(A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.) Jehovah, how many are they that trouble me, many they that rise up against me!
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Many say of my soul, There is no salvation for him in God. Selah.
The words in this verse are not David's own. They are the verdict of a crowd watching him flee from his son Absalom — a verdict about his God. Does a man under God's own discipline still have any claim on God's help? And who has the right to answer that?
David's trouble was not one enemy but a movement. One writer counts the crowd behind Absalom, and sees in it a picture of a later betrayal:
David was not thinking only of Absalom, but of the great number whom Absalom had influenced to follow him. Absalom's uprising reminds us of the treachery of the coming Antichrist. He will first win the favour of the Jewish remnant, then turn against them, lifting himself up to claim to be God.
Another writer sees the same pattern in the future remnant of Israel. The mockery comes from their own people, not from foreigners:
The remnant is suffering persecution, and it comes from their own unbelieving brothers, who sneer at them and mock. "There is no salvation (deliverance) for him in God."
The mockers did not deny that God was at work. They saw His hand in David's collapse, and that is where their mistake began. Older translations word the taunt as "There is no help for him in God," which is how the writers below quote it:
All around him they murmur, "there is no help for him in God." Many are right to see God in the circumstances, but wrong to judge Him by the circumstances alone. There is an easy faith — the faith of Job's friends — that takes the clouds and darkness "all around Him" at face value, as if they revealed Him instead of hiding Him. It is a simple theology, and the sufferer himself is often tempted to adopt it: that God's love never wears a disguise. In fact it is His delight to find a soul close enough to Him to see through the disguise, and climb through the darkness to the perfect Light above.
The taunt was not just unkind. It was the truth turned inside out:
In this conclusion they were completely wrong. The exact opposite was true. There was no help for him anywhere but in God, as the next two verses show. Jehovah was a shield of protection to him. He was also the One in whom he could make his boast, the One who would lift up his head when men sought to cast him down.
The same writer traces the taunt back past the crowd to its real source. His warning is for any believer under God's discipline:
The devil's aim would be to keep us from turning to God. He will never lack many voices to speak his wishes and hint that God is no longer on our side: there is no hope or help for us in Him. Let us learn the lesson that this is a lie. David under discipline was not shut out from God, and neither are we.
David's calm rested on something settled long before Absalom marched. The prophet who exposed his sin had also announced that God had taken it away:
"The Lord also has put away your sin." That was the prophet's ready word of reassurance to the guilt-stricken king. So his soul had been fully restored to God. His conscience had been washed clean from the stain of his sin. Yet many quiet years had passed since then, and he had to keep in mind the discipline the Lord had announced. God would surely carry it out at the right time.
The same sentence came back centuries later, at the cross:
Many said of David, "There is no help for him in God." In the same way, the chief priests, scribes and elders of Israel mocked Christ as they watched Him on the cross: "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him." So men mistake God's patience for not caring, or for letting them off. But God's time is not man's. In His own time He will step in, just as He did after Christ was crucified and buried.
The verse ends with a word that is an instruction, not a comment:
The word Selah occurs 71 times in the Psalms. It means "to pause." A second meaning is to "lift up." We can take it as a sign that as we read we should pause, think, and then lift up our hearts in praise and prayer.
- Many say. The pressure here is a chorus, not a single enemy — and it came from David's own people, sneering while he fled.
- Many misread. They were right that God was in the disaster. They were wrong to judge Him by it — the easy faith of Job's friends.
- Many are wrong. Reverse their sentence and you have the fact: there was no help for David anywhere except in God.
- Many carry a lie. The whisper "God is finished with you" comes from the devil, and he never lacks mouths to carry it. David under discipline was not shut out from God, and neither are we.
- Many will hear it again. The same taunt met Christ on the cross, and God answered it in His own time. So the verse ends with Selah: pause, and lift up your heart.
But thou, Jehovah, art a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head.
David is running for his life from his own son Absalom, and the cruelest wound is the taunt that God has left him. Verse 3 turns from what men say to what God is.
The taunt in verse 2 looked true. Nothing visible argued that God was for David.
This taunt was the most bitter part of his bitter cup. All his life he had faced enemies, and men had hunted him like a partridge on the mountains. But if the wicked hint that God had now abandoned him were true, he had never been in so bad a state. To human eyes his enemies were right, for every sign of God's help and favour was missing. Yet faith won. Though David was in the deepest pit of trouble, he turned from men and appealed to God.
The same accusation is still thrown at believers today. One writer names its source:
The devil's aim would be to keep us from turning to God. He will never lack many people to voice his wishes and hint that God will no longer be on our side, and that there is no hope or help for us in Him. Let us learn the lesson that this is a lie. David under discipline was not shut out from God, and neither are we.
The first title is protection. One writer notes how complete it is.
With this shield of faith the psalmist fortifies himself. Better still, it is God who is his shield — so it is no partial defence, but a defence "round about" him. Perhaps he would not have realised He was so near, if the need had not been so great... So he can add, "the Uplifter of my head." What holds him up is not pride, and not stubbornness that refuses to give in, and not natural courage on its own. It is the sweet grasp of the "I AM" of God.
A man on the run has nothing left to boast about. David still had something, and his critics could not see it.
Verse 3 shows the simplicity of faith. Against the sneers of wicked men, David declares that the Lord was a shield for him, his protector even in the middle of his sufferings. But the Lord was also "my glory," the Object of David's pure delight. Others could not see what David did: that when he was persecuted, God was still his cause of rejoicing.
The third title looks ahead. God will lift the head, but David could not see it yet.
Despite outward appearances, faith sees that the Lord is a shield for the godly. He is his glory, the One in whom he boasts. And in due time He will lift up his head, though for the moment the enemy looks like the winner (Ps. 27:5-6; Ps. 110:7).
David's trouble was God's hand on him after his own sin. One writer links this psalm back to Psalm 51.
We venture to say that David would never have written like this in Psalm 3, when he fled from Absalom, if he had not first written Psalm 51. That psalm poured out his heart in confession of his great sin. But he had judged himself and acknowledged his sin. God restored him to communion with Himself, so he could face with confidence the trouble that came on him under God's governmental dealings.
Another writer looks at David's flight and sees the purpose of the sorrow:
How the discipline of that hour entered into his soul!... The true value of sorrow and trial is to lead the soul into simple and felt reliance on God.
The taunt did not stop with David. One writer hears the same sneer at the cross.
Many said of David, "There is no help for him in God." In the same way the chief priests, scribes and elders of Israel mocked Christ as they watched Him on the cross: "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him." So men mistake God's patience for indifference. But God's time is not man's. In His own time He will step in, as He did after men had crucified and buried Christ. What a deliverance that was, when God raised Christ from among the dead!
- The taunt. "No help for him in God" was the sharpest part of David's pain. The devil still whispers that lie to believers under God's discipline.
- The shield. Not a partial defence but God Himself all around him — and it may take great need before we realise He is that near.
- The glory. With everything else gone, David still boasted in the Lord. Others could not see why a hunted man was rejoicing.
- The lifted head. God lifts the head He promised to lift, in His own time — even while the enemy still looks like the winner.
- The reach. The same taunt reached Christ on the cross, and God answered it by raising Him from the dead.