Psalms 3:4 - Meaning and Application

David had stirred himself up, in spite of his enemies’ rage, to take hold of God as his God. So, when everything around him looked discouraging, he found comfort by looking up to God. Now he looks back with glad thoughts on the good he received from trusting God, and he looks ahead with confidence to a good outcome for the dark trouble he was facing.

He first remembers the comfort of having communion with God, and the help that came from God’s favor. This may have been from some earlier trouble he had already come through, or from the trouble he was still in. David had faced many hard things and had often been pushed down very low, but he still found God fully enough for him. He recalls with joy that trouble always drove him to pray, and in every danger he was able to turn to God, lift up his heart, and even raise his voice. That is a comforting thing to remember when we are in trouble: “I cried to God with my voice.”

Trouble and grief do us good when they drive us to prayer. They push us not only to speak to God, but to cry out to him, like people who are truly serious. God understands the heart even when no voice is heard, as with Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:13. He does not value empty prayers, or those loud prayers meant to impress others, as in Isaiah 58:4. But when the voice is full of real feeling because the heart is full of desire, God takes notice that we cried to him with our voice.

David also remembers that God always answered him. “He heard me from his holy hill” means God answered him from heaven, the high and holy place, and from the ark on Mount Zion, where God gave answers to those who sought him. When David fled from Absalom, he told Zadok to take the ark back into the city (2 Samuel 15:25), because he knew God was not tied to the ark. Even far away, by faith he could still receive peaceful answers from the holy hill. Nothing can block the flow of God’s grace toward us or keep his grace from working in us. The ark of the covenant was on Mount Zion, and all the answers to our prayers come through the promises of that covenant. Christ was set as King on the holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:6), and through him, whom the Father always hears, our prayers are heard too.

David further remembers how safe and calm he had been under God’s care. “I lay down and slept” may refer to the ordinary mercy of sleep each night, for which we should thank God every morning, both alone and with our families. Many people have no secure place to lie down, or they fear enemies if they do. Many others lie down but cannot sleep because of pain, fear, or restless thoughts. Some sleep and never wake again. But we lie down, sleep, and wake to a new day, because the Lord has sustained us, as surely as he gives us food. We are safe in his protection and resting in his good providence.

These words may also describe David’s calm heart in the middle of danger. He had prayed and given himself and his cause to God, and he knew God would protect him. So his heart was steady, and he was able to rest. His son’s disloyalty, the turning away of his subjects, the betrayal of friends, the danger to his life, the weariness of the journey, and the uncertainty of the outcome did not take away his sleep. The Lord sustained him by his grace and by the comfort of his Spirit. It is a great mercy when trouble does not make us so afraid that we cannot eat or sleep in peace.

Some early Christian writers also take these words to point to Christ’s resurrection. In his suffering, Christ offered strong cries and was heard. So even though he lay down and slept in death, he awoke on the third day, because the Lord sustained him so that he would not see corruption.

David also remembers how often God broke the strength and evil plans of his enemies. God struck them on the cheekbone, silenced them, shamed them, and took away their power to do the harm they intended. He broke their teeth. Saul and the Philistines, who were often ready to swallow David up, could not carry out their plans. The teeth that are clenched or sharpened against God’s people will be broken. When the enemies of the church seem threatening, it helps to remember how often God has broken their power before. His arm has not grown weak. He can stop their mouths and tie their hands.

Now David looks forward with confidence. Since he has placed himself under God’s protection and has often found the blessing of it, his fears are silenced. With holy courage he laughs at the empty threats of his enemies. “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,” he says, whether they come from outside as invaders or rise up within the kingdom as rebels, and whether they camp around him on every side or seem to have the upper hand. No one seemed less safe than David then, since his enemies were many, determined, and seemingly everywhere. Yet no one was more secure. He would not be afraid, because they could not truly harm him, and so they need not frighten him.

David is still careful in practical ways, but he will not let fear rule him. He will not upset himself, distrust God, or doubt that the end will be good. When he told Zadok to carry the ark back into the city, he spoke with uncertainty about the outcome and, like a humble penitent, said, “Here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him” (2 Samuel 15:26). But now he speaks like a strong believer, with no fear about what will happen. A willing submission to God is the way to gain a calm confidence in God.

His prayers are also stirred up and strengthened by this confidence.

He believed that God was his Savior, and yet he still prayed. In fact, he prayed because of that trust: “Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God!” Promises of salvation do not replace our prayers for it. God has said that he will be asked for what he has promised to give.

His faith then rises to confidence. He began the psalm by speaking of the strength and hatred of his enemies, but he ends by rejoicing in the power and grace of his God. Now he sees more with him than against him, as Psalm 3:8 says. He builds his confidence on two great truths and finds comfort in them.

First, salvation belongs to the Lord. He has power to save, no matter how great the danger. It is his right to save when every other help and rescue has failed. It is also his will, his way, and his promise to those who belong to him. Their salvation does not come from themselves, but from the Lord. So all who have the Lord as their God, according to the terms of the new covenant, are sure of salvation, because the God who is their God is the God who saves.

Second, his blessing is on his people. He not only has the power to save them, but he has also made known his kind and gracious purpose toward them. In his word, he has pronounced a blessing on his people, and we are bound to believe that this blessing truly rests on them, even when there are no visible signs of it. So we may conclude that God’s people, though others may mock them and judge them wrongly, are certainly blessed by him. He gives real blessing, and he can also command blessing to come.

When we sing this and pray it over ourselves, we should admit the comfort we have found in trusting God and putting ourselves in his hands. We should also encourage ourselves and one another to keep hoping and quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord.