INTRODUCTION
A. Here is a dog that needed deliverance:
A Tacoma, Washington, newspaper carried the story of Tattoo the basset hound. Tattoo didn’t intend to go for an evening run, but when his owner shut the dog’s leash in the car door and took off for a drive with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice.
Motorcycle officer Terry Filbert noticed a passing vehicle with something dragging behind it: it was "the basset hound picking [up his feet] and putting them down as fast as he could." He chased the car to a stop. Tattoo was rescued, but not before the dog had reached a speed of 20 to 25 miles per hour, rolling over several times.
Too many of us end up living like Tattoo, our days marked by picking them up and putting them down as fast as we can.
It’s time to learn another way to live.
B. The need for deliverance is normally even more urgent for us.
1. When we went to the Dominican Republic in 1987, we had a couple of situations where we thought we would need deliverance.
a. Nancy was in 5th grade when we took the trip. She was traveling in a over packed mini-van on a trip home from the beach on Sunday afternoon when the mini-van, filled with nearly all women and children, broke down. We were in another vehicle, not sure where the mini-van was. All the people in the mini-van, except one, only spoke Spanish, and he left with his family. We returned to where we were staying, only to get a phone message from the family who had left the mini-van about what had happened. We could not stay and wait to see how things turned out because we were scheduled to be at a church across town where I was to preach. When you have that kind of uncertainty, you feel like you need deliverance. Everything turned out fine by the time the evening was lover, but we had some uncertainty for a while.
b. On that same trip, our missionary friend was stopped in a speed trap late at night by policemen with menacing rifles. Billy refused to give the police bribes, which is why they stopped Americans. Christine especially had a few anxious moments. I had been riding that trip every night for over a week by that time, so I was not quite as concerned, but we were still anxious. In the end, again, everything worked, as Billy can talk like a native Dominican, and he got everything resolved.
c. All of us have had anxious moments of varying degrees. With many of them, we realize later, that we did not need to be as anxious as we were. At the moment, though, we feel a need for deliverance.
2. Other situations are even more demanding. My missionary friends, Marty and Tina Ganong, in Conakry, Guinea, where Jane Fisher is going for her internship, have had some anxious moments recently due to the turmoil of the political situation there. Almost a year and a half ago (early 2007), while Ganong’s were in the U.S., missionaries were evacuated from Guinea. Now the unrest has developed again, and they were forced recently to spend a few nights in a safe house. The airport was closed for a few days. By last weekend, they were able to safely return to their home, but no one knows for sure how things will develop in the coming days. Sometimes you feel like you need deliverance.
3. We all have such moments in the ordinary affairs of life where you feel that life has gotten a hold of you, and you need deliverance.
• That is what this Psalm addresses. It tells about a person who faces physical danger as a new day dawns.
C. There are some important things to know about this Psalm.
1. This is the first Psalm to have an inscription: The inscription tells us the Psalm was written by David, and gives us the occasion of its writing.
a. This is the first Psalm attributed to David.
b. This is also the first time the word psalm is used. The Hebrew word means a poem to be sung to musical accompaniment.
c. This is also the first Psalm where the word selah is used. It is used three times, and I will discuss it later.
2. The inscriptions for the Psalms are important. They do not appear in all the English translations, which is too bad, since they do appear in the Hebrew Bible.
3. In this Psalm, we also clearly see four movements, which are similar to our hymn verses.
KEY STATEMENT
Psalm 3 has four movements which show us, from David experience, the nature of God’s deliverance.
I. WHEN WE NEED DELIVERANCE, THERE IS A CRISIS– Vss. 1,2.
A. Psalm 3 is set against the crisis David faced when Absalom, his son, conspired to make himself king, as told in 2 Kings 15 & 16.
1. For four years, Absalom worked to win the hearts of the people by seeking to provide them justice and convincing them that David did not care for them. He had been in disfavor with David for some time because of his murder of one of his half-brothers. He now determined to try and wrench the kingdom from his father.
2. David was occupied with the affairs of government, and did not notice what was happening.
3. After four years, Absalom went to Hebron gathered his followers around him and raised up a rebellion against David.
4. The revolt was so sudden and so unexpected that David had no recourse but to flee Jerusalem with whatever leaders remained faithful to him. He retreated down the steep descent from the capital, crossed the Kidron Valley, and made his way over the Mount of Olives to the temporary safety of the desert.
