Crying out to God

We're starting into Psalm 3 today, and I forgot to mention yesterday that the reason we know all of this background information that we talked about, is that the psalm has a "superscription" or explanatory note at the beginning. It tells us the circumstances of the psalm:  "a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son." What a sad notation that is . . . 

The psalm divides itself for us rather neatly into four groups of two verses each. Let's look at the first two:

O Lord, how my adversaries have increased!
Many are rising up against me.
2 Many are saying of my soul,
“There is no deliverance for him in God.”Selah.   (v. 1-2, NASB)

David (figuratively speaking) grabs hold of God's hand in prayer. He cries out to Him.

All translations have their differences, but in the New American Standard, when we see "Lord," it is translating the Hebrew word "Adonai." This means "Sovereign Lord." When we see the word in small capital letters, it translates "Yahweh," which is the personal, covenant name of God. This is the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush.  It's closely related to the Hebrew verb, "to be," so that in effect, God is telling Moses "I am who I am." The Expositor's Commentary says that for David to address God as Yahweh is very similar to the New Testament believers saying "Abba, Father," because in both cases it is a very personal way to address Him -- it's a cry for help.

In these first two verses, David refers to the fact that his adversaries were increasing in number. The ranks of those who were aligning themselves with Absalom was growing daily. That, in itself, would be enough to scare someone and shake them to their core, but in verse two it gets worse.

Verse two actually records the words that his enemies were saying. They aren't just saying bad things about how he was handling his family. Or how he was handling the kingdom.

Nope.

They were poking at David's relationship with God. Specifically, they were saying some really negative things about it. If we were scholars of the Hebrew language, we could translate that verse literally, and it would read, "many are saying TO my soul...."  In other words, the things they were saying hit him in the soul. It pained his soul and his heart to hear what they said, "there is no deliverance for him in God." 

I kinda think that his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband must have been public knowledge by now. I expect that the "grapevine" in Jerusalem had circulated all the details. Don't you reckon that they were calling him a hypocrite? Poking fun at the fact that he claimed to follow God? Perhaps this was even being used by Absalom's allies, since they could say, "What? He claims to be anointed by God to be our king? And he committed these heinous sins? How could God be on his side?" 

Perhaps the most bitter pill of all would be his own thoughts in times of quiet . . . is God really still on my side after what I've done?

We mentioned yesterday that some of David's experiences mirrored those of our Redeemer, the Messiah Jesus. As He hung on the cross, His enemies jeered at him:

 He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:43)

Even worse, Jesus felt forsaken by the Father as He bore our sin. His awful cry:

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

David, however, knew that he was being taunted because of his own sins. Our Savior was without any sin or guilt. 

We may not have encountered the depth of despair that David was feeling - or perhaps we have - but our response should be the same as his. Even though God is fully aware of what is going on, David tells Him all the details. He isn't informing God of it, because He already knows! Instead, David is laying his burden on the Lord, just as we should. He's acknowledging to God and to himself, that he is not able to handle this overwhelming situation on his own.

That's the way we should respond to troubles and traumas, too. Cry out to God in prayer.

The very next verse shows us that David is shifting focus. He's going to quit looking at his frightening circumstances and start looking at the Lord.

We'll see that the Lord is our shield and our answer in the tough times.

Tune in tomorrow!