Affliction & Assurance

Good morning. It's good to see you all here, both in person and on the live stream.

We're glad you've joined us this morning.

I want you to picture a scene thousands of years ago in the land of Israel.

As the sun begins to lower in the west, a door opens in the east wall of the city of Jerusalem.

A group of court officials and families hurriedly push past.

Out of the walled city of Jerusalem, down into the kindred valley.

They carry only weapons they can hastily grab and a few belongings.

A sense of urgency, a sense of fear drive them.

As they go down from the city to the bottom of the valley and back up.

Their great desire is to get up and away from the city.

At their front, with his head bowed and his dusty face streaked with tears, King David walks barefoot in grief.

The country itself cries out in lament.

As the anointed king was forced to flee his throne because of the rebellion of his son Absalom.

Who had stolen the hearts of many of his people and many of his warriors.

David had heard from a messenger that Absalom was coming with an army to pursue him and to take him.

So the king led a remnant of his people out of the city, up to the Mount of Olives,

through the mountains to the other side towards the River Jordan where there would be a moment of peace and rest.

Friends, this is the scene, this is the setting for Psalm 3.

Which is our psalm for this morning as we continue in our series this fall in the book of Psalms.

As we look at them as songs of hope in uncertain times.

This is the account in 2 Samuel 15 and 16 that brings us to the writing of Psalm 3.

So let's look at Psalm 3 together.

If you're looking in your Bible, it's probably right about in the middle.

Psalm 3, let's read this together.

Psalm 3.

A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.

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.

Selah.

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.

Selah.

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.

Selah.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you this morning for this word.

We thank you for the word of comfort and hope that it brings us.

I pray this morning that you would give us all ears to hear and hearts to receive the truth of your word.

Lord, and by your spirit, Lord, may you strengthen us in faith as we know you, our rock and our redeemer, more through this song.

Be with me as I speak.

I pray for your help that you would be glorified in all that I say and all that we do this morning.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

As David writes this psalm, it breaks down into four very simple groupings, two verses each.

Each one expressing a different aspect of David as he's processing his situation before the Lord.

The four aspects are this.

We can look at them not only for what they meant for David, but what they mean for us today.

Verses 1 and 2 talk about his affliction.

Verses 3 and 4 talk about his affirmation of who God is.

Verses 5 and 6 describe his actions in response to what he knows of God.

And verses 7 and 8 are his assurance.

So let's look at this together.

Verses 1 and 2.

His affliction.

For David, his foes were very real.

His rebellious son was leading a group, an army of people to depose him and perhaps to kill him.

Certainly to overthrow his kingship and to replace him.

And if you look at verses 1 and 2, one of the things you notice is that the word that's repeated the most there is many.

It wasn't just a few people.

This is not a small palace coup.

In fact, Absalom had gone away so that he might gather a large group of people to himself at Hebron.

And then he was coming back to take over Jerusalem.

And the picture here is one of like a rising tide.

Imagine Absalom at the head of an army that keeps gathering people as they go.

A picture of an encircling army.

A picture of one that is closing in on him.

Hemming him in on every side.

An ever increasing menace.

This is what David was facing.

And I wonder if you've ever felt that sense of panic and feeling trapped.

Feeling pursued like that.

Now, my guess is very few of us have been actually pursued by armies.

That's normal in these days and days.

Maybe some of you have.

But very few of us have not had actual armies pursuing us.

But you know, if you've experienced it at all, you know it doesn't take an army.

All it takes is one person determined to ruin your life.

One person who seeks your destruction.

To create that sense of trapness.

And that sense of being pursued.

That desire to flee.

It might be a fellow student in your high school class who is out to alienate and isolate you from your friend group.

A co-worker who is determined to undermine your work and your reputation.

A family member or a former friend who has turned on you in bitterness and anger.

And you know, our foes may not even be people.

I think as we think about our lives, we realize that the enemies of our soul are many.

There are other kinds of pressures and trials that create the same sense of feeling of a rising tide.

That is surrounding us and encircling us and entrapping us.

