What is the meaning of Psalm 3:1? A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. • This superscription is inspired, framing the whole psalm. • The moment comes from 2 Samuel 15–17: David leaves Jerusalem barefoot and weeping while Absalom seizes the throne (2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30). • The crisis fulfills Nathan’s warning that trouble would rise from David’s own house (2 Samuel 12:10-12). • The setting shows a king humbled, yet still a man after God’s heart. Psalm 63 also springs from wilderness exile, confirming David’s pattern of turning panic into prayer. • For believers, the heading reminds us that Scripture speaks into real history; God’s word meets us in actual heartbreaks, not idealized scenes. O LORD, • David addresses the covenant name YHWH, anchoring himself in God’s unchanging character (Exodus 3:15; Psalm 9:10). • Before listing problems, he looks up—an instinct echoed in Psalm 18:2 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress,” and Philippians 4:6 “in everything, by prayer…let your requests be made known.” • Calling on the LORD first models prioritizing relationship over circumstance. It is worship amid worry, faith’s reflex when the ground shifts. how my foes have increased! • The word “increased” signals a swelling tide. Absalom’s conspiracy “grew ever stronger” as “the people with Absalom kept increasing” (2 Samuel 15:12). • David’s enemies now include friends turned traitor, civil servants, and even trusted counselor Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:31). • Psalm 25:19 echoes the same mood: “See how many are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!” • Feeling outnumbered is not unbelief; it is honest lament. Faith doesn’t deny numbers—it denies that numbers decide the outcome (2 Kings 6:15-17). How many rise up against me! • The threat is not only numerical but active: they “rise up,” mobilizing to destroy. 2 Samuel 17:1-2 records Absalom’s plan to strike at night, while Psalm 27:2 recalls similar hostility, “When the wicked advance against me…” • David reads the moment accurately: the kingdom appears lost, his life in jeopardy, and his guilt over past sin fresh in memory (Psalm 38:4). • Yet by voicing the danger to God, he resists despair. The same pattern reappears in Psalm 56:9, “Then my enemies will turn back…for God is with me.” summary Psalm 3:1 captures a king on the run, surrounded by multiplying enemies who actively seek his downfall. David’s first move is vertical—“O LORD”—before he counts adversaries. The verse teaches that honest acknowledgment of trouble belongs in prayer and that covenant relationship outweighs overwhelming odds. When foes multiply and oppositions rise, God’s people may still begin with His name, knowing He hears and delivers. |
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