This morning we turn in our Bibles as we are continuing our study in the book of the Psalms. We're in the first book. If you're a visitor with us, we're working through many of these. And this morning we come to Psalm 3. Psalm 3. And there you'll notice that the superscription that there is at the beginning is important to read for the context. So I'll begin there and we'll read the entirety of the psalm. let us give our attention to the Word of the Lord. This is on page 569, by the way. 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. 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. I laid 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. May the Lord bless the hearing of His Word. Last week we considered Psalm 2 together. And you will remember the great perspective of that psalm that gave us such perspective in times of turbulence and all of the turbulence and stress and anxiety and restlessness of the nations. The nations were presented there in Psalm 2 as noisy. Collectively, remember, rebelling against the Lord and against His anointed. And the beauty of that psalm, what was overwhelming about that psalm, is that the Lord gave us a heavenly perspective about that struggle. They rage. The nations are in fury. They cast off restraint. They rebel. the cycle of iniquity is running complete in the nations. The mystery of lawlessness, the spirit of the Antichrist is developing in societies. And we looked at this as they rage against the Lord, as they rage against the Lord and try to break His bonds, wanting freedom from Him. And we also considered how much fear we have today in light of all of the economic distress that is happening and in light of world leaders and the casting off of morality, we're concerned, aren't we? Sure we are. And yet, Psalm 2 was one of the most comforting psalms because it gave us a heavenly answer to this problem, didn't it? It was a heavenly answer. A beautiful answer. He who sits in the heavens shall do what? Laugh. He's not shaken up. He's not running around restless up there trying to figure out what He's going to do. And so Psalm 2 described for us, it's beautiful, Psalm 2 describes for us here His great power, His great reign, how He installed His Son on the throne. And that was His great answer to the nations, the noisy, restless nations of this world. But did you notice what Psalm 2 said? turbulence happens on earth. Psalm 2 says, in heaven He laughs. And in heaven He installs His Son on His holy hill. Because every New Testament writer looked at Psalm 2 and they told us very clearly, look at Jesus. He's the fulfillment of this. He's the fulfillment. He's reigning. He's seated. Now I preached last week, you shouldn't fear. No matter what's going on in this sad world, we shouldn't fear, should we? When we're given that kind of perspective, when we're given that kind of answer to the struggles of the noisy, restless nations of this world, that if God is laughing, I quoted Luther, shouldn't we be laughing? Different kind of laugh, of course. I came down from that lofty psalm last week, and you know what my problem was? My week really wasn't all that good. The week was kind of rough. Hey, I didn't feel a lot of victory last week. Did you feel a lot of victory last week? How'd it go for you? If you're honest. A lot of problems. A lot of stress. A lot of struggle. I'm not seeing how Psalm 2 connects with what's going on down here. Are you? I don't see it. I don't see it at all, to be honest with you. All I seem to experience is conflict. All I seem to experience is struggle and suffering and pain. And I see it in you. And I see it in so many I love. I go through it myself. And I'm not understanding how this victory translates to the struggle here on earth. Put it another way, If God is laughing at these raging nations of the world and He is holding them in derision, why aren't they very concerned about that? I don't see them very concerned about that. If you've had any of these struggles and you know what I'm describing, your answer is in Psalm 3. Psalm 3 has moved us out of heaven and it's put us back on earth. And we're staring now in the face. If you can get the imagery here. We're staring now in the face. Up in heaven, the Lord heard all the mockery of the noisy, restless nations, and now we're taken right back down on the earth, and now we're face-to-face with these guys. And it's scary. The very enemies of Psalm 2 who are mocking God in the heavens, now we are looking right in the face and they are coming. It's a scary picture, really. I love Psalm 3 as I was pondering this this week because what it's showing us is how God has answered the prayers of His people in struggle on the earth. That's Psalm 3. It's showing us how God has answered the prayers of His people struggling down on the earth. And He, how He has turned everything that to us, how He has turned and He will turn, everything that appears to us in this world upside down, so corrupt, so wrong, how He is flipping it right side up and making everything right. You'll notice that about the