Certainly in this day of pandemic, I have felt this more than usual.

When my child gets a small cough or sneezes a couple of times, suddenly I have to think through all of this rising tide of questions.

Can I go to work tomorrow?

Can he go to school tomorrow?

What do I do if he's really sick?

Do I go to the doctor?

Do I have to get a COVID test?

Do I have to quarantine for 14 days?

What about, what about?

And all these questions begin to surround me and create a panic.

There are other kinds of circumstances that also make it difficult.

Maybe some of you, I know some of you, have experienced loss in this time.

You have lost a loved one, whether it be to COVID or just for other reasons.

And yet, that loss becomes a rising tide of grief because we are generally cut off from our normal means of grieving together.

We can't gather in large groups to have funerals.

We can't get together to express this grief together.

Even normal, fundamental means of comfort, like a hug or a cup of tea with a friend, are at least a lot more fraught.

Some of you, I think, have been surrounded by those.

There are all sorts of other pressures and trials we face.

Some of you live and work in places where the pressure for you to succeed and to perform and to get ahead is a never-ending pressure.

And every time you think, well, once I can get over this hump, it'll get better.

It doesn't.

It just seems like there's another mountain to climb.

And the pressures continue to rise and encircle you.

And some of you carry around the ongoing burden of broken relationships and scars from old sins, the whispers of past lives.

And all these things can be like a rising tide that surround us and make us feel trapped like David.

And they bring us often to the place where the accusers of David at the very end of verse 2 bring us.

For they whisper the doubt that rises up in our own hearts as well.

Well, can God really save me from this?

Is there salvation in God in the midst of these trials and these problems?

I think this is the thing that is actually the one that breaks us.

We can face all sorts of things.

But when we start to doubt whether God can get us through,

when we start to doubt that God will be with us through it,

that is when we truly are broken.

One commentator writes this,

In whatever form trouble comes,

the hostility of others, circumstantial problems and tragedies, personal sorrows,

its tendency is to drive us inward,

to make us retire hurt.

It urges us to find some corner in which to moan over our lot,

to marvel at how unfair life is,

and to chew the fat of our own misery.

I find that true.

How easy it is when it gets difficult to want to retreat,

and to run away,

and to complain.

But David does not do that.

And he gives us a model of how we can respond differently as well.

Instead, he turns to God.

In verses 3 and 4,

Having talked about his afflictions,

now David turns his gaze to the God that he knows.

And he says,

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory,

and the lifter of my head.

Remember, David's enemies were real.

It was a real army with spears and swords.

And he says,

You, O Lord, are a shield.

Now, many of you know I'm a Lord of the Rings fan,

and if you've ever seen The Hobbit, The Battle of Five Armies,

it's a very, very poor excuse for the original book,

which is wonderful.

But it's still a pretty decent movie.

And one of the coolest things is,

in the Battle of the Armies,

when the dwarves show up to fight,

they do this amazing thing,

where they line up in order,

and they pull their shields out,

and they actually are double-ranked,

and it becomes this wall of shields that is impenetrable.

The Roman phalanx taken to another level of defensiveness.

And this is what David is saying God is for him.

God surrounds him with this phalanx of shields,

with this impenetrable wall,

that no sword and no spear will ever be able to penetrate.

God, you are a shield.

Not only does David say,

you are a shield,

but you are my glory and the lifter of my head.

What does that mean?

Well, think about David.

David sat in a place of all human glory.

He was the king who sat on the throne of Israel

and its greatest power and influence.

And at this point,

he was fleeing as a refugee.

He had lost all of his human glory,

and yet David knew where to look.

He looked to God and he said,

God, even though I have lost all of that,

I have the most important glory I can ever have.

And that is that I am yours.

I am with you.

And that being related to you,

knowing that you are my God,

gives me a glory that enables me to withstand

the greatest trials.

You are not only my glory,

but you are the lifter of my head.

If you went back and you read 2 Samuel,

and you have to go back a couple more chapters,

go back to chapter 10,

start there,

and you read,

what happened with Absalom

was not completely without cause

or without reason because of David's actions.

