Latest / A Tithe of Time Podcast / Psalm 3:1–8 — Salvation Belongs to the LORD

Transcript

Psalm 3:1–8 — Salvation Belongs to the LORD · A Tithe of Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to a tithe of time, rooted in wisdom, growing wiser, one passage at a time.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Today we'll be looking at Psalm 3, 1-8, reading from the ESV.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: O Lord, how many are my foes?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Many are rising against me.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Many are saying of my soul, There is no salvation for him in God.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Selah.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill, Selah.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I lay down and slept.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Salvation belongs to the Lord.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Your blessing be on your people.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Selah.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's look closer.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 3 begins with David surrounded.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: He does not minimize the danger.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Many are rising against me.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the attack is not only physical.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: People are saying, there is no salvation for him in God.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: They are telling David that even God will not rescue him.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then one word changes the direction of the Psalm.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But, but you, O Lord, are a shield about me.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: David turns his attention away from what his enemies are saying and toward what he knows about God.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord is his shield, his glory, and the lifter of my head.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: David may be surrounded, but he does not see himself as abandoned.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Then comes one of the most striking details in the Psalm.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: David is surrounded by enemies, yet he sleeps.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: His confidence is not that the danger disappeared during the night, his confidence is that the Lord sustained him through it.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: That changes how he looks at what is ahead.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: The number of enemies has not changed.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: David's view of God has.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: When David cries, Arise, O Lord, save me, he is not trusting his own strength to escape.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: The entire psalm has been moving toward the final declaration: Salvation belongs to the Lord.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: That means rescue ultimately does not belong to the strongest person, the largest army, or the best plan.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: It belongs to God.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And notice how David finishes.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: He begins by speaking about his own enemies, but he ends by praying, Your blessing be on your people.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: His confidence in God expands beyond his own situation.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the picture Psalm 3 1 to 8 leaves us with.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Faith does not pretend the threat is small, it looks directly at the danger and still rests because the Lord is the one who sustains, protects, and saves.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: This concludes Psalm 3 1 8.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we'll continue with Proverbs 1 20 33.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, tithe your time.