ARISE, LORD!
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Opening Prayer
Show me things I need to learn about myself, Father—where I need to trust you more and where I need to follow you more closely.
Read PSALM 3
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”[b]
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How hard is it for you to sleep when troubling thoughts and situations plague you?
The events surrounding the writing of Psalm 3 (David’s flight from Absalom) are related in 2 Samuel 15–18. The king has to contend not only with the personal grief of his own son’s rebellion, but also with the disloyalty of many who sided with Absalom (vv. 1, 6) and their taunt that God has abandoned him (v. 2). Yet, his hope is in the Lord, who will protect, answer, and rescue him (vv. 3, 4, 7, 8). He is so confident of divine intervention that he can sleep peacefully in the knowledge of God’s sustaining presence (v. 5).
This psalm is not usually counted as one of the imprecatory psalms,1 in which the writer invokes the Lord’s curse of judgment or destruction upon his enemies. Nevertheless, verse 7 sounds very similar to these. David pictures his enemies almost animalistically, like ferocious beasts poised to devour him, whose ravenous attack can only be thwarted by a knock-out blow from God. Maybe he had in mind the bear and the lion God had saved him from as a shepherd boy.2 How should Christians feel about such vengeful language this side of Jesus’ command to love and pray for our enemies?3
Well, David’s words certainly sound harsh to our ears. But remember that he and God’s people faced the constant threat of destruction by many enemies. So notice here that he does not talk of avenging his foes himself, but is content to commit them to God’s justice. Their judgment and destruction are left in the Lord’s capable hands! From this, Christians can learn that we can trust God to enact his justice on those who persecute us for Christ’s sake while praying for them to repent before they have to face divine judgment.
Apply
Look up Romans 12:19 and learn the verse by heart!
Closing prayer
Lord, let me not be overcome by evil, but help me overcome evil with good.4
1 E.g., Ps 5, 10, 17, 35 2 1 Sam 17:37 3 Matt 5:43, 44 4 prayer based on Rom 12:21
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