David had failed multiple times in his kingship,

in his leadership,

in his character,

in his leading of his family

and addressing evils within his family.

And so Absalom's rebellion

was not without some cause for shame for David.

So not only was he fleeing

because he was afraid of his life,

but he was fleeing in shame.

And he looks up to God,

and God says,

not shame,

lift up your eyes,

I am going to come,

and I am going to restore your honor.

I am going to restore your glory.

You are not a failure.

You are not ashamed.

But as David looks up,

he knows that as God lifts his head up,

he can be bright-faced

and looking with hope and faith to God himself.

The other thing that David sees

that maybe isn't quite as obvious in this verse

is to which God is David looking.

In my Bible,

likely in your Bible,

there's some indication in verse 3,

but you,

oh Lord,

that word in my Bible

has Lord

in three smaller capitals,

right?

And lots of times,

Bible versions in the English

try to distinguish this word

because it's the word

that God used

when he revealed himself to Moses

at the burning bush.

And it's the word

that is used

throughout the Old Testament

for Yahweh,

the covenant-keeping God,

the particular God

of the people of Israel,

the God who created

the whole world,

yes,

but then who also

enters into a covenant

with his people.

It is the same God

who came to David

in 2 Samuel 7

and said,

I'm going to make you

the father of a,

or the first of a line.

I'm going to seat your descendants

on the throne

where you will reign forever.

Your family will reign forever.

This is a covenant-keeping God

who enters into binding agreement

with his people

to be their God

and they will be his people.

And as they enter

into that covenant,

there is great hope

in that unbreakable bond.

So as God looks up

to this God,

his shield,

his glory,

the lifter of his head,

the covenant-keeping God,

he cries out to him

and he knows

that the Lord

will answer him.

And it's really beautiful

to see that David,

having fled the holy hill

that he used to sit

on his throne in,

looks back

and he knows,

you know what?

I have lost that throne.

I have lost my holy hill.

I've lost my seat there.

Absalom may sit there,

but though I may have lost

all those things,

God is still sitting

on his holy hill.

He is still reigning

over his people

and over his nation.

He is still reigning

over my life.

And so I will have hope.

So when the rising tide

of affliction surround us,

David gives us a model.

We can turn and look to God

and look to his character,

to look to his nature,

to see his faithfulness.

And friends,

this isn't just for David

as an Old Testament king,

but this is for all

of his people

throughout the years.

Listen to the words

of the Apostle Paul

in Romans 8

as the church

looks to God

in a similar way.

What then shall we say

to these things?

If God is for us,

who can be against us?

He who did not spare

his own son,

but gave him up

for us all,

how will he not also

with him graciously

give us all things?

Who shall separate us

from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation

or distress

or persecution

or famine

or nakedness

or danger

or sword?

No.

In all these things

we are more than conquerors

through him

who loved us.

For I am sure

that neither death

nor life

nor angels

nor rulers

nor things present

nor things to come

nor powers

nor height

nor depth

nor anything else

in all creation

will be able

to separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus

our Lord.

David,

having named

his affliction

and having looked

to his God,

then responds

in his actions

in verses 5 and 6.

you can look with me

and he says,

I lay down

and slept.

Now,

imagine this.

Because David

was not going

to a hotel

nor was he going

to a fortified fortress.

He was in the wilderness.

He was by the

bank of the Jordan River.

But he had

no protection,

no great army,

no bulwarks

were erected

to protect him.

And yet,

because he knew

the God

that he had trusted in,

that his God

would be his shield,

he lay down

and slept

even when he

was being pursued

by an army

intent to kill him.

I don't know

if you've ever

experienced this.

I had an experience

this week.

I had a kind

of rough week

in a number

of areas

and felt like

the rising tide

of troubles

were a bit

overwhelming

for me.

And on Thursday

night,

instead of working

more on my sermon,

hopefully it doesn't

show too much,

but instead of working

more on my sermon,

which had been

my plan for the evening,

feeling this rising tide

and remembering

this verse,

I went to sleep

early.

