrounded as they’re coming, thousands of enemies? We’ve seen that before in the Old Testament. 2 Kings 6, Elisha and his servant are surrounded by the Syrian army, horses and chariots. And the response in Elisha’s servant is terror. What are we going to do? We’re dead. We are dead man. There is nothing we can do. Elisha says this, don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are greater than those who were with them. Then he prayed. Please open his eyes, Lord that he may see. The servant saw the mountain around them full of horses and chariots of fire. See thousands of men, military might, not a problem for God. Psalm 3:1, David bares his soul to God, telling Him of his fears. It’s a good example for us when we’re in distress, we need to pour it out to God. Calvin said, the only remedy for quieting our fears is to cast all your cares upon God who cares for you.

Verse 2, “many are saying of my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.” This is a particularly barbed comment. This hurt David deeply as a man after God’s own heart. He had trusted God for decades and been delivered over and over again. He had been raised up from a shepherd boy to become king. To now say, you’re beyond hope, there is no salvation in God for you. It’s a slap in the face. This could be from those who knew David, he’s getting old, his son was strong and young. He had no hope before this strong young army. That’s one thought but I think more likely it could be they’re referring to his past sins. David had a past and God had even said through his prophet that evil was going to come against David from his own house, he would be judged. And they may see this as no hope for David. God’s abandoned him because of his past his Red Letter sins. What do I mean by Red Letter sins? It’s the marquee sins, the ones that people really look at and talk about like murder, adultery, those are Red Letter sins, too wicked to forgive. Sounds like karma but there’s no such thing as karma. But David had repented of his past sins. He was a broken man before God we see that in Psalm 51:1-4, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly for my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, and you only, have a sinned and done what is evil on your side.” God forgave David. That’s a radical forgiveness. It’s radical. This world doesn’t like that forgiveness. This world doesn’t accept that forgiveness many times. But God does that. He cleansed away his sin, he made his heart right. In fact, he says He created in him a clean heart and He renewed a right spirit within him. There is no sin too bad for God to forgive, not murder, not adultery, not self murder. I hear many people say that suicide is the unforgivable sin. It’s not true. God can forgive anyone who sincerely confesses their sin and trusts him, trusts his plan. We know that forgiveness does not take away the consequences of our sin. And David is broken by the effect of sin within his own family. We see the results of that here. Even though he repented, David will lose another son due to this rebellion.This breaks David’s heart but God never stopped loving David. As he told us in God’s covenant with him, his steadfast love would never depart. God has not abandoned Dave but God is with him even in the middle of his dysfunctional family. I don’t know about you, but we certainly have experienced a dysfunctional family. We are a dysfunctional family. Let’s say that. There’s been many dark events that are brought my wife and I in tears before the throne. And just like here, God, in that process was with us. God did not abandon us, God’s love did not depart from us, He loved us. And if you’re going through trial and difficulty, God is with you. God loves you if your His child, just like here with David.

Second section, verses 3 and 4, I would titled this Confidence. “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me.” There is a shift in focus from his circumstances to God. The Lord is a shield. The word Lord here is Jehovah. The Almighty I AM, in the battle, a shield to protects you. When I think of a shield, I think of a shield that comes around us and protects us from what’s coming at us. Do you think about it that way? But this has the idea that it’s about you. It’s like a 360 degree shield, all around you, and there’s a top and a bottom. So you’re completely protected, all around coverage, complete. Total protection like a force field shield, like in the Avengers, I suppose. I’m in the center, nothing can touch me. That’s pretty important when we deal not only with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, with the fiery darts of the wicked who knows our weaknesses. When we deal with the trials that rain down upon us, you alone are my glory David says. Now this is from a king. What are most kings like? Are they humble people or are they prideful people? Kings are really arrogant, it’s usually all about their own glory, right? That’s not what David says here. He speaks about the Lord and His glory alone. And the Lord will defend the royal dignity of King David. Watch out enemies who are trying to harm the Lord’s anointed. When you do that, it does not go well. Remember, David’s attitude against King Saul, who is trying to harm David, trying to pin him to the wall with the spear. David could have retaliated a couple times and taken Saul out. But instead he says this, I will not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed. He would not touch the king placed there by God. He’s not about to do that. To do that is to go against God, 1 Samuel 26:9, 11. David knew that though he had to flee Jerusalem, he trusted God, that he would return to his throne. He starts out, if you read the narrative in Samuel, he’s a bit questioning, like IF we get there, we pray that God will show favor on us. But he ends with great confidence. And though the Kings head is bent as he flees, as he knows the wicked plot against him, as his own son is against him, as thousands are pursuing to take him out. He knows, verse 3, that Jehovah is the “lifter of my head”. He will bring my head back up high again as he restores me. Maybe you’re in the middle of trial or sin. If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, these things are true for you. He is your shield, your glory, the lifter of your head. He will protect you. He will restore your dignity and your life that sin is taken down, as we repent and confess the way David did, with a contrite and broken heart. He will lift up your head from hanging down in sorrow and pain, he is Jehovah, The Great I AM. Lean on him. Trust Him.

