Salvation Belongs to the Lord (Psalm 3)

Amen. Amen. What beautiful songs to remind us of our Heavenly Father's love for us.

! What a joy it is to be here today, worshiping you on this Father's Day. And so happy Father's Day to all of you dads.

If you still have the opportunity to let your dad know how much they mean to you, the difference they made in your life,

I encourage you to take that opportunity to let them know how grateful you are.

It really is a joy to be a father. This morning, as I was getting, I was going up on the stage, Clay was praying.

I was reminded of some of those joys it is to be a dad. I'm up there as Clay's praying.

I just kind of glance my eyes open, look up, and Ressi, my middle child, makes eye contact with me and goes, just like that.

And I'd like to think that I didn't get down on her level, but I'm going to have to go back and look at the live stream

because I'm pretty sure I just went right back to her.

But it is so much fun to be a parent and just those little things that remind you of the joy that it is.

And so let me encourage you, again, if you have the opportunity to tell your dads how much you appreciate them,

let them know by buying them that new recliner they've been looking at or that Browning Satori 725 over under.

Just throwing it out there for anybody that needs a hand, not directing, well, but it is a joy to remember our fathers today

because fathers are a wonderful gift that hopefully will point us to the love our Heavenly Father has for us.

And in many ways, they are able to shape and guide how we see our Heavenly Father.

And so it is a joy to remember them and honor them, but also challenge our fathers today as we look at this passage in Psalm chapter 3.

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

Psalm chapter 3 is where we'll be today.

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

And one of the things that I love most about reading the Scripture chronologically is getting to the Psalms.

You know, at the beginning, you're skipping back and forth.

You're turning pages, going back and forth, trying to follow along chronologically.

But then it's all worth it when you get to the Psalms.

Because in the Psalms, many times what you get to do is you read the story that's the inspiration behind the Psalm.

And Psalms are songs that were meant to be sung for this corporate worship.

And many times it's those Psalms that remind us of who God is.

And when we understand the story behind it, it just takes on new meaning.

For most of us, we can understand when we listen to both secular and non-secular music,

if there's a story that goes behind a song, all of a sudden, it takes on new power.

It takes on new meaning.

It takes on new life for us because we understand the circumstances in which it was written.

Now, this Psalm today, Psalm chapter 3, it gives us a clue as to what those circumstances were.

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

In fact, if you look right above Psalm chapter 3, verse 1, you'll see a superscription up in the top,

Psalms 3:1

a little heading that reminds you of when this Psalm was written.

So if you look at the Scripture, it'll tell you right above Psalm chapter 1, it says,

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

A Psalm of David.

So immediately we realize that this is a Psalm that David wrote.

And it also was written, it says, when he fled from Absalom, his son.

And so this immediately reminds us and puts us into the story of when this took place.

And so as we look at this, we are reminded of this.

To get the full context, I would encourage you to read primarily 2 Samuel 15 through 18.

But if you really want to get the full story, go back a few chapters and read the story behind the story that starts in 2 Samuel chapter 13.

2 Samuel 13 · chapter mention

But here's the condensed Cliff Notes version of what is happening.

You see, Absalom was one of David's sons and he was an incredible man.

The Bible tells us that he was handsome and impressive.

Listen to how 2 Samuel 14, 25 describes him.

It says it this way.

It says,

Now in all Israel, there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom.

From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him.

That sounds a lot like the Father's Day card Catherine gave me this morning.

But here what we see is someone who walks into a room and may overthrow his father David.

And his plan involves staying right outside the gates in Jerusalem.

And every time that somebody would come into Jerusalem to settle a dispute,

let's say that one of the tribes had a dispute and they needed to bring this issue before somebody

to figure out and put to rest this dispute.

They would come in and Absalom would say,

Come over here.

Let me hear what's going on.

Tell me about what is taking place.

And they would come over and tell them all that was going on.

He says,

Well, there's nobody here that's going to listen to that.

But if I were king, if I were the judge, if I were the one in charge,

I would make sure that your case is heard.

I would make sure that someone was appointed to hear your case,

to make sure that you had the justice you deserved.

And all of a sudden, the Bible tells us that he began to steal the people's hearts.

They began to follow him.

They began to long after him.

He won the hearts of the people.

Which then led to him leading a revolt where King David was fleeing for his life.

In fact, King David, it says, was in such a hurry to flee for his life that he went barefoot.

He didn't even have time to put shoes on or sandals on.

And so in David's desperation, in this moment where his world is collapsing in on him,

in this moment is when he writes the words to Psalm chapter 3.

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

And so if you've got a Bible this morning,

I want to encourage you to take that out and follow along as we read these words from King David.

