I love the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir’s musical version of Psalm 3. I have sung, wept, and shouted praises many miles alone in my car to their musical version of this psalm.
“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Psalm 3:3 KJV).
Bible scholars believe that David composed this Psalm as he was fleeing Jerusalem to escape Absalom’s insurrection. David left the city gates with his royal entourage, crossed the Kidron Brook, and climbed the mount of Olives. As he walked, King David wept and tore his royal robes, heaping dust upon his head (II Samuel 15).
The odds seemed against King David. Consider the events surrounding the composition of the Psalm. Absalom had murdered Amnon for raping Tamar and had just been reconciled to King David. Once reconciled to King David, Absalom went through the kingdom with 50 horsemen in a campaign to sow doubt against his father’s leadership and to promote himself as David’s deposer and successor, exalting his own leadership potential. Absalom declared himself king in Hebron and turned his sights toward Jerusalem and the throne.
David was warned of Absalom’s treachery, and fled Jerusalem as Absalom mounted an invasion of the capital city. Mephiboseth, Jonathon’s crippled son, blessed the fleeing David. Shimei cursed the fleeing King.
Absalom set up his kingdom in David’s palace, pitched a tent for his father’s concubines on the palace roof, and had sexual relations with them. He was now king.
“So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up” (II Samuel 15:30 NKJV).
Absalom was a product of David’s marriage to Bathsheba. But every time something went wrong with one of David’s children, his past sin with Bathsheba continued to haunt him. David’s murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite haunted him. He recalled the long, bony index finger of the prophet Nathan pointing accusingly at him, “Thou are the man,” identifying the sin David had sought to hide. The consequences of sin plagued the repentant King David. The rise of David’s enemies seemed a direct consequence of David’s sin 30 or more years earlier, and his sin haunted him.
David hears the taunts of those who say he has outlived God’s grace, blessing and protection. Some of his enemies wanted to pronounce his situation hopeless.
Some want to pronounce your situation today as hopeless. On your worst days, like David, you may find yourself asking God where He is and why He refuses His help. On your worst nights, the agony of God’s apparent absence deepens.
But in the face of Absalom’s treachery and David’s flight for his life, he shifted his focus from fear to faith. “But you, O Lord,” David proclaimed. In the face of the chaos, David directed his faith toward God. He confessed Him as “Lord,” and worshiped.
The warrior David confessed that the Lord was “A shield for me.” Warrior David knew about shields. He carried many. He fought with shield in hand many times. He killed many enemies with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
But in this moment, he cycled between faith and despair. Even his declaration of faith declares God to be the One who lifts up his head.
Do you hang your head when you are discouraged? I have bowed my head in reverence. I have bowed my head in embarrassment or shame. I have seen many discouraged people hang their heads, eyes downcast to the ground, as they shuffle through the motions of living. David’s head had been brought low.
David bowed his head in defeat as he ascended the Mount of Olives. But in faith, David prophesied that his head, now bowed low in defeat as he flees Absalom’s coup d'état, will be lifted up by God. He confesses the Lord to be the “one who lifts his head.”
David’s characteristic cry to God is one of passion, urgency, and desperation. In the face of his desperation, David calls on God. Throughout the Psalms, David allows God to hear his unedited cry. I have spent much of my life trying to sort out my feelings before presenting them to God. I somehow try to have everything untangled and presented in a neat and appropriate format. But it does not work. David had given up trying to organize, arrange, and define his chaos of emotions in a presentable way to God. I don’t have to either. I find comfort in the reality that God can deal with my raw and unfiltered emotions. God heard David. God hears your cry, too.
In the midst of crisis, David describes falling asleep and finding rest. How does this fit right here? What are you doing sleeping, David? You are on the run for your life.
Think about the violence surrounding David. Longtime private enemies had become public foes. His own son had turned against him. Others joined the insurrection. David was on the run. Yet, he found sleep. The Lord sustained him. I sense his surprise that he did not get killed in his sleep. “I awoke.” He found himself rested and refreshed for the flight.
Many nights have been interrupted with fear. Stress and anxiety seem to poke their unwelcome heads into my dreams. Then I awake. I have often sensed Satan’s attacks of fear in the night. On those nights when sweet sleep and rest come, I rejoice. I am refreshed. God’s rest prepares me for the new day that awaits.
David said that his enemies numbered in the tens of thousands. Numbers may scare us. Especially when the odds are against us. The odds against David were grossly uneven. Faced with uneven odds, David boldly asserts his purpose that he will refuse fear even when the odds are impossible.
I often bemoan the uneven odds that seem to face me. But compared to David, I have to remind myself how good I have it.
- I am not on the run for my life.
- I am not the victim of a coup d'état, that includes the murderous, vengeful betrayal of my son.
- My wife has not been seized by my son and taken to the rooftops as his sex toy.
- I am not facing violent attacks.
- I am not the victim of people hurling profanities and rocks at me.
What are the numbers that scare you and me? Are they the numbers of soldiers on the other side? The numbers of dollars needed? The numbers of students needed to enroll in order to keep the university solvent and sustainable? There are some numbers that scare me as I seek to lead the team at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
- A $500,000 annual fund of a $1.1 million budget, which means $42,000 in unrestricted gifts each month.
- A $2,000,000 relocation campaign to purchase a facility and relocate the seminary in the Jackson, Mississippi metro.
- A need for a 6-figure emergency fund.
- Enrollment numbers, headcount, and academic hours sold to support the tuition component of our seminary budget.
What numbers scare you? Numbers are often our enemies. We fight the numbers to defeat some foes and even the odds. David did not fear to bring his impossible numbers to God. David models assertive faith against impossible numerical odds, and asserts relentless courage even when the odds are tilted radically against him.
Why could David demonstrate so much faith when the odds were so against him?
David believed in a God who could even the odds. In faith, he imagined his foes as already defeated by God. He imagined them as disfigured by a conquering foe, God Himself. He metaphorically described God using and abusing his enemies like one might abuse a stray dog. The metaphor is somewhat hideous in the gory image it conjures. Nevertheless, David’s example challenges me to see my enemies as defeated, disfigured, and held up to contempt.
David grappled with the reality that he was too weak and defenseless to conquer his enemies. He was not used to that position. He was used to being in a position of power, strength and might. He was accustomed to the odds being in his favor. Now, aged and weakened, God would have to fight for him. God must even impossible odds. David could no longer save himself. He needed a miracle.
Are the odds stacked against you? Is the enemy overwhelming in its numbers? Do you feel like you are fighting for your life?
Let’s even the odds by holding on in faith God. You serve a God who specializes in evening impossible odds.
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