Psalm 3:1

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) How . . . many.—“And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem” (2Samuel 16:15). Ahithophel counsels Absalom to take 12,000 men, and go in instant pursuit of the fugitive. Hushar’s advice shows, of course, the exaggeration of flattery: “Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Bcersheba, as the sand which is by the sea for multitude.”

Benson Commentary

Psalm 3:1. Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? — He might well say so, for the party that sought his ruin was very numerous and very formidable. Absalom his son had stolen away the hearts of the generality of the people, and was at the head of them: Ahithophel, his counsellor, sought his ruin: Shimei, with others of his enemies, reproached him as utterly forsaken of God; while many of his friends, undoubtedly, trembled for his safety, and, had Ahithophel’s advice been followed, his ruin, morally speaking, would have been unavoidable. No wonder, then, that he was in great trouble, as he certainly was in great danger: but in the midst of it he takes the right method, and has recourse to God, his strong helper. As he went up the mount of Olives, with his head covered and barefoot, he wept and prayed, wept and believed, and God heard him from his holy habitation.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:1-3 An active believer, the more he is beaten off from God, either by the rebukes of providence, or the reproaches of enemies, the faster hold he will take, and the closer will he cleave to him. A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of help in God. See what God is to his people, what he will be, what they have found him, what David found in him. 1. Safety; a shield for me; which denotes the advantage of that protection. 2. Honour; those whom God owns for his, have true honour put upon them. 3. Joy and deliverance. If, in the worst of times, God's people can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that all shall work for good to them, they will own God as giving them both cause and hearts to rejoice.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A Psalm of David - literally, belonging to David; that is, belonging to him as the author. This is marked in the Hebrew as the first verse, and so in the Syriac version, the Latin Vulgate, and the Septuagint, making in the Hebrew, and in each of these versions, nine verses in the psalm instead of eight, as in our translation. This may have been prefixed to the psalm by the author himself, for it was not uncommon in ancient times for an author to prefix his name to his own composition, as is commonly done by the apostle Paul in his epistles. It is not absolutely certain, however, that this was done in the Psalms by the authors themselves, but it may have been done by him who collected and arranged the Psalms, indicating the prevalent belief in regard to the authorship, and under the Spirit of inspiration.

When he fled - On the occasion of his fleeing. That is, it was composed at that time, or was subsequently composed in remembrance of it. See Introduction, Section 2.

From Absalom his son - See the introduction, Section 2.

Lord, how are they increased - How are they multiplied; or, how numerous they are. Perhaps the idea is, that at first they seemed to be comparatively few in number, but had now so multiplied as to endanger his crown and life. This is an appropriate expression on the supposition that it refers to Absalom. At first the number of those who adhered to Absalom was not so great as to excite much alarm; but by the arts of a demagogue, by complaining of the government, by saying that if he were made a judge in tim land, every man would have justice done him 2 Samuel 15:4-5, he won the hearts of the people, and gathered so many under his standard as to make it necessary that the king should flee from Jerusalem to a place of safety.

That trouble me - literally, my enemies. The allusion is to those who were now enlisted under Absalom, and who were engaged in endeavoring to overthrow the government.

Many are they that rise up against me - That is, that have become my enemies.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 3

Ps 3:1-8. For the historical occasion mentioned, compare 2Sa 15:1-17:29. David, in the midst of great distress, with filial confidence, implores God's aid, and, anticipating relief, offers praise.

1. Lord … increased—The extent of the rebellion (2Sa 15:13) surprises and grieves him.

The Treasury of David

1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

2 Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

The poor broken-hearted father complains of the multitude of his enemies, and if you turn to 2 Samuel 15:12, you will find it written that "the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom," while the troops of David constantly diminished! "Lord how are they increased that trouble me!" Here is a note of exclamation to express the wonder of woe which amazed and perplexed the fugitive father. Alas! I see no limit to my misery, for my troubles are enlarged! There was enough at first to sink me very low; but lo! my enemies multiply. When Absalom, my darling, is in rebellion against me, it is enough to break my heart; But lo! Ahithophel hath forsaken me, my faithful counsellors have turned their backs on me; lo! my generals and soldiers have deserted my standard. "How are they increased that trouble me!" Troubles always come in flocks. Sorrow hath a numerous family.