psalm. That at the beginning of the psalm, David is in total distress, and by the end of the psalm, he is riding the clouds of heaven. And you say, well, how in the world did he get there? I'm going to say today, what a practical psalm this is for us, isn't it? Let's study it this morning. One of the most difficult realities of life is how quickly things can change. Life can be going calm. Life can be going well. And all of a sudden, one event, one tragedy, one slip, one circumstance so throws us that now what we're faced with has changed the course of everything that we once knew. Everything that we knew in peace and solace and comfort is gone. It's ripped away and life as I knew it has totally changed and now I've got to face head on this dramatic shift of events that I never anticipated or I never experienced. It has altered the way of life as I understand it and as I know it. Some of you are living it now. If you understand this, if you're going through it, or if you can look back over the course of your life and say, I've been through that. I know exactly what you're talking about. You understand Psalm 3. Psalm 3 is a lament. And it's honest, isn't it? That's why we say that not every entering into worship always is a praise song. God's people used to sing this. And isn't it interesting that at the beginning of the Psalter, you have a cry. A cry. He is crying out in deep affliction. Something has happened to David. It's David here, you'll see in the superscription, who here by the Spirit has penned and was given this psalm. And you'll notice in verse 1, what had happened is we have a cry to the Lord about a certain circumstance that has completely overwhelmed him. Notice it. Lord, Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Now that's got to be one of the worst scenarios you could come across at the beginning of the Psalter, isn't it? David's fearing his life. He's fearing his life for many and many who are oppressing Him. And the worst kind of pain to this whole thing is what are they saying about Him? What is the evidence that seems to be in light of this circumstance? It seems to be that God has completely abandoned Him. Everyone is looking at Him and everyone is looking at His particular circumstance and you know what they're saying? God's not with him. God has left him. God has abandoned him. Look, how could somebody who God loves go through that? And then all that's being said about him is lies. What a tragic circumstance. What is this? You'll notice in the superscription that we're told exactly what this is. It says that this was written when David fled from Absalom, his son. Now that was taken from 2 Samuel chapter 15. And here's what happened. David was leading his king in Israel and an undercurrent started in Israel. Absalom sat at the gate of the city, David's son, and he began to judge Israel. And his goal was really clear. The text tells us that Absalom began to steal the hearts of the people of Israel. He wanted to be king. And so we read that Absalom acted toward Israel, all of Israel, who came to him for judgment. Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. And we read that the conspiracy grew strong for the people with Absalom increased and increased in number. So what happened? David could do nothing but flee. They wanted to kill him. It really is the worst picture presented to us. Think about the picture presented to us just for a minute. Here is the king. He's totally been dethroned from his throne. He leaves his capital. He crosses over the brook Kidron. He goes on out into the wilderness. He's in complete exile. He's completely abandoned. he has left the throne of Israel in flight, in fear. And so he heads over the wilderness toward the Mount of Olives. And this is what we read in Samuel. So David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went. For he had his head covered and he went barefoot. It was an awful, awful time. I don't think we understand the pain of this. This was his son, who was the chief conspirator against him. And he had rallied up all of these wicked men around him. A man named Ahithophel who was giving false counsel against David. And everything that's being said about David is lies. Everything about his life has fallen apart. One thing I've learned in the ministry, is that it seems that when things begin to unravel on us, it never comes in singles, does it? You get hit again, and you get hit again. I had a strong believer who I ministered to up north. He had cancer. I'll never forget, he said to me, Chris, I've never faced so much struggle in my life. The devil kicks when you're down. This was a very strong believer. Here's David. Fled to the wilderness. A man now comes out named Shammai and he comes out cursing at David and he grabs big stones and he throws them at David and he cursed. Come out, come out you bloodthirsty man, you rogue. The Lord has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, your son. So now you are caught in your own evil because you are a bloodthirsty man. Whoa. Can you imagine living by faith at this