I never go to sleep

early.

I went to sleep

and I rested

and the Lord

gave me rest.

And he gave me

confidence

that he could

take care of

all the things

that I was facing.

And then the days

since he has

taken care of

some of them,

not all of them,

he hasn't made

them all go away.

But stopping

and sleeping

and trusting

is one of the

best ways

that we can

exhibit our faith

in God

and act it out.

And David shows us

why we can do this.

He gives us two things.

He says,

first,

he did this

because he was confident

that the Lord

would sustain him,

that the Lord

would continue

the covenant

that God had made

in the past,

that God would

not abandon

that and so

that he knew

that,

look,

the Lord

will take care

of me.

And so I can

lie down

and sleep

entrusting these

problems to God.

not only could he

say that he was

confident that the

Lord would sustain

him,

but it also

expresses that he

was not afraid

of these rising

armies.

Verse 6 says,

I will not be afraid

of many thousands,

even ten thousands.

And David is not

saying this

with masculine

bravado.

He's not saying

it in denial

of the reality

of the army

that was chasing him.

He was saying

it in the face

that he was looking

at that reality

and knowing

that it was true

and he was saying,

even though

these things

are true,

I will not

be afraid

because God

is my shield

and my protection.

friends,

I wonder

how you're doing

facing the rising

tide in your life

right now.

Are you able

to lie down

and sleep

and trust

in the character

and the work

of God

in your lives?

Now look,

we need to be careful

as we think about

how to apply this

because there are

times when

you can see it

throughout Scripture

and throughout church

history where God

does

intervene

miraculously,

wonderfully

and he changes

our circumstances.

He neutralizes

our enemies.

He removes

the trials.

He takes away.

He comforts

our grief.

There are many ways

in which God

can and has

and continues

to act

in wonderful ways

to provide

for his people

and we in faith

ought to look

for that

and to expect

that God

will do this

at times.

to know

that God

delights

to help us

but we also

need to know

because Scripture

tells us

and because

the history

of the church

tells us

that God

doesn't always

deliver us.

He doesn't

always remove

us from the

difficulties.

He doesn't

always lessen

the rising tide.

sometimes

he allows

suffering

and trials

to come

into our lives

but in the

midst of that

he is still

with us.

He is still

our shield

and our protector

and though he may

not remove

the storm

outside

he's able

to create

a place

of peace

within his

protection

and within

his care

where we can

live with

confidence

and walk

through the

hardest

things.

with faith

and hope.

This is what

Paul refers

to in

Philippians

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

when he talks

about praying

and bringing

all of our

requests and

petitions to

God

praying that

God himself

would surround

us, would

keep our

hearts in

perfect peace

and would

guard our

hearts and

minds in

Christ Jesus.

Jesus.

He will

sustain us

and he

will comfort

us and he

will allow

us to lie

down and

sleep even

in the midst

of the

trials.

And friends

we know

that this

rest for

our souls

is a

precursor to

the rest

that will

come in

our eternal

salvation

when God

will defeat

all of his

enemies,

when they

will no

longer be

these powers

that rise

himself up

against our

souls.

But God

will have

defeated them

and we

will enter

into an

eternal

Sabbath rest

of joy

and peace

with God.

So David

having

named his

affliction,

affirmed the

character of

God,

responded in

these actions

then finishes

his psalm

with a

statement of

assurance

Jesus.

He cries

out,

verse 7,

he cries

out,

God will

you act,

will you

now act

on what

all that

I have

said,

will you

destroy

the enemies?

And the

images here

are powerful

and sometimes

we feel a

little uncomfortable

with them

in our day

and age.

But let's

think about

what they

mean.

Verse 7

says,

Arise oh

Lord save

me my

God for

you strike

all my

enemies

on the

cheek.

What

does that

mean?

That is a

slap in the

face is

what it

means.

It is a

will you

humiliate,

will you

bring low

those who

have raised

themselves up

against me?

Will you

show that

you are

greater than

them in

your deliverance?

And then the

second one,

will you break

the teeth of

the wicked?