"Many are they that rise up against me." Their hosts are far superior to mine! Their numbers are too great for my reckoning!

Let us here recall to our memory the innumerable hosts which beset our Divine Redeemer. The legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the crowd of bodily pains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies of death and hell, set themselves in battle against the Son of Man. O how precious to know and believe that he has routed their hosts, and trodden them down in his anger! They who would have troubled us he has removed into captivity, and those who would have risen up against us he has laid low. The dragon lost his sting when he dashed it into the soul of Jesus.

David complains before his loving God of the worst weapon of his enemies' attacks, and the bitterest drop of his distresses. "Oh!" saith David, "many there be that say of my soul, There is no help for him in God." Some of his distrustful friends said this sorrowfully, but his enemies exultingly boasted of it, and longed to see their words proved by his total destruction. This was the unkindest cut of all, when they declared that his God had forsaken him. Yet David knew in his own conscience that he had given them some ground for this exclamation, for he had committed sin against God in the very light of day. Then they flung his crime with Bathsheba into his face, and they said, "Go up, thou bloody man; God hath forsaken thee and left thee." Shimei cursed him and swore at him to his very face, for he was bold because of his backers, since multitudes of the men of Belial thought of David in like fashion. Doubtless, David felt this infernal suggestion to be staggering to his faith. If all the trials which come from heaven, all the temptations which ascend from hell, and all the crosses which arise from earth, could be mixed and pressed together, they would not make a trial so terrible as that which is contained in this verse. It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God. And yet remember our most blessed Saviour had to endure this in the deepest degree when he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He knew full well what it was to walk in darkness and to see no light. This was the curse of the curse. This was the wormwood mingled with the gall. To be deserted of his Father was worse than to be the despised of men. Surely we should love him who suffered this bitterest of temptations and trials for our sake. It will be a delightful and instructive exercise for the loving heart to mark the Lord in his agonies as here portrayed, f, or there is here, and in very many other Psalms, far more of David's Lord than of David himself.

"Selah." This is a musical pause; the precise meaning of which is not known. Some think it simply a rest, a pause in the music; others say it means, "Lift up the strain - sing more loudly - pitch the tune upon a higher key - there is nobler matter to come, therefore retune your harps." Harp-strings soon get out of order and need to be screwed up again to their proper tightness, and certainly our heartstrings are evermore getting out of tune. Let "Selah" teach us to pray

"O may my heart in tune be found

Like David's harp of solemn sound."

At least, we may learn that wherever we see "Selah," we should look upon it as a note of observation. Let us read the passage which precedes and succeeds it with greater earnestness, for surely there is always something excellent where we are required to rest and pause and meditate, or when we are required to lift up our hearts in grateful song. "Selah." Composed by David, as this phrase implies, Psalm 110:1, compared with Matthew 22:43, and generally elsewhere. When he fled, or, after he had fled. Either this Psalm was composed in his flight, or the matter of it was then in his thoughts; which afterwards he digested into this form and order.

The psalmist complaineth of the multitude of his enemies, Psalm 3:1,2; but comforteth himself with his confidence in and reliance on God, Psalm 3:3-6; and the manifold experiences of his former assistance, Psalm 3:7. He prayeth for his own and the church’s salvation, Psalm 3:8.

He might well say so; for almost all his people joined in the conspiracy.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?.... David's enemies increased in the conspiracy against him, 2 Samuel 15:12; the hearts of the men of Israel were after Absalom, and against him. Christ's enemies increased when Judas with a multitude came to take him; when the body of the common people cried out, Crucify him; when the assembly of the wicked enclosed him, and pierced his hands and his feet. And the enemies of God's people are many; the men of this world are against them; legions of devils oppose them; and they have swarms of sins in their own hearts; and all these give trouble. David's enemies troubled him; he wept as he went up the hill, to think that his own son should seek to destroy him; that his subjects, whom he had ruled so long with clemency, and had hazarded his person in war for their defence, and to protect them in their civil and religious rights, should rebel against him. Christ's enemies troubled him, when they bound and led him away as a malefactor; when they spit upon him, smote and buffeted him; when they scourged and crucified him, and mocked at him. The enemies of the saints are troublers of them; in the world, and from the men of it, they have tribulation; Satan's temptations give them much uneasiness and distress; and their indwelling sins cause them to cry out, "Oh wretched men that we are!" This address is made to the Lord, as the Lord God omniscient, who knew the case to be as it was, and who had a concern in it not being without his will, but according to it, he having foretold it, and as he who only could help out of it: and the psalmist delivers it in a complaining way, and in an expostulatory manner; reasoning the case why it should be so, what should be the reason of it, for what end and purpose it was; and as wondering at it, suggesting his own innocence, and how undeserving he was to be treated in such a way;

