As you look back on the summer of 2020, and as you move into the fall of 2020, I don’t know what this season has been like for you. I’ve seen so many memes floating around, joking about the year 2020 and all the things that have seemingly blindsided us with its entrance. For me, while there have been genuinely precious moments, there have also been long stretches of inner turmoil. One thing that has genuinely comforted me throughout the stretches of turmoil has been lingering with the Psalms. I’d like to share Psalm 3 with you, and how it has helped to bring a settling calm in moments when I don’t feel a lot of calm.
Psalm 3 (Amplified Version)
Lord, how they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.
Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
Salvation belongs to the Lord; May Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
Oh my. Right away I can relate. I have definitely felt in my own mind that ‘many have increased who trouble me,’ or ‘many rise up against me.’ Have you ever felt that? I would assume that David was probably talking about physical enemies, but often the enemies that rise up against me are thought patterns, arguments, lofty opinions that attempt to boss me around with fear, anxiety, and intimidation.
And I have surely felt the accusation when my mind is swirling, and I’m overwhelmed by the confusion of circumstances, and all of the sudden, I’m not so sure who I am anymore, and if maybe I have completely ruined my life, that ‘there is no help [for me] in God.’
Whether I feel disqualified by fearfully considering myself not good enough, or concluding that my sin has made it so that there will not be a place of help for me in God, or thinking that my only hope will be in something other than God…I have heard that suggestive accusation loud and clear. I love the way the Amplified version translates ‘Selah’: ‘pause and think calmly of that!’ That’s part of the reason why I’d say that this psalm has brought a deep calm and comfort to me in times of inner turmoil, because of the invitation within the sequence: “Pause and think calmly of the suggestions I’m hearing that there is no help for me in God. Acknowledge them. Acknowledge that I hear them. Bring them before God. Get them out in the light.”
As I acknowledge that I hear suggestions that there won’t be help for me in God, the next invitation is to actually move in direct opposition to those suggestions: in the face of enemies rising up, accusations, many scary things, You, Oh Lord, ARE a shield for me. You ARE a help. You shield me from these very enemies. Adam Clarke commentary says, “As a shield covers and defends the body from the strokes of an adversary, so wilt thou cover and defend me from them that rise up against me.” And, further, the Lord is the lifter of my head: “Thou wilt restore me to the state from which my enemies have cast me down. This is the meaning of the phrase; and this he speaks prophetically. He was satisfied that the deliverance would take place, hence his confidence in prayer; so that we find him, with comparative unconcern, laying himself down in his bed, expecting the sure protection of the Almighty” (again, from Adam Clarke commentary). In the face of enemies, inner turmoil, and accusations that I won’t find help in God, I can speak with confidence and into my future that God is the lifter of my head. He is my shield, and He sees my current state, and He will, in fact, lift my head. I can rest securely in Him. Not in what I will do, but in what He will do, for He truly is help for me.
Next, there is the invitation to use my own voice to cry to the Lord. He hears. The invitation comes again to pause and think calmly on how the Lord promises that He hears. When I’m in distress, I don’t naturally rest that the Lord hears me. I tend to feel more restless and fidgety.
Next comes this bold and courageous faith-filled action step of the author, the outcome of choosing to not listen to the accusations of the enemies, but choosing to remember God and His help: IN THE FACE OF ALL THOSE ENEMIES, he lies down and sleeps. And he says clearly that the reason he wakes up safely is because THE LORD sustains him. Phew. That is so beautiful to me. Again, from Adam Clarke: “He who knows that he has God for his Protector may go quietly and confidently to his bed, not fearing the violence of the fire, the edge of the sword, the designs of wicked men, nor the influence of malevolent spirits. “I awakened”- God, my shield, protected me. I both slept and awaked; and my life is still whole in me.”
Then the author sets his intention after this bold, faith-filled sleep: “I will not be afraid of ten thousands.” Why? Because there is help, for him, in God. And he asks the Lord to rise up violently against the enemies that are suggesting otherwise to him: “Arise, oh Lord…You have struck all my enemies on the cheek.”
And finally, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” Salvation doesn’t come from anywhere else: it doesn’t come from my ability to figure things out or to fix my life or to avoid enemies. Salvation comes from the Lord. And I deeply need it. This whole psalm is an invitation to believe that salvation is available to me through the Lord’s deep care and concern for me, through His character, not through any rescue I can muster up within myself. Salvation came through the Lord and continues to come through Him.
So I don’t know if taking time with this psalm brings you comfort as well, but for me, it’s just so good to remind myself of the peace that is available to me in the Lord, in the face of stretches of inner turmoil. As I share it with you, my hope is that in choosing to ‘Pause, and calmly think’ on God’s words, you and I will both be more firmly rooted in what is truly solid.
—Sarah Howard
*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.