Verse four, “I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill”. As David is fleeing, people are watching and all the people are in tears. The high priest brings out the Ark out of the city, following David with the Ark, it’s like, You’re the king, the Ark has got to go with you. And David’s like, take it back. You can’t bring the Ark out. It’s got to go back to Jerusalem. But you know, if you thought the Ark was the presence of God, some might be saying, Is David saying he doesn’t want God to go with them? But David has another truth that he knows. He knows that God IS with him. He knows he doesn’t need the Ark. It’s not Raiders of the Lost Ark, where if you have the Ark, you’re gonna win the war, right. That’s kind of what they thought though, but that’s not the way God operates. He let the Ark go back. In fact, he commands the Ark to go back. And his intention is, he’s gonna be back as well. David knows, even though God’s presence is in the Ark, it’s also with him. The Ark is not required for David to pray and worship. He’s weeping as he crosses the Brook Kidron, as he goes up the Mount of Olives. Ever heard of anybody going that route before? Yeah, that’s the same route Jesus took before he went to the cross. Everyone is heartbroken. I’m sure in the palace, David had a prayer closet. He used to go and pour out his heart to God. But he can’t do that now. God’s not less likely to hear us in our day if we come to him wherever we’re at. David was out in the open, on the run. And he comes to God praying, right now, in this prayer. We can do the same in our day. We need to cast all our cares upon him, no matter where we’re at. No matter if we’re in a crowd, or in our car, or at work, or at the coffee shop. We can come to God, we can pray to Him. It’s God’s presence that makes the difference. And God responds to a broken and a contrite heart. Notice he answers from his holy hill and there is no delay, God answers immediately. And he does to us. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait. As we pray He’s faithful to answer. Have you seen answers to your prayers? Have we seen answers? We pray together on Thursdays and there’s so many things on the list where God’s come through. He answers from his holy hill. Is that heaven? Or is that Zion? It depends on which commentator you read. Both of those can be true at different times. But God answers when we cry out and he hears us from his throne room. We have access that the Old Testament saints could not foresee or understand. But clearly David sees himself as not far off from God, but right up close to God. And he cries out believing that his loud prayers, see that in verse 4, “I creid aloud to God”. I want Him to hear this. Those prayers will pierce the darkness and the turmoil and reach the ear of God. There is a confidence in David’s cry. Hebrews 4:6 tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need. We can do that. Anywhere, anytime, come before God boldly into his throne room. What a privilege.

He follows up these sections with this little word Selah. And what Selah means is interesting, nobody quite agrees completely. A lot of people say it’s a pause, like in a musical, like a full rest. It’s a pause in the music. Others say it means to lift up your voice, whether that’s volume or octave, I don’t know. But I like the pause, pause to emphasize.

