David's Victory

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.

2  Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3  But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4  I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5  I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
6  I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Arise, O Lord; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah                    Psalms 3:1-8

Yesterday we visited with you about the struggles we sometimes face as Christians.  The verses we saw from the writings of Paul seemed to identify struggle and adversity as being common to life itself.  For Paul, a New Testament writer, writing about difficulties seemed normal, probably because of all the things he had suffered in his ministry.

The verses above bring us to see King David, distressed because of his enemies.  Apparently he had a lot of them as he tells us, "Many are they who rise up against me."   David further states there are many of those enemies who are saying things like, "Even God cannot help him now."

There is a tendency in the human experience to think, when troubles surround us, nothing can help me now. There is nowhere to turn because even my enemies are declaring God will not be supplying help. We usually have those thoughts right before we have the thought, "Nobody has a bigger stack of problems and struggles than me."

I'm glad David kept his focus on God.  He confessed his faith in God through his declaration, "You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head."  (That verse is verse 3 and it needs to be underlined and highlighted in the Bible of every Christian.)

David then leads us through the events of his victory.  Look at them closely.  Read them several times.

I cried to the Lord.......and he heard me.

I lay down and slept.....then I awoke because the Lord sustained me.

I will not be afraid, no matter how many rise against me......God has struck them down.

David closes with the assuring words, "Salvation belongs to the Lord, Your blessing is upon your people."

Similar are the words which Paul used in his closing concerning all the troubles we face,  "And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

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