Psalm Devotional
Dealing with the Attack of Our Enemies
There is calamity in the city. There is something rotten in Jerusalem! Absalom, David’s son, has won the hearts of the people and is assembling his forces for a coup. David is on the run, and night is falling on his kingdom.
This is the historical backdrop for Psalm 3. How will David deal with the attack of his enemies?
Verse 1 expresses the magnitude of David’s opposition. The word “many” is repeated three times in the first two verses to emphasize the multitudes allied against him.
Verse 2 demonstrates that the attack against David was verbal as well as physical. His enemies cry out to him that God will not deliver him. Recall the cry of Shimei against David in 2 Samuel 16:7-8: “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!…The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin.”
It is striking how this attack on David foreshadows Christ’s own experience. Our Lord was surrounded by enemies (Ps. 22:11-13) and rejected as King (John 19:14-15). However, this psalm applies to us as well. Jesus promised that we will be surrounded by enemies (John 15:20).