It says this,

Oh 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.

What we're going to see this morning as we look at this passage of scripture

Is several things that are taking place in David's life.

Several things that are evident in his life,

But I think are often times can be evident in our lives as well.

To begin with,

We're going to look at this first stanza

And see what David saw and heard.

And so as we look at this,

I want us to consider what David saw and heard.

It says,

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.

You may have noted the word selah

Being used several times here in this passage.

And the truth is,

We don't exactly know what this word means.

It's most likely a musical notation

That is calling for the singers of this song

To pause for a second,

Take some time,

Reflect on what was just said before moving on.

And so most likely what we have here

Is a pause and think about what was just said.

And so that's what I hope that we can do today.

So what are we reflecting on?

Well, David saw his kingdom being taken away

Right in front of him.

He saw the people turning away from his leadership

And following after Absalom.

What was right in front of his face

Was overwhelming.

The voice of everyone around him was crushing.

Just listen to how many times

It repeats many in these first few verses.

How many are my foes?

Many are rising against me.

Many are saying this of my soul.

What are the many people saying of his soul?

Many people are saying that there is no salvation

For him in God.

And this is what David is seeing.

This is what he's hearing.

All around him that many people

Are turning away from him.

This is what is taking place here.

Not only are many rising against him,

But one in particular is rising against him.

And that is his son, Absalom.

He's the one who's leading the charge.

Have you ever noticed how the betrayal of somebody close to you

Is oftentimes the hardest betrayal to overcome?

When everybody is against you,

As long as you have your corner,

As long as you have your family,

Your friends,

Those that you're closest to,

Well, then everybody else,

We can put that in perspective at times.

But when everybody's turning against you,

And then those who are closest to you

Begin to turn against you,

Then that oftentimes starts a spiral

That we just let ourselves go down.

And then we start listening to other people.

Then we start listening and giving credit

To other people more than we should.

And so this is what is taking place here.

Back in 2 Samuel 16,

We're introduced to a really nasty character

Named Shimei.

Now Shimei was of the house of Saul

And he hated David.

And really anyone that was associated with David,

He hated them.

So while David is fleeing from Absalom,

Shimei sees what is going,

What is taking place

And begins to harass David

By yelling all of these curses at him,

By throwing things at him.

You see, he was of the house of Saul

And so he was upset that David was now king

Because that means Saul is no longer

And Saul's house is no longer in the monarchy.

But David is the new king.

And he was bitter for this.

But for much of his life,

He wasn't able to do anything about it.

But now, everybody is standing up against David.

Everybody's pushing up against him.

And so he jumps on the bandwagon.

And whereas before,

David would probably say,

Well, this is just some crazy guy.

I'm not even going to pay him any attention.

All of a sudden,

When the many voices are saying,

There's no hope for you.

There's no salvation for you.

God's done with you.

When everybody's saying this,

It begins to be a lot easier to believe.

It begins to be a lot easier to believe

What people are saying.

And it makes you wonder

If David is starting to believe the words himself.

Think about what is happening in the king's life here.

This is Psalm chapter 3,

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

At the very beginning of this altar.

But this is not the beginning of David's life.

This is not the beginning of his monarchy.

Many things have taken place at this point

When Psalm 3 was written.

In fact, much of David's life

Has begun to already spiral.

He has failed as a leader.

He's failed morally.

His home, his life is falling apart.

At this point in David's life,

He has already stayed home

When the troops went to battle.

And while he was staying home

When the troops went to battle

Is when he committed adultery with Bathsheba.

And then after Bathsheba was pregnant,

He had Uriah killed.

Nathan has confronted him

About this sin at this point.

He's had a child that has died right now.

He had a son that raped his daughter Tamar.

And then Absalom killed that son.

And so what you see

Is much of David's life

Is falling apart.

And in many ways,

He's very likely

Could begin to believe

What everybody's saying.

He's afraid of losing his life here.

So it would be pretty easy

To believe the many

When they start saying things like

There's no salvation for you.

There's no hope for you.

God is done with you.

This is what David sees and hears.

And at this point in his life,

It would be incredibly easy

To believe that.

Have you ever been in a situation like this before?

Now I'm not talking about

Where you're the king

And your son is trying to overthrow you

And become king

And now you're fleeing for your life.

I'm not talking about that.

But how many of us have been in a situation

Where either everyone is telling us

That God is done with us.

Or maybe the ones that we're closest to

Are telling us

That not only are they done,

But God is done.

Or maybe

Very few people know

What is going on in your life

Except you and God

And you're telling yourself

Well I'm just going down this road too far.

