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.

Psalm 3 (NIV)

As bad as the idea of many people turning against David was, the thought of God not being there for him was undoubtedly more traumatic. Much of my life, I have had an underlining sense that God would always be there for me and loved me, despite my seeming inability to love myself or even those around me as God would intend. The psalmist dismissed the idea of God abandoning him and went on to write that God is a shield around him (vs. 3). If we listen to the voices of the foolish people in this world, we would hear them tell us that Good is either dead or simply doesn’t care about us[. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Charles Stanley, in his Life Principles Study Bible, reminds us that both sleeping and waking are good gifts from God (v. 5). I tend to agree, there’s nothing like a good night’s sleep! I am grateful for the knowledge each night when I go to bed that I am loved (even liked as Brennan Manning would say) by God and that He has a good plan for my life.

In verse 8, the psalmist is clearly aware that deliverance comes from God and Him alone. He has no distorted view of his abilities in this matter and knows that there are times when only God can save us. Am I always aware of that and dependent upon God as my source of strength?

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