5. The narrative says that he went weeping and barefoot, his bead covered in sorrow. Along the way, David was loudly and openly cursed by Shimei, a Benjamite, who had remained loyal to the house of David’s predecessor Saul (2 Samuel 16:7,8).
6. This is the situation Psalm 3 describes. It is true that there are no references to the specific details of David’s grim retreat from Jerusalem. Very few of the psalms are specific in this way – obviously so that they might be used by people in similar though not identical situations.
7. David says that many were even saying of him that God will not deliver him – vs. 2.
• Then for the first time, we have the use of the word Selah. It will be used twice more in this Psalm, and throughout the Psalms. It was a type of musical note in Hebrew poetry which commands a pause. It means mark that, stop there and consider. David is saying, consider closely my terrible plight for a minute; then consider how it is dealt with.
B. People today face crises of similar proportions.
1. Consider the story of Samir Majan in the movie Behind the Sun:
The movie Behind The Sun follows the story of Samir Majan, a young man born and raised a Muslim in the Middle East. After attending college in the United States, he has done the unthinkable: he has become a Christian. It’s a costly decision for Samir, because few things are more offensive in the eyes of a Muslim family than Christian conversion. In this scene, Samir has come back home, and one of his siblings has found a New Testament underneath Samir’s mattress. Intense persecution immediately ensues. Samir first faces his father’s wrath:
"Samir!" his father calls.
"Yes?" answers Samir.
"What is this?" his father asks, holding up the New Testament.
When Samir does not answer, his father throws the Bible across the room, screaming, "You act like a snake behind my back! The years of work, the sleepless nights—and you repay me with this? You do this for what—a Bible corrupted by mad men, a superstition that mocks Allah by worshiping the Prophet Jesus as a God?"
He begins to slap Samir, shouting, "Look at me! These are delusions of Satan! Stupid, ignorant people are brainwashed into believing these lies, but not my son!"
By this time, a group of male family members has arrived at the home, and Samir’s father laments: "This is a nightmare!"
Samir’s uncle enters the room and encourages Samir’s father to leave to be with his guests. The uncle then grabs Samir, saying, "My brother may not have the stomach to do what is necessary, but do not underestimate me. You must repent. You must beg Allah for forgiveness. If not, we will send you behind the sun [a symbolic location for people who deserve to be sent far away and forgotten]."
2. James Montgomery Boice had a friend tell him how he had gone on a vacation, leaving his business in the hands of his partner. When he came back after only two weeks, the partner had managed to steal it away, leaving him with significant debts. How can any honest person survive in such a jungle?
3. You may not be facing an imminent military battle, such as David was, or be threatened for your faith like Samir, but you are facing a battle. The climate in the department of the company for which you work may be one of open warfare. Everyone is trying to defeat everyone else. The conditions are cutthroat. The weapons are rumors, lying, gossip, misrepresentation, even violence, bribes, or stealing.
• How many enemies does it take to make life miserable and possibly lead to the loss of your job? One will do if he is determined enough.
4. In the midst of such a crisis, someone is bound to say, as they did with David, “even God will not deliver him.”
• Charles Spurgeon wrote, “It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God.”
• Fortunately, David does not end the Psalm there. In fact, he is just beginning.
II. WHEN WE NEED DELIVERANCE, WE HAVE A SHIELD – Vss. 3, 4.
A. We have a defender in the most hopeless situations.
1. God gives us protection like this mountain climbing guide:
A mountain climber in the Alps had come to a perilous gap in the ice where the only way to get across a chasm was to place his foot in the outstretched hands of the guide who was a little way ahead of him. Told to do this by the one who was directing the party, the man hesitated a moment as he looked into the gloomy depths below where he would certainly fall to his death if anything went wrong. Seeing his hesitation, the guide said, "Have no fear, sir; in all my years of service my hands have never yet lost a man!"
