Originally published on January 3, 2021
Disclaimer: "Journey trough the Psalms" is a compilation of journal notes and meditations written by several members of our church. The content is intended as a complementary material as you read one psalm a day.
Psalm 3 - This Psalm is squarely centered on God’s deliverance.
Key to the understanding of this Psalm is the context. David was being chased by his son Absalom which was part of God’s disciplinary action toward David for David’s affair with Bathsheba and murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Urriah. Even in discipline, David cries out to God for protection and relies on God’s mercy for deliverance. David would later respond similarly when judged for taking a census of Israel.
Jonah would invoke this Psalm when crying out to God in the midst from the belly of the fish (Jonah 2). Jonah begins his prayer with Ps 3:4 and ends with Ps 3:6.
England’s Book of Common Prayer begins each month with a morning reading of Psalm 3. Perhaps the words of John Newton, former slave trader & the writer of Amazing Grace, come closest to capturing the heart of the Psalm, “Two things I am certain of, I am a great sinner and He is a great Savior.”
Check out this outstanding virtual choir rendition of “Thou Oh Lord” inspired by Psalm 3:3.
Feel free to join our journey through the Psalms in 2021 as we read a Psalm a day through May.