There's no hope for me returning.

There's no way that I can turn

My life around.

Well before we see what David believes

Let me share this with you this morning.

You may think that because of your disobedience

That God can't use you anymore.

This is where we need to clearly see

God's mercy and his patience with us.

The patience of God

In relation to God's mercy

Is often hard for us to wrap our minds around.

Without saying it

We often think

Well I know that God loves me

But I'm sure that he's just so fed up with me

That he wants nothing to do with me

At this point.

However, that's not the picture

That we see in scripture.

I find the words of Dane Orland

Particularly comforting

As we think about this.

As he closes out one of his chapters

In a book of his called

The chapter was called

Rich and Mercy.

This is what he says

About God's mercy

In the midst of those times.

He says

Perhaps you have difficulty

Receiving the mercy

The rich mercy of God in Christ.

Not because of what others have done to you

But because of what you have done

To torpedo your own life.

Maybe through one big stupid decision

Or maybe through 10,000 little ones

You have squandered his mercy

And you know it.

To you I say

Do you know what Jesus does

With those who squander his mercy?

He pours out more mercy.

God is rich in mercy.

That's the whole point

That God is rich in mercy

Means that the regions

Of your deepest shame and regret

Are not hotels through which

The divine mercy passes

But they're homes in which

Divine mercy abides.

When we understand the scope

Of God's love and mercy for us

It is overwhelming

And life-giving to us.

Now this is not to say

That we continue in sin

So that grace may abound.

Paul speaks very clearly

And directly about this in Romans

When he says

By no means.

It doesn't mean that we continue

Living in sin and saying

Well God's mercy is going to cover it.

Well then that means that

We don't understand God's mercy.

But at the same time

It is to say

That God

There's nothing that can keep us from him.

There's no sin in my life

That is going to keep me from God.

There's no matter what anybody says

This sin is not going to keep me from God.

As long as there is breath in our lungs

What Jesus accomplished on the cross

Is enough.

What he accomplished on the cross

Is enough.

When he says it is finished

He means that it's done.

That means there's nothing to add to it.

That means there's nothing that we can do

To take away from it.

Our sins past, present and future

Are bought and paid for on the cross

When we place our faith and our trust

In him.

So when somebody says

There's no hope for you

There's no salvation for you in God

We know that that is a lie.

In the next couple of verses

We are about to see

How life-giving it is

For David to understand this.

David reminds himself of God's truth

And so the next thing that we see

Is what David believed.

To begin with

We saw what David saw and heard

But now we see

What David believed.

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

Again, pause

Think about what was just said

Think about the truth

That was communicated here

From the tone and nature

Of these words

We see a pretty stark difference

Between verses 1 and 2

And verses 3 and 4

We see a big difference

Between the first stanza

And the second stanza

When it comes to the tone of this

But also in just the words themselves

We see that there's hope in here

So what's the difference?

What's the difference

Between the first stanza

And the second stanza?

Well, what happened?

What's the difference?