many are they that rise up against me; many in quantity, and great in quality, great in the law, in wisdom, in riches, and in stature, as Jarchi interprets it; such as Ahithophel and others, who rose up against David in an hostile manner, to dispossess him of his kingdom, and to destroy his life. And many were they that rose up against Christ; the multitude came against him as a thief, with clubs and staves: the men of this world rise up against the saints with their tongues, and sometimes with open force and violence; Satan, like a roaring lion, seeks to devour them, and their own fleshly lusts war against them.

Geneva Study Bible

<> LORD, how are they {a} increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

(a) This was a token of his stable faith, that for all his troubles he turned to God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. they … that trouble me] R.V. mine adversaries: lit. they that distress me. Cp. Psalm 4:1.

increased … many] “The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom” (2 Samuel 15:12-13; cp. 2 Samuel 16:15).

many are they that rise up against me] lit. many are rising up against me. The rebellion is in full progress and gathering strength. The phrase is used of enemies in general, but is specially appropriate to insurgents against the established government. Cp. 2 Samuel 18:31-32.

1, 2. David lays his need before Jehovah. He is threatened by a rebellion which hourly gathers fresh adherents. His cause is pronounced utterly desperate.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - Lord, how are they increased that trouble me: rather, Lord. how numerous are they that trouble me! We arc told, in the Book of Samuel, that "the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom (2 Samuel 15:12), and again, "Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him" (2 Samuel 16:15). Ahithophel proposed to attack David with twelve thousand men only (2 Samuel 17:1), but the actual number which went against him must have been far larger, for some twenty thousand men, chiefly, no doubt, Absalom's partisans, fell in the battle (2 Samuel 18:7). Many are they that rise up against me; i.e. "that rebel against me, and rise up in arras to make war upon me" (comp. Psalm 18:48; Psalm 44:5; Psalm 59:1, etc.). Psalm 3:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 3:2-3) The first strophe contains the lament concerning the existing distress. From its combination with the exclamative מה, רבּוּ is accented on the ultima (and also in Psalm 104:24); the accentuation of the perf. of verbs עע very frequently (even without the Waw consec.) follows the example of the strong verb, Ges. ֗67 rem. 12. A declaration then takes the place of the summons and the רבּים implied in the predicate רבּוּ now becomes the subject of participial predicates, which more minutely describe the continuing condition of affairs. The ל of לנפשׁי signifies "in the direction of," followed by an address in Psalm 11:1 ( equals "to"), or, as here and frequently (e.g., Genesis 21:7) followed by narration ( equals "of," concerning). לנפשׁי instead of לי implies that the words of the adversaries pronounce a judgment upon his inmost life, or upon his personal relationship to God. ישׁוּעתה is an intensive form for ישׁוּעה, whether it be with a double feminine termination (Ges., Ew., Olsh.), or, with an original (accusative) ah of the direction: we regard this latter view, with Hupfeld, as more in accordance with the usage and analogy of the language (comp. Psalm 44:27 with Psalm 80:3, and לילה prop. νύκτα, then as common Greek ἡ νύκτα νύχθα). God is the ground of help; to have no more help in Him is equivalent to being rooted out of favour with God. Open enemies as well as disconcerted friends look upon him as one henceforth cast away. David had plunged himself into the deepest abyss of wretchedness by his adultery with Bathsheba, at the beginning of the very year in which, by the renewal of the Syro-Ammonitish war, he had reached the pinnacle of worldly power. The rebellion of Absolom belonged to the series of dire calamities which began to come upon him from that time. Plausible reasons were not wanting for such words as these which give up his cause as lost.