It's an

imagery that's

taken from

the wild

animals.

Might be

rephrased.

Will you

defang the

enemy?

Will you

take the

weapons out

of their

hands?

Will you

take away

the very

tools that

they have

to inflict

harm?

Will you

remove them?

And in

doing so

will you

remove the

threat that

they bring

to me?

Now David

had very real

enemies that

had swords

and spears.

And you

will see if

you continue

reading in

2 Samuel that

in fact God

provides in

lots of ways

for David and

eventually he

is restored to

his throne.

There are

many times when

we have very

real enemies

who want evil

for us as

well.

But we also

must remember

Jesus' words in

Matthew 10

28.

Do not fear

those who can

kill the body

but cannot

kill the soul.

Rather fear

him who can

destroy both

the soul and

the body in

hell.

Because friends

part of the

great hope of

the Christian

gospel is that

this life is not

all that there

is but that

there is an

eternity that

God is preparing

us for.

And that in

that our

greatest enemies

are not our

difficult circumstances

are not the

people who

oppose us

are not the

trials that we

face.

But the

greatest danger

is that our

souls might be

turned away from

God.

That sin and

death would

reign.

That the devil

would have power

over us and

pull us away

so that we

might actually

deny God.

These are our

great enemies.

enemies.

And the great

hope that we

have, the

great confidence

that we have

is that those

powers have

already been

defeated.

The cross and

the resurrection

of Jesus

Christ.

And that we

know that one

day they will

be finally and

fully eradicated.

died.

This is the

striking final

statement that

he says.

Salvation belongs

to the Lord.

Salvation is not

simply something

that the Lord

gives to us or

something that he

does for us but

that it actually

belongs to him.

That it is a

part of who he

is that he is a

saving God and he

overflows with this

salvation to us in

Jesus.

Jesus.

He is the

covenant keeping

God.

You see that?

It's the same

Lord again.

He is the

covenant keeping

God who has

made a new

covenant in the

blood of Jesus

Christ that by

Jesus life and

death and

resurrection salvation

is finally fully

accomplished in

him.

That he has

taken sin that

is ours on

himself.

That he has

borne a death

that we deserve.

That he has

risen from the

dead to defeat

those powers of

sin and death.

And so the early

church can proclaim

in Acts 4.12

There is salvation

in no one else

for there is no

other name under

heaven given

among men by

which we must be

saved.

Jesus has

defeated death

and so he is

our shield.

in this life.

He is our glory

and the lifter of

our head.

He is the one

who when we are

joined with him

by faith we are

raised from death

to life.

We are raised from

shame to acceptance.

We are raised from

abandonment to

welcome and status as

a member of his

family.

He is our refuge in

the rising tide.

So when we feel

overwhelmed, when we

feel that our

enemies will not

stop, when our

trials and our

sufferings and our

losses mount, when we

feel encircled and

trapped, we doubt if

God is able to save

us.

Friends, we have a

place to look.

We look at the

cross of Jesus

Christ.

We look to the

empty tomb and we

know that God is our

shield and our

refuge.

We cry out to this

God for help and

then we go to bed and

sleep and rest in him

and trust that he is

able to sustain us and

he is able to save us.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for

this word of comfort.

We thank you for this

word of encouragement.

Lord, we thank you that

you are a God who

saves.

Lord, I pray this

morning that, Lord,

when we are facing the

rising tide of trials,

Lord, that we would be

encouraged to look to

you.

Lord, that we would be

strengthened in our

confidence that you are

a God who is able to

save and that you are a

God who does save all

who trust in you.

Lord, I pray this

morning for those who

may be facing particular

trials.

Lord, that you would

minister to them this

morning the truth of

this word, that you are

their shield and their

glory.

Lord, I pray for those

who may be with us this

morning who may be

exploring Christianity.

Lord, that they would

see what kind of a God

you are, who is our

help in time of need.

Lord, that they would be

drawn to you and to put

their faith in you this

morning.

Lord, thank you for this

word we pray in Jesus'

name.

Amen.