Honest to God

OPENING PRAYER:

Glorious One, I want to make my days and years count, and to advance your kingdom here on earth. Guide me by your Spirit.

READ: Psalm 3

Psalm 3[a]

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

[a] Psalm 3:1 In Hebrew texts 3:1-8 is numbered 3:2-9.

[b] Psalm 3:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 4 and 8.

REFLECT:

Take time to remember and be thankful for the things God has brought you through in your life that enable you to stand firm in him today.

Betrayal splits families apart like nothing else! King David’s son, Absalom (see psalm subtitle), who’d already had his elder brother murdered out of revenge (2 Samuel 13), set himself up as a rival to his father’s authority. First, he questioned David’s running of the country and then, like an oily politician full of promises, ‘he stole the hearts of the people’ (2 Samuel 15:6), leading to a full revolt. This left his father heartbroken and on the run (see 2 Samuel 13-18 for the whole story).

When we’re under attack, we can choose either to give in to hopelessness or give in to God’s sufficiency. David is still ‘a man after God’s own heart’, so what’s his first move after assessing the problem (vs 1,2)? He celebrates who God is and what he’s done (v 3). This discipline reminds us that our God is stronger than the Enemy! Notice the shift that occurs after he cries out his need to God (vs 4–6). Rest comes when we consciously drop our fear and pain into the immensity of God’s love and power. Prayer locates our confidence in him (vs 6–8) and delivers the ‘peace of God, which transcends all understanding’ (Philippians 4:7).

APPLY:

Read Romans 12:17–19, then bring to God someone who’s caused you pain. Ask for peace to trust in his justice, and grace to respond to that person with love.

CLOSING PRAYER:

Teach me Lord, to count my days that I may make wise choices. Make straight the crooked places in my life and I offer my heartfelt praise to you.

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