2. David says, God is “shield around me.”
a. The type of shield he spoke was carried by a warrior for defense. He had no doubt carried one himself many times, and probably had his life saved by one more than once. He had also no doubt seen the lives of his soldiers saved by the skilled use of their shields. But here he has in mind a greater meaning - he says God is his shield. God is the one who to wraps himself around his servants to protect them from their enemies.
b. In comparison, David saw the shields of men to be in¬effective. He knew that no matter how many more soldiers he had and no matter how much more skilled they were than Absalom’s, he was not safe unless he took the Lord as his protector.
c. Now what is it that changes David’s perspective from verses 1 & 2 to verses 3 & 4? He has turned his attention from his enemies to God.
3. This same principle was present in Israel’s history again and again. David knew the stories from the past.
a. Consider the difference between the ten and the two spies when they were first sent into Canaan prior to the Jewish conquest. Ten of the spies were overwhelmed with the strength and stature of the Canaanites; they were giants. The other two spies, Caleb and Joshua, expressed their confidence in God to deliver the land to them. Both groups had seen the giants. But the ten looked only at the giants and forgot about God. The two kept their eyes on God, making the giants look small.
b. Then there was the case of Gideon. God had Gideon reduce his army to 300 men so that he could demonstrate his ability to deliver the people from a far larger army.
c. Later in their history, there would be Elisha. The King of Aram would surround the city Elisha’s was in with horses and chariots. When Elisha’s servant woke in the morning and saw their predicament, he was afraid. Elisha prayed that God would open the eyes of his servants, and God did. The servant saw the might, flaming chariots of God surrounding the army of Aram. When he saw God in comparison to the enemy, he had no reason to fear.
4. Now David knew that God had protected him in the past and could do so again.
5. David said, God would “lift up” his head, even when he was severely cast down. Sin beats us down; God always lifts us up.
6. Then God answers David when he cries aloud to him
B. God will still protect us as he did David.
1. This happened to the town of Sleswick:
Some fifty years ago, one bitter January night, the inhabitants of the old town of Sleswick were thrown into the greatest distress and terror. A hostile army was marching down upon them, and new and fearful reports of the conduct of the lawless soldiers were hourly reaching the place.
In one large, spacious cottage dwelt an aged grandmother with her widowed daughter and her grandson. While all hearts quaked with fear, this aged woman passed her time in crying out to God that he would "build a wall of defense round about" them, quoting the words of an ancient hymn.
Her grandson asked why she prayed for a thing so entirely impossible as that God should build a wall about their house, that should hide it; but she explained that her meaning only was that God should protect them.
At midnight the dreaded tramp was heard, an enemy came pouring in at every avenue, filling the houses to overflowing. But, while most fearful sounds were heard on every side, not even a knock came to their door; at which they were greatly surprised. The morning light made the matter clear; for, just beyond the house, the drifted snow had reared such a massive wall that it was impossible to get over it to them.
"There!" said the good woman triumphantly: "do you not see, my son, that God could raise up a wall around us?"
2. Consider the case of George Smith:
No one could say that George Smith didn’t have courage. A daring jet test pilot in the 1950’s, back when the sound barrier was first being broken, he could face anything -- until he had to bail out of a jet going 805 miles per hour (Guideposts 1958). Though he survived, he was afraid of ever flying again. Then, during his hospital stay, a nurse gave him an antidote to fear. He took her words to heart: "Courage," she said, "is knowing the worst -- and discovering that, in God’s world, the very worst can’t really hurt you."
• If that is true for a test pilot, it is even more true as we live life when we keep our eyes on God.
III. WHEN WE NEED DELIVERANCE, WE HAVE A SUSTAINER – Vss. 5, 6.
A. We must be careful to let the Lord determine how best to help us.
• Missionary who did receive her regular monthly check:
I heard of a missionary who did not receive her monthly check. She was seriously ill and because of no money had to live on oatmeal and canned milk. She received her check thirty days later. After mentioning this incident while on furlough a doctor asked the nature of her illness. She described the intestinal digestive trouble she had been having and the doctor said, "If your check had arrived on time and you had been eating your current diet you would now be dead, because the best treatment for your illness was a thirty-day oatmeal diet." You know, our problem is that we do not wait upon the Lord. We forget that it’s through faith and patience that we obtain God’s promises.
