The Lord Will

Psalms

Psalm 3

KJV

1

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

2

Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

3

But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

4

I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

5

I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.

6

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

7

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

8

Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

Overview

Psalm 3 begins with danger multiplying around the speaker and with enemies claiming that God will not save him. The prayer answers that taunt by naming the LORD as shield, glory, and the one who lifts the bowed head. Sleep and awakening become evidence of sustaining care rather than denial of the crisis. The closing plea places deliverance and blessing in the LORD’s hands and widens the horizon from one threatened person to God’s people.

Setting and context

The superscription links Psalm 3 with David’s flight from Absalom, the crisis narrated in 2 Samuel 15–18. That setting illuminates the language of betrayal, encirclement, and urgent prayer, but the psalm itself does not narrate every event of the rebellion. Its movement is from multiplying threat, through remembered divine protection, to a plea for judgment and a confession that salvation belongs to the LORD.

Themes

Threat and the theological taunt that God will not help · The LORD as shield, glory, and lifter of the head · Sleep and awakening as testimony to sustaining grace · Deliverance, judgment, and blessing that belong to the LORD

Reflection

Psalm 3 permits honest naming of danger without allowing hostile voices to define God’s faithfulness. It directs fear into prayer, receives ordinary rest as sustaining mercy, and refuses to turn deliverance into private revenge.

Reading notes

The psalm repeatedly names enemies and encirclement. Courage grows from addressing the LORD within danger, not from denying it. The verse is David’s testimony of sustaining care in this crisis, not a universal formula that condemns people who experience insomnia or trauma. The speaker asks God to act and uses judgment imagery that disables aggression; the text gives no mandate for private vengeance or coercion. The superscription supplies a canonical setting, but interpretation must still follow the words and movement of the psalm itself.

Key passages

Psalm 3:3: The adversaries’ verdict is contradicted by a threefold confession: the LORD protects, restores honor, and raises the downcast person. Name God’s character before measuring the crisis only by the number or volume of opposing voices. Psalm 3:5: Lying down, sleeping, and waking form a compact testimony that the LORD sustained the speaker through a vulnerable night. Receive sleep and waking as gifts rather than proof of self-sufficiency, while seeking appropriate help when anxiety or insomnia persists. Psalm 3:8: The final confession locates salvation in the LORD and extends the requested blessing from the individual to the whole people. Ask for deliverance in a way that remains joined to the good and blessing of God’s people.

Questions readers ask

What is the main message of Psalm 3? Psalm 3 shows a threatened worshiper bringing multiplying enemies and spiritual taunts to the LORD, confessing God as shield and sustainer, and locating salvation and blessing in God alone. Why is Psalm 3 connected with Absalom? Its superscription identifies it as a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom. Second Samuel 15–18 supplies the canonical background, though the psalm remains a crafted prayer rather than a complete narrative report. What does Selah mean in Psalm 3? Its precise function is uncertain. It likely marks a musical, liturgical, or reflective division, so the page preserves the term without presenting one disputed explanation as certain. Does Psalm 3:7 justify violence? No. The verse is an appeal for divine judgment using imagery of disabling hostile power; it does not authorize private revenge, abuse, or forced religion.