moment? David has to consider something here. And here's what David has to consider. Does all of this say something about God to me? Does it indicate that God's love has been removed from me? does it indicate that God has turned His face away from me? I think, I believe, he must have thought a lot about Saul at this moment. Saul failed. The kingdom was ripped from him. A throne was given to David. And here's history. Seems like it's repeating itself, doesn't it? Throne ripped away. His son now has it. Here's David, covered in sackcloth, walking with a bare foot. He is in total lament. And then some man comes out and says, you are bloodthirsty. You are a bloodthirsty man. And David had to think, you know I am. He hasn't totally applied this right. But I did kill Uriah the Hittite. I did steal his wife. And he ended up dead on the battlefield because of me. And then God said what? But God said, all adversity now, because you did this thing, adversity is going to come from your house, up from your house. It's going to be an awful consequence of your sin. Here it is. In one day, the throne is ripped away. His son has kicked him out, has been his chief conspirator. David is being cursed. David is fleeing. Everything has been taken from him. and the entire nation of Israel has stood against Him. See, now you understand verse 1, don't you? Lord, how many are they who have risen up against Me? How many are they who say there is no help for Him in God? It's thought that this was written the day after He fled His throne. I believe all that I've said is bad. But I'm not so sure that was the greatest struggle. The greatest struggle is the struggle that he felt maybe God has turned his back on him. What was David's lowest moment of life? Well, you could say, well, he lost his son. That would be an awful moment, wouldn't it? I believe you're looking at it. In the course of David's life, you have the absolute lowest point anyone could have ever come. And you stand back from this and you say, it's Psalm 3. Why does the Lord want us to look at that? Why does the Lord want us to consider this? Have you been here? You will. You're going to have a low moment. You're going to have a point where you feel everything that is being felt here. Abandoned? Struggling with whether your sin is going to condemn you forever? See how quickly the rage of the world could turn on us? Add that in the mix? See how quickly everything in this world, it's so fragile. See how quickly the rage of the world could turn on us? We haven't known that here, but I tell you what, you talk to your Christians around the world in persecuted countries, they'll tell you. They understand this. And then we stand back and we say, wow, earthly consequences for the stupid things I've done. Maybe my circumstances are saying God's abandoned me. We struggle with that. We wonder. I mean, David said this. I'm not so far off in asserting this. David said he was walking out of Israel. He had the ark. And you know what David said? Send it back. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He'll bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus, I have no delight in you, here I am. Let Him do whatever seems right to Him. Feel this? Now I find it fascinating that the Lord puts a selah here. There's a lot of debate about what that means and what the whole purpose of that is. My contention is, what I believe is going on with the Selahs is, it's telling us when they would sing this to really take a pause. Like people tell me I should do with my preaching. Pause. Consider this for a minute. Consider the scenario for a minute. Have you been here? Homes disrupt. I've seen people's lives turned upside down in a short time. Families torn apart. Children betray. Spouses fall against you. The world's spinning out of control. What do you do? Times like that. Can you have any real confidence? What is so striking about this psalm is that in verse 3, everything changes. I mean, it's a radical shift. You can't look at it and say, what in the world just happened to him? Because in verse 3, he says, but you, O Lord. And he goes on to tell us that at the lowest point of his life, guess what God did for him? He gave him a good night's rest out in the wilderness when the enemies are coming with knives and swords. And that God surrounded him as with a shield. And that God protected him. You see how radical the contrast is? It doesn't make sense. On one hand, everything is unraveled. Everything is in question. And at the lowest point of his entire life, the next verse is, he's a complete peace. A peace that we just don't see very often. Listen to Lamentations 3. It's the same structure. I have become the laughing stock of all peoples. The object of their taunts all day long. He has filled me with bitterness. He has seeded me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel and made me cower in ashes. My soul is bereft of peace. I've forgotten what happiness is. So I say, my endurance has perished. So is my hope from the Lord. Remember my affliction and my wanderings. the wormwood, and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to my mind. See it? Notice the but. I recall this to my mind. And therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. You know, this is a morning psalm, by the way. