Psalm 3

A short Psalm, this one plays out in four stanzas:

• 1-2: The Problem: David is under attack.
• 3-4: The Solution: God is his shield, the one who hears and answers.
• 5-6: The Result: David can rest secure because God sustains.
• 7-8: Continued Need: Even though David rests in stanza 3 because of his confidence in stanza 2, yet he needs God’s continued working in order to sustain this pattern. In verse 7, David continues the acting out of what he did in verse 4: “I cried aloud to the Lord.”

“Salvation belongs to the Yahweh.” Do not cease to ask for this. It belongs to God. He is a shield. He sustains us in sleep and waking. Yet we ought to keep asking for it from day to day. C. S. Lewis put this well in The Magician’s Nephew:

“Well, I do think someone might have arranged about our meals,” said Digory.
“I'm sure Aslan would have, if you'd asked him,” said Fledge.
“Wouldn't he know without being asked?” said Polly.
“I've no doubt he would,” said the Horse (still with his mouth full). “But I've a sort of idea he likes to be asked.” (Chapter 12)

Questions for more thought

1. Why does God seem to delight in responding to pleas of people (Think Moses, the cycles in Judges, Nehemiah’s prayer, etc.)