James Montgomery Boyce

He notes this

He says

The answer is

That he has turned his attention

From his enemies

To God

When a believer gazes

Too long at his enemies

The forces arrayed against him

Seem to grow in size

Until it appears to be overwhelming

But when he turns his thoughts to God

God is seen

In the true great stature

And the enemies shrink

To manageable proportions

In other words

His eyes have shifted

From his circumstances

To his Savior

He stopped looking

At just what was around him

What everybody else was saying

And turned his gaze

To God

Turned his gaze

To what he believed

What he knew

Was true

His heart is no longer

Overwhelmed

By what is in front of him

But it is now

Overflowing

With the assurance

That God is with him

I think part of

Growing and maturing

As a believer

Is understanding

Truth has a greater weight

In our life

Than our feelings do

The Lord

The truth is

That the Lord

Is a shield about David

And was greater

Than the feelings

Of abandonment

And betrayal

Everyone is telling David

There's no salvation for you

But the truth

Has greater weight

Than that feeling

Sometimes what we're going through

Is incredibly difficult

It is painful

It is scary

It is overwhelming

And the truth

That we need to hold on to

In the midst of those things

Is that we have a God

Who is greater

Who is bigger

Who is more powerful

Than our circumstances

And the comfort

That we cling to

Is that God

Is with us

In the midst of it

That God is with us

In the midst of it

Not that he's removing it always

But that he is going to

Walk through it with us

He has not abandoned us

No one is better at mourning

With those who mourn

Than Jesus

Often times

We unintentionally think

That just because

Jesus knows

All of the events

That are going to happen

In our lives

That he's somehow

Indifferent to our sorrow

That he's somehow

Indifferent to our pain

But nothing could be further

From the truth

Jesus sees our suffering

And heartache

And deeply feels our pain

And is moved by compassion

To comfort as only he can

In reading a book

About the heart of Christ

It says

It is a heart that throbs

With desire for the destitute

It is a heart that floods

The suffering with the deep solace

Of shared solidarity

In that suffering

It is a heart

That is gentle and lowly

You see not only do we serve

A God who is powerful enough

To be with us

Every step of the way

But we also serve a God

Whose desire is to be with us

Every step of the way

Not only is he powerful enough

To walk through this life with us

But his desire is to walk

Through this life with us

This is why he sent his son

To pay the payment

So that a relationship

Could be restored

You see not only do we serve

That God who is powerful enough

But he desires to

So what do you do

With this kind of promise?

Well let's see what David did

We see what he saw and heard

We see what he believed

But what David did

Is what we're going to take

A look at next

He says

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 oh Lord

Save me oh 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

As we look at these last few verses here

There are several things

That we see David do

To begin with

David rested

And David had courage

He rested

And he had courage

Many of these phrases

Many note that this phrase

I lay down and slept

Is one of the most telling

And encouraging parts of this psalm

It's telling because

When are you able to lay down and sleep?

When all is at well in your life?

When you are able to rest and relax

Is when you can sleep

And so what we see here

Is in the midst of this

David is able to lay down and sleep

It's a beautiful picture

Of someone that has such confidence in God

That they can lay down and sleep

In such overwhelming circumstances

What it does is it shows us

Such a deep level of trust in God

This is one of the beautiful things

That our earthly fathers can teach our children

About their heavenly father

You see Charlotte is at an age now

Where most of the night

Most of the time

She sleeps all throughout the night

We put her to bed

And she wakes up in the morning

It is a great place to be as a parent

And thinking about going back

To waking up every hour

Is a little overwhelming

But most nights

We put Charlotte to bed

And she sleeps all throughout the night

But occasionally

She'll have a bad dream

Occasionally she'll hear something

That wakes her up

And then all of a sudden

She's scared

And so where does she come?

She comes to mine and Catherine's room

For us to comfort her

And I've tried all kinds of things

To try to get her to go back to bed

By simply dismissing

Whatever it is she's saying

And says, well you know what?

