Context No. 1527 of 4322 · Psalms
Context · Reflection
Psalms 3:1-8: in context
1LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. 2Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah. 3But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 4I cry to the LORD with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah. 5I laid myself down and slept. I awakened, for the LORD sustains me. 6I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side. 7Arise, LORD! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked. 8Salvation belongs to the LORD. May your blessing be on your people. Selah.
This psalm carries the note that David wrote it as he fled from his son Absalom. LORD, how many are my foes, it begins; many rise against me, many say there is no help for him in God. But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the one who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD, and he answered me. And then a remarkable line for a man surrounded by enemies: I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the many thousands set against me on every side.
The line that astonishes, given the circumstances, is the one about sleep: I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustains me. David was in mortal danger, his own son leading a rebellion against him, thousands set against him, enemies on every side saying that even God would not help him. And in the middle of that, he lay down and slept, and woke rested, because the LORD sustained him. To sleep peacefully in such danger is not the mark of someone who does not grasp the threat; David knew exactly how many rose against him. It is the mark of someone whose trust is deeper than the threat. He could lie down and sleep because he had handed the danger to God, whom he called a shield around him, and rested in the confidence that God was keeping him through the night. There is a picture here of the peace that trust in God can give even in real danger. The many enemies were real, and the peril was real; but David's trust let him do a deeply vulnerable thing, close his eyes and sleep, because he believed the LORD would sustain him while he slept. When our own troubles keep us awake, turning the danger over and over in the dark, unable to rest, David shows another way, to hand the whole thing to the God who is a shield around us, and to lie down and sleep, trusting him to sustain us through the night. The peace to sleep amid many enemies is the fruit of a trust that has given the danger to God.
When trouble keeps me awake, turning the danger over in the dark, can I do what David did surrounded by enemies, hand the whole thing to the God who is a shield around me, and lie down and sleep, trusting him to sustain me through the night?