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion. Therefore, I will hope in Him. Can you have confidence? And you see, this is where the psalm is telling us maybe that we should look at a bigger picture. In Psalm 2, what was presented to us? The Father installed His Son on the glorious throne. on the holy hill of Zion. Awesome psalm. Do you think it's coincidental that the king's non-anointed son dethrones him in Psalm 3? In other words, Psalm 2, God sets up His king on His holy hill. In Psalm 3, here is the king dethroned by His own illegitimate son. Something's going on, isn't it? here is the king crossing the brook Kidron, cursed, ridiculed, armies against him, driven from the throne, right on into the wilderness. And we say, where is the deliverance? The order of Psalm 2 is completely reversed in Psalm 3. Everything that is set right in Psalm 2 is completely reversed in Psalm 3 and everything is backwards in Psalm 3. And I believe what the Lord is telling us here is to look at the big picture. Who is this all about? Selah. Think about it. What story, boys and girls, is being told here? From the moment of His birth, He was exiled. Did Jesus come to His throne in Jerusalem? No, there was a great conspiracy. against him. And Herod sat there and he had rallied up all of Israel against the Lord and against His anointed. And it was an awful scene in Matthew 2. Israel lamented his birth. Did he ever sit on that throne? No, he was in exile his whole life. Enemies were constantly attacking him. And then there was Shammai. There was a guy by the name of Judas who did nothing but curse him. Betrayed him. And many false witnesses rose up against Him. They spit on Him. They struck Him. He's in flight. He's cast out into the wilderness. And what did they say in the heart of this psalm? They say, there is no help for Him in God. What did they say about Jesus on the cross? If God were with Him, He would deliver Him. There's no help for Him. He's alone. the world attempted to dethrone the Son. Israel, God's Son, attempted to dethrone the Son. And God raised Him far above all principalities and powers. And He set Him high in the heavens, didn't He? And David says in the Psalms, as quoted in Acts, I saw through all of this the Lord always before me. David is telling us that the greater conspiracy of this psalm was the conspiracy against the Lord and His Christ. We're seeing it play out on earth in Psalm 3. And Jesus was triumphant. As David was restored to the throne, Christ was to the heavenly throne of Zion. And you see, that has huge implications for us now. That's what I want you to think about in closing. that has huge implications for us now living in the struggle in a sin-cursed world where the nations are restless. The conflict is so great. And what do we have here? The beauty of Psalm 3 is we have no idea today the level of attack. Luke and Andrea, the level of attack even on us and our children. And the beauty of Psalm 3 is is that it's showing us the blessing of those who trust the Lord in this struggle. Remember Psalm 2 ended that way. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him. And now we see the blessings play out on earth in those who are trusting Him. What is that trust? Well, I usually don't share my negative letters from Abounding Grace Radio, but I had one this week. And this writer wrote in and said, Hey, I heard you say something very disturbing. That every hair that falls out of our head is willed by God. That doesn't seem biblical. God may know how many hairs are on a person's head, but when it falls out, does that mean that God makes people bald? And he went on to say, God is not in control of the bad things that happen to us. God is a loving God. We have free will. and I say, well, bad things don't happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people as a consequence of sin. And if God is not sovereign over all of this, I have no assurance of His strength to deliver. But the heart of faith that He loves is to so trust Him that He rules everything that happens in this sad world, That everything that I view comes from His fatherly hand that I know it will, Paul says, turn out for my deliverance. And that's how this psalm ends. But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. Verse 3, I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Did you see what just happened? I'm pretty sure this morning we have not yet been impressed enough with how good the Lord has been to us. You never stop and think about how good God has really been to you. He cares for us. He loves us. He keeps us. And you know, David's life was nothing to boast about. He killed a man. He took his wife. And yet looking to the Lord, David would later say, blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. He's a shield. David would have remembered what the Lord