by Rev. Alex. McPherson
(continued from page 209)
PSALM THREE
Verse 4. “I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.”
We have seen what was the occasion of this Psalm and how, when David’s foes were alleging that he was God-forsaken, the fugitive king put his trust in God, his defender, vindicator and comforter. It may be noted that “my glory” in verse three does not have the same meaning as in Psalms 16, 30 and 57. There it means “my soul”: here it means “the One who puts honour upon me.”
In this verse David says that he has cried aloud to God. His prayer, though but the sound of one voice, would accomplish more than all the clamour of his enemies. Is there a suggestion here that, other things being equal, it is better to speak out our secret prayers, however softly, than to form them only in our thoughts? Is it not likely that the very act of enunciating the words ensures that the thoughts will be expressed more definitely?
David speaks of God hearing from his holy hill. He meant Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where he had made a tent for the ark of the covenant, and to which he had ordered Zadok to carry back the ark after the escaping company had crossed the brook Kedron. The king believed that what the Lord had said to Moses and to Israel still held. “And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25, v. 22). The Lord still abode in a special manner between the cherubims as Israel’s covenant God, therefore to Him, Jehovah, David prayed. Here another Selah denotes a pause once again.
Verse 5. “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.”
This was calm courageous behaviour in the circumstances and proves how fully the Lord answered David’s prayer. With a mind quieted by the thought that Jacob’s mighty God was his God too, the royal fugitive lay down to sleep. He did sleep; the Lord preserved him from nocturnal attackers, and he wakened in the morning refreshed and strengthened in mind and body. He acknowledged the Lord’s hand in this. Few do so in our day, which may in some part explain why, when no foes threaten, multitudes cannot obtain natural sleep but have to resort to sedatives.
Verse 6. “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.”
With faith strengthened in answer to prayer he now has no fear of his enemies however numerous or well placed they may be. When the Emperor Charles summoned Luther to the diet of Worms, the reformer’s friend, the Elector of Saxony, insisted the Emperor first grant him a safe-conduct. But as Luther journeyed towards Worms, a friend sent him a message that some Romanists were planning to kill him on the grounds that a safe-conduct granted to a heretic need not be respected. Luther’s reply was, “Go and tell your master that even should there be as many devils in Worms as there are tiles upon the housetops, still would I enter it.” A few days before his death, Luther, recollecting this incident, said, “I feared nothing.” David’s experience was far from being unique, and in times of peril the believer in any age may well do as he did and obtain a similar benefit.
Verse 7. “Arise O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.”
More prayer! It becomes an absolute necessity to the children of God, and a constant necessity. David reasons that if God will take action to save him, all will be well. And so it turned out. His enemies were silenced and put out of action as a man would be who had his teeth broken by a shattering blow on the cheek. The language presents a vivid picture of the defeat administered to Absalom’s forces.
Verse 8. “Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people.”
David gave the glory of his deliverance unto the Lord. We, if we are wise, will attribute all ours to Him also. And when salvation is thought about in its highest sense, who is the author and finisher of that but God alone? The design to save is his, for justice might have been allowed to take its course. The choice of those who should be saved is his also. The sending of a Saviour is his work; and it was Immanuel, God with us, who brought in everlasting redemption. So too with the application of redemption to its objects; all of God, all of grace! Proud man detests this doctrine and will not believe it until taught it experimentally. Can you say that you know it? Only upon God’s people does his blessing fall. Others receive only “fringe benefits.” Happy is that people whose God is the Lord! “Come thou with us and we will do thee good, for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel.”