Psalm 3:1-8 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.… The title is, "A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son" (2 Samuel 15-18). I. NONE ARE EXEMPT FROM TROUBLE. The man who sorrows is a king, even David. All meet together in sorrow, for it is the lot of all. II. TROUBLES OFTEN COME IN TROOPS. "How are they increased that trouble me." So was it here with David, and so was it with Job. All sorrows are akin, and hence they come in crowds. III. OUR TROUBLE MAY BE OUR SIN FINDING US OUT. It was so with David here. "The backslider ill heart shall be filled with his own ways." IV. TROUBLE IS APT TO STAGGER OUR FAITH IN GOD. The enemy took advantage of David's troubles, and said to him, "God hath forsaken thee, and left thee." Men in trouble are prone to run into one of two extremes — despair or indifference. We are not to steel our hearts against chastening, for God means that we should feel it; nor, on the other hand, are we to faint. Doubt God's very existence sooner than His mercy. defines suicide to be "a desertion of our post." We are to be like that Roman soldier who stood to his post in the sentry. box at Pompeii, when the scoriae of Mount Vesuvius buried it with the city. V. THE POWER OF SUSTAINING GRACE UNDER AFFLICTION IS HERE SEEN. "I laid me down and slept." There are myriads today who are able to testify of the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. David in flight finds God his Shield and high Tower, though he has but six hundred men. Ahithophel at court, backed by an army of twelve thousand troops, is in despair, and hangs himself. God keep us from unsanctified affliction. (E. S. Prout.) Parallel Verses KJV: {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.WEB: Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. |
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