When All Seems Like a Desert

by Timothy Howe

Save Me, O My God

Psalm 3 ESV

3 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

¹   O Lord, how many are my foes!

Many are rising against me;

²   many are saying of my soul,

there is no salvation for him in God. Selah

³   But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head.

⁴   I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

⁵   I lay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

⁶   I will not be afraid of many thousands of people

who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷   Arise, O Lord!

Save me, O my God!

     For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸   Salvation belongs to the Lord;

your blessing be on your people! Selah

This is the first of 13 Psalms taken directly from military or family crises of David. Psalm 3 has been associated with dealing with the worst of the 13 events – the insurrection of Absalom, his own son, against his rule found in 2 Samuel 15:12-14. It was a situation that was not just bad, but it was one that kept getting worse. David was certainly in a "desert place."

Verse 2 seems to hint that those who support David see the “writing on the wall” and pronounce that help won’t even come from God. Yet even at the very depth of despair, when all else have given up hope that God would intervene and save David, David still proclaims that his confidence is in the Lord. His problems are still very real present. Look ahead to verse 6 were he still declares that his enemies are set all around him. Yet his confidence in the Lord has already been declared!

David’s faith

David demonstrates tremendous faith in the Lord.

1.   He declares confidence in the Lord to protect & sustain him. (3)

2.   He seeks his answer from the Lord not his circumstances. (4a)

3.   He receives an answers from the Lord. (4b)

4.   He rests assured because of the Lord. (5a)

5.   He refuses to fear things that are fearful. (6)

When it is said that God will not save him, David sees this more as a slur against God than against himself or his situation. He knows that God is the only one who can protect him and provide for him. When he hears of and acknowledges this lack of faith, he counters it with a strong declaration of his faith. He expects God to respond.

David’s cry

In his cry to the Lord, David asks for and receives…

Protection 

First, he acknowledges the Lord as his shield, one that completely encircles him. His faith was not that God would provide a partial release from the difficulty, but a complete one. God’s protection covers all. His protection is complete.

Dignity 

David was under attack. His reputation and dignity were being maligned. His only hope was to place his reputation with that of the One from whom he sought protection – the Lord. He thus praises the Lord as the one who ultimately gets all credit, “the glorious one,” but on a more personal basis, “my Glory!” This personal aspect reinforces the personal relationship that David has with YHWH. It also links David’s dignity and esteem with that of the Lord’s.

Approval 

Finally, David confesses that all his assurance, even seeming self-assurance or confidence in his own abilities, really only come as a result of God lifting him up. The term “lifting one’s head” was used when one would approach a monarch or high ranking official who had authority over you or your circumstances. If that authority approved of you, he would “raise your head” thereby showing his approval (Genesis 40:13). If the ruler ignored you, left without doing anything, or dismissed you without raising the head it would mean lack of approval or, in a worse case, judgment against you.

The personal intimate knowledge of God finds fresh profundity in verse 4 as David takes his concerns directly to YHWH. God answered David. He received a personal word from the Lord. We do not know the content of God’s answer to David. What we do know is that in his hour of need David heard from the Lord.

This caused David to have peace. David was a man after God’s own heart. Indeed, he may have heard a direct word from the Lord. Most of us do not have the privilege. But the peace of the Lord is itself a response of the Lord, especially when that peace comes in times of turmoil. 

May you find peace in difficult circumstances.

May He bring water to your desert.