B. David expresses how God sustains him through his turmoil.
1. This is a wonderful picture of how David is able to lie down and sleep even in the midst of the sudden great danger brought upon him by Absalom’s rebellion.
2. This is a picture of one who trusts in God to the extent that he is able to sleep soundly even while the treacherous seek his life.
3. Do you have a hard time sleeping when things are going badly? Isn’t that the way life usually works? I’ve been there, and you probably have too. We turn something that worries us over and over in our minds, unable to get to sleep. Perhaps, we don’t trust God enough.
4. The real confidence expressed in these two verses is the confidence of the next morning. David went to sleep trusting God. Now he has awakened with the events of the day firmly in God’s hands. He is saying, “I had a good night’s rest, and now I am not afraid to face the terrors of this new day. I will not fear the thousands drawn up against me.”
C. God puts us in his “cushion” when we need deliverance:
Several years ago a submarine was being tested and had to remain submerged for many hours. When it returned to the harbor, the captain was asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn’t even know there was one!" The sub had been so far beneath the surface that it had reached the area known to sailors as "the cushion of the sea." Although the ocean may be whipped into huge waves by high winds, the waters below are never stirred.
The Christian’s mind will be protected against the distracting waves of worry if it is resting completely in the good providence of God. There, sheltered by His grace and encouraged by His Holy Spirit, the believer can find the perfect tranquility that only Christ can provide.
D. Martin Luther demonstrated his on his way to Worms:
Luther had been called to Worms by the emperor and the papal legate to answer for his “heretical” teachings. He had been promised a safe-conduct. But his friends had heard the Reformer’s enemies say that the safe-conduct of a heretic ought not to be honored, and they feared for his life. After all, John Huss had been given a safe-conduct not long before, and he had been burned at the stake. As Luther approached the city, a messenger arrived with a warning from his friend Georg Spalatin: “Do not enter Worms!” Luther told the messenger, “Tell your master that even if there should be as many devils in Worms as tiles upon the housetops, still I would enter it.”
Years later, a few days before his death, Luther said of that moment, “I was then undaunted, I feared nothing.”
It was true, too, for Luther refused to recant his teachings even though his stand put him in even greater danger. Where did Luther find such courage? He found it where David had found it: in God.
IV. WHEN WE NEED DELIVERANCE, WE CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE – Vss. 7, 8.
A. So the Psalm closes with David expressing his confidence in God.
1. He is confident because he knows that God has heard him and that he will provide the needed deliverance.
2. This is really a war cry. In Numbers 10:33-36 we are told that when the hosts of Israel broke camp, they did so because the cloud of the Lord, which normally rested over the Ark of the Covenant in the midst of the camp, had risen up and gone before them. Then Moses would cry:
Rise up, O Lord!
May your enemies be scattered;
May your foes flee before you.
3. Regardless of the speaker, the words, “Rise up, O Lord” always carried this connotation. So David was making a victorious call to battle, knowing that the Lord was going before him and would give him the victory.
4. And God did give David victory. God caused Absalom to listen to bad advice, and thus fail to pursue and defeat his father when he was most vulnerable. Then, when the battle was finally engaged, after David had been able to gather strength and prepare for it, David’s troops achieved a great victory.
B. William Cowper captured this idea in his hymn “God Moves In a Mysterious Way”:
The hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way has been a source of great comfort and blessing to many of God’s people since William Cowper wrote it in the 18th century. Yet few people know of the unusual circumstances that led to its composition.
William Cowper was a Christian, but he had sunk to the depths of despair. One foggy night he called for a horsedrawn carriage and asked to be taken to the London Bridge on the Thames River. He was so overcome by depression that he intended to commit suicide. But after 2 hours of driving through the mist, Cowper’s coachman reluctantly confessed that he was lost. Disgusted by the delay, Cowper left the carriage and decided to find the London Bridge on foot. After walking only a short distance, though, he discovered that he was at his own doorstep! The carriage had been going in circles. Immediately he recognized the restraining hand of God in it all. Convicted by the Spirit, he realized that the way out of his troubles was to look to God, not to jump into the river. As he cast his burden on the Savior, his heart was comforted. With gratitude he sat down and penned these reassuring words from the beginning of the first two verses: "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. O fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head."
