“But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.”
– Psalm 3:3
Hi James and Ellen,
How would you like it if you did not have a place to live? How would like it if you had to always be moving because there is a guy looking for you to kill you? How would you like it if you knew that the guy who wanted to kill you is your own kid? Would you pull a David if . . . even though David was anointed by oil by Samuel – who was God’s designated prophet when David was alive on planet Earth, to be positioned to reign as the second king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, David did not assume that he was to immediately take over the king position from Saul – who was the first guy who God had Samuel anoint to be the first king over the Israelite people group guys and gals. It was years before David would finally end up being the second king to reign over God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Even though Saul became super fanatical about wanting to kill David, David never considered killing Saul. David implicitly knew that Saul becoming the king over Israelite people group guys and gals was a God thing. David was not about to mess with something that he knew that God had brought about to take place. Even after Saul was killed fighting in a battle against marauding Philistine people group guys, David did not claim the king crown. Several years passed before David was finally accepted by all the Israelite people group tribal clans as their next king. During the forty years that David was king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, David led the Israelite people group guys and gals to become a very powerful and wealthy. At one point during the forty years that David ruled as king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, David stepped over the morality line by having an illicit affair with a married gal – whose name was Bathsheba, resulting in Bathsheba becoming pregnant by David. This immoral misstep resulted in David sending a written order to have Bathsheba’s military husband put on the front line during a major battle so that he would be killed. Bathsheba becomes one of David’s wives. Bathsheba’s baby dies. David experiences God’s chastisement and the relief that is felt when forgiveness is asked for – from having committed a grievous sin, from God and having God do unconditional forgiving.
Your grandpaa believes that even though David had a very intimate relationship with God, David seems to have been parentally challenged. When one of his kids – Absalom, became old enough to know better, Absalom thought that he could do a lot better job being king over the Israelite people group guys and gals than what his dad was doing. When Absalom flexed his popularity, David – now an old geezer, to stay alive, had to leave where he was living. Because David had no safe place to go, David had to keep on moving with a small entourage of loyal guys and gals. What do you think was going through David’s mind as he picked up and moved day after day just to remain alive? What do you think was going through David’s mind as he knew that if was found and caught that he would be killed? What do you think was going through David’s mind as he tried to reconcile why his own kid would want him dead? Do you think that David was doing blame casting? Do you think that David was feeling sorry for himself? Do you think that David was thinking that life is unfair? Do you think that David was fearful of dying?
What would you say would be the worst possible thing that could happen to you? What would you do if the worst possible thing happened to you? David dwelt with a worst case scenario caused by his kid by scribing a psalm song – which became Psalm 3 in the Psalm Book, to negate any nagging frustration and fear spirits that might want to filter into his mind as he and his diehard supporters fled his imprudent kid. David scribed this psalm song to God to communicate his absolute complete confidence in Him that He would always take care of him even though at that very minute, he had foes surrounding him. David tells God in his psalm song that his enemies are wrongly believing that He – God – as God the Father, cannot save him. David’s answer to his foe’s believing that God cannot save him is verse 3, “But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” David testifies in this psalm song that he is not having any trouble sleeping at night because he knows that God will always sustain him – that God will always be his shield against the tens of thousands of guys who are slowly but surely moving in on every side to kill him. As David ends this psalm song, David essentially tells God that it is time for Him to wake up – that it is time for Him to take immediate action. David instructs God in his psalm song to strike his enemies on their jaws hard enough to knock their teeth out of their wicked mouths. Even though this is a figurative request that David gave God to do – to knock his enemy’s teeth out of their mouths, David is serious about his expectations of God – as God the Father, to divinely intervene and to save him from the guys who were chasing him – including his own kid Absalom. David in no way wanted Absalom dead; David just expected God to resolve the quandary that he was in before it got a lot worse. What do you do when you get into a predicament that is becoming worse? Do you expect God to be there for you? Are you asking God to care for you? Are you sleeping well at night knowing that God’s presence is there with you? As Christ-follower constitutional standards are being eroded by self-indulging ideologues, by ACLU Christian principles hatchets, by . . . are you pulling a David by talking resolutely with God?
Psalm 3 (1043)