Gospel Reflections #1129: God would not David

Psalm 3:2, 3 ‘“He has no help from God,” say many who speak against me. But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts up my head.’

This passage expresses the relentless words hurled at him by those around him in a desperate situation, and the deep anguish King David felt in the face of it.

This psalm was composed during the worst crisis of King David’s life, when he had been driven from the palace by the rebellion of his own son, Absalom, and was fleeing for his life.

David found himself in a state of loneliness and fear brought on by betrayal, realising that ‘those who were his allies only yesterday have all become his enemies today’.

His enemies mocked him, saying, ‘He has no salvation from God (he has been forsaken even by God)’.

For David, these words were more painful than the threat to his physical life.

This was because David had committed sins in the past—such as his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah—and this rebellion was, in part, God’s judgement for those sins.

The enemies’ words, ‘There is no salvation from God’, were the cruelest psychological attack, striking at David’s sense of guilt and his deepest fear: a ‘separation from God’.

 These verses vividly depict the ‘besieged’ situations we face in life.

At times when it seems as though everyone is criticising us, when voices of despair such as ‘You’re a lost cause’ or ‘There is no God’ echo in our hearts, what is remarkable about David is that, even whilst facing such overwhelming words from his enemies, he pours out his heart frankly to God, addressing Him as ‘O Lord’.

 Furthermore, this psalm has long been known as the ‘Morning Prayer’.

This is because it is the cry of a soul facing danger, and a prayer offered when the suffering is eased as dawn breaks.

Trusting in God’s protection, David lay down and slept peacefully.

His faith in God granted him rest before he faced the trials of the following day.

The night of sorrow was transformed into courage.

David came to the conviction that God would crush them all.

If we, too, spend the night of tribulation with God, He will surely lead us into a morning of hope.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.