Verse five, this section, erses five and six, I would title Peace without Fear. “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.” David’s, imagine this, David’s relaxed and calm, even in the heat of fleeing for his life. He has sweet sleep after he prays and gives it to God. Good idea. If you have trouble sleeping, maybe that’s a strategy. Satan sure doesn’t want to keep you awake if you are gonna be praying, that’s for sure. This is a God thing. It’s not our natural tendency. We see Jesus in the storm, on the Sea of Galilee and have to wake him up, in the in the boat. He’s not concerned. He’s not worried or upset. He’s resting in his Father’s arms. And then he calms the storm. He takes care of them. In Psalm 127:2, “he gives sleep to his beloved”. You know, that’s a sweet promise, isn’t it? He gives sleep to his beloved. You know, when I climb into bed at night, I often tell my wife, this is a great place. It’s a blessing. I think there’s going to be sleep in heaven, or at least the equivalent. I mean, I know there’s things to do, and you don’t want to miss out. But rest is sweet. He talks about eternal rest. Maybe it’s just something that will be part of us. I don’t know. If we’re awake or asleep, it is God who sustains us. You remember this old prayer. They would teach children this prayer. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wait…wait a minute. I could die!! Wow. Talk about anxiety producing prayer. That’s for kids right before bed. That does not sound good. But this is true, right? God sustains our heartbeat, our breathing while we sleep. We should thank him. But I know I don’t thank Him every morning. Maybe we should say, God thank you that I’m alive again today. It could have not been so. He sustains us.

Verse 6, after David has prayed and entrusted himself to God. He will not be afraid, even though thousands of people are after him. Thousands of men, soldiers, they’ve set themselves up against me. It reminds me of other obstacles David had experienced. Had David had any obstacles in his life? Remember when the Israelites were afraid of this great big guy. His name was Goliath, over nine feet tall. And, if the commentators were going on about this, it would go something like… the odds on this fight are about 1000 for Goliath and zero for David. That’s the odds here, there’s no chance that he’s coming out of this alive. But David did not see it that way. How did David see it? The battle is the Lord’s and this is just a giant. I’ve got the living God on my side. I’ve tackled the bear and the lion before. This Goliath, he’s going down. That’s faith. He’s got a track record with God. God had delivered him before even though he was an old guy now. He could handle these young enemies, no matter how many of them are, with God.

Verse 7, last section, fourth part. I title this Complete Trust. Note that there’s a shift. You know, in the beginning, the first two verses, we talked about him being in desperation. And now we’re going to see the rising of the sovereign King, not David, but God. David has confidence in God. Verse 7, “Arise, O Lord.” MacArthur says, This is a battle cry to engage the enemy and defend his soldiers. He calls God to be active, no longer looking on, but he wants him to go after them. Arise, O Lord, Jehovah, the captain of the armies of heaven. Spurgeon says, This is a call for God to show up, either in wrath or favor. Here it is in wrath. And Steven Charnock says, All his power shall be exercised in punishing and none in pitying. Oh, that every obstinate center would think of this and consider how great is his boldness and thinking of himself able to grapple with omnipotence. Wow. God’s infinite power! I’m sure Absalon didn’t think about it that way. That he’s going against an all powerful God. How about us when we go against God? Do you ever do that? Wow. What am I thinking? You know, that’s kind of ludicrous and stupid, isn’t it, that we would go against God. But we do.

“Save me, Oh, God. For you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked.” This verse struck me, pun intended. God punched them in the mouth and with such power that he broke their teeth. He could have taken their head off. But he does and he’s comparing them to wild beasts that would bite and devour him. Their teeth represent their strength and the instruments of their cruelty. By breaking their teeth out he takes away their power to harm people. He disables them. A toothless jaw is not very intimidating. Big dog, toothless jaw, not a problem. Unless it’s one of those Rottweilers that’ll sit on you . Galatians warns us not to bite and devour one another. What happens to Absalon? David’s men go into battle, 2 Kings 18, David commands his men to “deal gently for my sake with my son Absalon”. But he’s asking them to deal gently with an insurrectionist, a guy who has committed treason, who’s tried to take over in a military coup, the government. During the battle Absalom gets caught in an oak tree, by his neck. He can’t get out. He’s dangling there between heaven and earth. One of David’s commanders, Joab, kills him. He doesn’t obey David’s command. But he believes he’s doing the best thing for the country. David and the people mourn and David returns to Jerusalem as the King, his regal dignity restored.