There's nothing to it

Just go back to bed

Well I don't know why

I would think that would work with Charlotte

Because it doesn't work with anybody else

But I try to tell her

There's nothing to worry about

Just go back to bed

Doesn't work

And in that moment

Me explaining all the ins and outs

Of what's going on in her life

And how she really doesn't have anything

To worry about

And there's nothing in her room

When the lights go out

That's in there when the lights are on

So we can look around her room

See nothing's in it

Turn the lights out

And think logically about this

And say there's nothing here

Well that doesn't work in the moment

What she needs in the moment

Is to know that her daddy's in the room

And when she knows that her daddy's in the room

Either laying beside her in the bed

Or laying in the floor

Then she can rest

You see nothing about her circumstances

Have changed

I haven't taken anything out

Or put anything in

Or explained anything

I'm simply there

And knowing that daddy is there

Allows her to rest

And what a beautiful picture this is

Of our lives so many times

Of knowing and understanding

That we serve a God

Who is with us

This reminder is what allows us

To rest and have courage

In the midst of life's greatest challenges

Because many times

Those challenges aren't removed

But what gives us rest

Is knowing that we have a father

Who is going to be there with us

Every step of the way

The next thing that we see

Is David prayed

And he praised

David is praying for salvation

From his enemies

In the midst of this great problem

He finds himself in

He knows that the only place

He can turn for deliverance

Is God

He says for salvation

Belongs to the Lord

If salvation belongs to God

Then God is free to give it

In this prayer

That is also praise to God

King David ends with

Your blessing

Be on your people

I want you to think about

The significance of that

It's easy to read right over this

And without understanding the context

We would just read right over this

Your blessing be with your people

Well if you remember

It's his people

It's the people of Israel

Who are now standing against David

Who are the ones who are

Calling Absalom their new king

And pushing David out

And so what David is saying

In the midst of this

He's saying that salvation belongs to the Lord

Your blessing be on your people

In the midst of everybody

Turning their backs on him

David is saying

Your blessing be on your people

What we're seeing here

Is the heart of a true king

A true king who loves his people

What a beautiful picture

Of the heart of a king

That looks out for his people

One commentator noted

He says this prayer reveals

The noble heart of the true king

To whom the welfare of his people

Is more important

Than his own personal safety

Like him

Of whom he was the type

In other words

Like Jesus

He intercedes

On behalf of the rebels

You see one day

Out of the house of David

There would be an even greater king

A king who was willing

To lay down his life

To give blessing to those

Who put him on the cross

You'll remember last week

We talked about how

Chapters one and two

Are really an introduction

Into the whole Psalter

Chapters one and two

Are really common

And the rest of the book

Is commentary

Based on these two chapters

And we're seeing

That this is pointing

Towards Jesus

And so what we're able to see

Is these psalms

Are paving the way

Toward the coming king

To the coming Messiah

Who was going to intercede

On people's behalf

And so what we're able to see now

Is this clearly

Is pointing us to Jesus

James Johnson and many others

Make the connection

Very clear in this

Jesus was also

Rejected as king

His family thought

That he was insane

His hometown

Would not believe him

As Jesus hung on the cross

The chief priest

Complained to Pilate

Remember what Pilate

Put above Jesus' name

Above him on the cross

King of the Jews

But the chief priest

Complained to Pilate

Says

Don't put king of the Jews

On there

But Pilate's like

It's already written

It's done

But they're complaining

So the people of Israel

Don't see Jesus

As their king

They don't want him

To be their king

And so we see

Throughout this

Of what all is taking place

That he is going to end up

Being this greatest king

And so we're able to see that

David's enemies

Taunted him

And saying

There is no salvation

For him and God

When Christ hung on the cross

His enemies taunted him

He said

He trusts in God

Let God deliver him now

If he desires for him

For he said

I am the son of God

You see

David's enemies

Were telling him

Saying there's no hope

For you

There's no salvation

For you

As Jesus is hanging

On the cross

People around him

Are saying

There's no hope

For you

God can't save you

Now

God saved David

His anointed

From physical death

God saved Jesus

His great anointed one

Through physical death

Finally

David's love

For the people

Who turned against him

Anticipates Christ's love

For those who rejected him

David said

Your blessing

Be on your people

You remember

What Jesus said

On the cross

Father forgive them

As he was being crucified

The only hope

For rebellious people

Like you and me

Is through the very king

We have betrayed

This psalm

Is pointing forward

To a greater king

A king who salvation

A king and a greater salvation

This makes all the difference

For us as Christians

Because psalm 3

Strengthens us

Through the gospel

We look to Christ

The author and perfecter

Of our life

And in this psalm

We see the pattern

Of his life

His suffering

Led to glory

Because God sustained him

Listen to this

You see

God may not save you

From shame and death

In this life

Like he did David here

But

Our hope

Is that he will save us

Through shame

And death

Ultimately

Like he did

Jesus Christ

This is our hope today

So as we think

About this psalm

Let us look to Jesus

And not our circumstances

As we think about this psalm

Let us look to truth

And not what everyone else

Is saying about us

As we look at this psalm

Let us experience salvation

Found in Jesus

And praise him for it

You see there are many

In this world

That will gladly put you down

In order to build themselves up

There may be even some truth

To the things that they're saying

About you

But what is not true

Is when someone says

There's no hope for you

There's no salvation for you

God's done with you

Let me tell you this

That if there is breath

In your lungs

God's not done with you

There is still hope for you

As long as we have breath

In our lungs

And what Jesus accomplished

On the cross

Can count for each

And every one of us

Who place our faith

And our trust

In him

And so for many of us

We may have already done this

At some point in our life

And so let me encourage you

To reflect on this

To live in light of this

So that as you live your life

You can point other people

To where hope is found

Heavenly Father I thank you

For this psalm

Psalm chapter 3

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

A beautiful psalm

That reminds us

Of your sustaining grace

A beautiful psalm

That reminds us

Of where our hope can be found

And so Lord

As we think about

David's life

And all that he had going on

And all the people

Who were saying of him

There's no hope for you

God's done with you

Lord may we remember

That that's not the truth

But David stood on truth

He stood on truth

And said

You oh Lord

Are a shield about me

My glory

And the lifter

Of my head

I cried aloud

To the Lord

And he answered me

In his holy hill

Lord may that be

Our truth that we hold on to

That you are a shield

About us

That salvation

Is only found in you

And let that be

What gives us comfort

And peace

As we go through this life

And so Lord

I pray that if there's

Somebody here today

That's never placed

Their faith

And their trust in you

Lord today

Would be the day

That they go from death

To life

Today

Would be the day

That they become new

And so Lord

We thank you so much

And it's in Jesus name

We pray

Amen

I want to invite you

To take your hymnal

And turn to hymn number

328

Sweet sweet spirit

And if God is speaking

To you this morning

Won't you respond

As we stand together

And sing

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning

To you this morning