said to Abram in the covenant of grace so many years ago. Abraham, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. I've decided to love you. And I've decided to be that to you. And I picture the Lord standing before David in the heart of the afflictions here on earth and grabbing that cloth and grabbing His chin and going like this. He lift up my head, David says. He lifted it up. He encouraged me and He strengthened me in the way. And He gave me one of the greatest blessings of peace I've ever known. In the greatest heart of my affliction, in the lowest moment of my life, you know what He did for me? He let me sleep. And I believe when the Psalms say He gives His beloved sleep, it is really telling us to consider how good in simplicity God is to us that He cares that much. This is known as a morning psalm. He woke up in the morning after a wonderful night of rest. And he said, I was untouched because the Lord is my shield. And the equivalent to this, beloved, is Philippians 4, isn't it? In the New Testament. That everything that happens in this sad world, he calls us, don't be anxious for anything. You say, what? Don't be anxious. But in everything by prayer, come to Him, worship Him, adore Him. Be here today. Delight in Him. And thank Him in your life. And you know what He's going to do for you? He may not change the circumstance. Lloyd-Jones used to call it a tyranny of the circumstance. He may not change the circumstance. But what He will do for His people is He will change your perspective through the circumstance. In other words, He's going to put a garrison around your heart and your mind and bless you with peace. And I've seen God's people go through some of the worst afflictions and through it, that man who told me the devil kicks when he was down went to his death in the most simple confidence and childlike faith of trust in the Lord I've ever seen. This is what He does. And He invites us to come to Him. to trust Him. And the psalm ends by saying one more thing. He's going to make it right. People aren't getting away with what they're doing. The wickedness in this world, it's not going past Him. Trust me. David cries out an imprecatory cry right now. Break their teeth! And tonight we'll consider Romans 1. God is answering that prayer. God is judging the nations. God is right now exercising wrath. And maybe that's what we're so confused about. The escalation of evil, maybe we need to start thinking about is the answer of this prayer. That His wrath is being revealed from heaven. We'll consider that tonight. But the next time we fear of how awful things are down in this world and when life unravels and we see the escalation of wickedness, the next time we're crushed, Would you remember this psalm? The Lord is showing us here, you're not alone. He doesn't just say these things from heaven and let you figure it out on earth. He's with you. And He sent His Son down to remedy it. That when Christ came to bring salvation, He reversed the awful tragedy that happened down here because of our sin. And He has promised to all who believe upon Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus Christ, They will not be put to shame. It's scary for those who stand against Him. Your teeth will be broken. But, for those who trust Him, know a matter of adversity or sorrow will derail you. Look at the psalm. He has promised He will turn that sorrow into what? Joy. Sorrow comes in the night, the psalms are going to say, but joy in the morning. And that's Psalm 3. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding in the weight of eternal glory. Every tear will be wiped. He's promised us that. I close with this. I cannot imagine the pain of this for David. At the helm of this rebellion, was his own son. And I believe that what David is teaching us here is even in that kind of struggle, look to God's greater Son to be the answer for this misery. Hebrews tells us everything is subject to Him. Nothing is outside of His control, even though at present we can't see it. But we do see Jesus who gave Himself for us. Lift up your heads, beloved. In the midst of a raging world, He is your shield. He is your strength. He is your salvation. Blessed are all who put their trust in His beloved Son. Amen. O Lord our God, we are so grateful for this powerful psalm. The beginning of the Psalter. That You care in life's greatest afflictions and struggles to bless Your people with peace. And that You have taken all of the sadness and all of the misery and all of the sorrow that happened in this sad world and by the powerful work of Your Son, raising Him from the dead, everything's been turned upside down and upside right. And it will be made right in the end. Thank You for Your love and may Your people today be strengthened and delight to worship You, delight to praise You, delight to thank You, whatever they face in the coming days, months, and years, would you surround them with your peace that surpasses all understanding, guarding their hearts and their minds in Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.