Verse 8, salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation in this story of David means deliverance from David’s enemies. That it’s from God alone. What does salvation mean to us? What are we delivered from? Sin, we’re saved from our sins. Sin would certainly condemn us and take us to hell and take us away from God. I’ve got a quote by Spurgeon. You know, when I was in college, I went to a kid’s camp in the summer. And at the kids camp, there was a director and the director of the kids camp gave me a book, because he knew I was a Calvinist. And I was thinking and arguing a bit with him about that doctrine. And he claimed that Spurgeon was an Armenian, based on the book that he gave me and he quoted. I read the book and saw those quotes in the book. There’s a lot of free offer of the gospel in Spurgeon his writings, but he’s not an Armenian. I’ve read his biography. Listen to Spurgeon here and see what he says, “This verse contains the sum and substance Calvinistic doctrine.” He’s talking about verse 8, Salvation belongs to the Lord. “Search the scripture through, and you must, if you read it with candid mind be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is the great doctrine of the Word of God, the great doctrine of the Word of God. This is a point concerning which we are daily fighting. Our opponents say, salvation belongs to the free will of man, if not to man’s merit, yet at least to man’s will. But we hold and teach that salvation first to last, every iota of it belongs to the Most High God. It is God that chooses his people. He calls them by His grace, he quickens them by His Spirit and keeps them by his power. It is not a man, neither by man, not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that shows mercy.” In the last part of verse 8, “your blessings be on your people!” But for Absalon, the insurrection was trying to overturn God’s eternal plan. The people would not be blessed but cursed under Absalon, in fact, the result of this insurrection 20,000 men died trying to take out David. But David’s returned to Jerusalem, to take the throne back, was part of God’s greater plan, through which David’s descendant, the Messiah, would come to save his people from their sins. Who’s that? Who are those people? That’s us. This is the greatest possible blessing, to bring us to Jesus Christ, to be in his kingdom forever.

I’d like to take just a minute, there’s a number of commentators that say that parts of the Psalm are a Messianic Psalm. So I just want to take a look at a couple things. Could you read verse one, for example, and can you see Jesus saying that? Oh Lord, how many are my foes, many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for God and him. Could you see that? Yeah. So did Jesus have many enemies? Romans, Jews, Jewish leaders, Satan, demonic hosts, plenty. Gill says Christ’s enemies troubled him when they bound him and lead him away as a criminal, when they spit upon him and beat him, when they scourged him and crucified him and mocked him. Spurgeon says, Let us call to our memory the innumerable hosts. So Spurgeon wants us to remember these innumerable hosts, which attacked our divine Redeemer, the legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the crowd of bodily pains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies of death and hell, a satanic host, set themselves in battle against the Son of Man. Verses 5 and 6 speaks of death and resurrection, I lay down and slept, death, and I walk again, resurrection from the dead. In verse 3, he speaks to the Lord being the lifter of his head. Christ was bowed down by his humiliation and torture and death. But God the Father lifted his head, resurrecting him, and he exalted Him, placing him at his right hand and giving him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, every tongue confess. Verse 7, you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked. Jesus has destroyed with an uppercut or right hook, if you prefer, the power of sin and death and hell through his sacrifice. With this verse 8, he has saved us and blessed us. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing forever and ever. Blessings to you, the people of God. You’re blessed if you trust and if you don’t, please come talk to us. There’s anyone who does not trust in him, talk to Tom or myself, Karen, Aleta, Bob. Let’s pray.

Lord, we’re thankful that this Psalm bodies a lot of what we have experienced in our lives. We see times where there is desperation. We pray, like David, that we come to you, that we cast our cares upon you. We know that you’re a great God, full of power and we trust you. We look to you now and we ask you to help us, to just know you in a greater way. Jesus, help us to follow you and trust you in our daily lives as we go through difficulties. And we praise you for all the many blessings you give us. In Jesus name, amen.