Speaker 1: 0:06

Good morning, welcome to the house of the Lord. Glad to be here with you. If you don't know who I am, I'm Pastor Corey Colravey, and there's no better place to be on the Lord's day than in the Lord's house. Amen, yep, that's God's. People understand that because God promises to be here, we're two or three are gathered in his name. That Bible verse is talking about discipline, but it's also true of worship. Jesus says he'll be here, so that's what we need his special presence and blessing in our life. I invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 3 this morning. I'm going to come to it in just a minute. I'm going to read it and pray, but let me do a quick introduction. We're going through the first 10 Psalms of this altar this summer.

Speaker 1: 0:57

The Psalms, I think, are critical to spiritual health. It's critical to our spiritual life and throughout the 20th century the Psalms were sadly neglected. But I'm glad they're making a comeback in our day and I hope our time in them will be a blessing to you. The Psalms are just a rich depository of prayers and songs, and what's remarkable is every major biblical teaching, every major doctrine of the Bible, is found in the 150 Psalms of the Psalter. Luther called it a little Bible for that reason. That's why, a lot of times, you'll see, even if they just print the New Testament, sometimes they'll print the Psalms with it because it's so important, psalms with it because it's so important.

Speaker 1: 1:45

One of the major things the Psalms teach us, and they will not let us forget, is that we're in a spiritual war, we're in a cosmic war, and that's not a pleasant thought in one sense, but it's the reality. And so the Bible is always dealing with reality, and the Psalms deal with the reality of spiritual warfare. And what these Psalms do is they not only make us aware of that reality, they equip us and comfort us in our spiritual battles in this life. Now it'll embolden us. These Psalms will invite us to sing thanks and praise to God. These Psalms will invite us to cry out to God in prayer. It'll help us to take joy, even in our sufferings, at some level, and understand what a privilege it is to serve the King, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Speaker 1: 2:40

One of the things the psalms brings out is something that is sometimes neglected but we did sing about it this morning and that is that God is a divine warrior. In fact, to be even more specific, the Lord Jesus Christ is a divine warrior, the God of angel armies that we spoke about In the Bible. You often see the Lord of hosts, that phrase, the Lord of hosts, that's the commander of the heavenly army of angels. That's God as a divine warrior. Remember, the apostles wanted Jesus to send down angels of armies to take care of his enemies and so forth, and he said calm down, boys, I got a better plan right, but that's what the Lord is, the Lord of hosts.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Now, the last couple of weeks, in introducing the Psalms, we looked at the first two introductory pillars of the Psalms, psalms 1 and 2. And Psalm 1 says the blessed man, that is, the man who has the favor of God upon him and lives a spiritually prosperous and ultimately satisfying and happy life, is the one who's dedicated to the word of God, who delights in it, meditates on it day and night. It's planted by it in streams of water. That's ultimately only fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one that's ever done that perfectly. But as we're united by faith to Jesus, we too can live a prosperous life pleasing to God. So Psalm 1 calls us to dedication to the word of God, psalm 2, a dedication to the Son of God, god's Son in terms of Jesus as King, and so it ends at the end with blessed, is the one who takes refuge in Him. And so you remember, throughout Psalms 1 and 2, if you were here the last couple of weeks that the Psalms throughout have this heartbeat of the righteous and the wicked, the righteous and the wicked, the righteous and the wicked, the righteous and the wicked. And so it's constantly getting us to say, well, am I amongst the righteous or am I amongst the wicked? And you see this clash of the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, the kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of this world, and of course we see that in an Old Testament picture form, with King David and Israel and the surrounding nations.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Now, this morning we're going to come to Psalm 3, and we're going to plunge deeply into the painful realities of life. The Psalms are set up with the two introductory Psalms to the whole Psalter are set up with the two introductory Psalms to the whole Psalter, and then we get to Psalm 3, and right down into the miry muck we go, and Psalms 3 through Psalms 10 are sometimes called the chain of trust, and we're going to see in these Psalms and even beyond, how David deals with confrontation and battle in this cosmic war that he is in as God's chosen and anointed king. In this cosmic war that he is in as God's chosen and anointed king Because, remember, israel was the beachhead of how God was going to reestablish his kingdom on earth. That's the point, and so Israel had that special role, even as the church today does. And when we come to these Psalms, therefore, we need to read them at more than one level.

Speaker 1: 5:41

Many of them are written by King David, but there are other human authors, and of course they're all inspired by the Holy Spirit. But we can read these Psalms as the personal prayers of David, and so when he speaks in verse one about his many foes, his many enemies, we can relate that we have spiritual enemies in this life as well. We have enemies in life too, and so it's legitimate to read them at that level where we relate to David as a fellow believer. But we also have to remember that David wasn't just any believer. He was God's chosen and appointed king. He was God's anointed king, and so these are the prayers also of King David, the king of Israel, and this means at least two things he's praying not just for himself, but he's praying as the King for God's people.

Speaker 1: 6:31

We would say he's praying for the church under the old covenant, israel, and we can apply these things, rightly, to the church today. And so when we pray the Psalms, we pray them, yes, for ourselves, but we pray them with an eye toward the corporate people of God. And we pray them not just so we can build up our personal faith, but we pray them with an eye toward building up God's church in our prayers, and so that's one of the things the Psalms teach us. So these, in that sense, because David is the anointed king of Israel, he's an Old Testament picture, a type is how we would say, of that greater King David to come, jesus Christ, that son of David, that greater son of David. And so there's a sense in which, when we see how David is dealing with things, it points forward to Christ and how he dealt with the confrontation and spiritual battles that David often dealt with.

Speaker 1: 7:27

Now, this psalm has eight verses and they're coupled up in two verses apiece, so we're going to look at it in four parts, and the main thing we're going to see in this psalm is that our faith in God's mercy and faithfulness through Jesus Christ, that's what gives God's people confidence and courage to overcome our fears and our enemies, and particularly even in the face of our sinful failures. So with that, I would like to invite you to stand to hear Psalm 3 read. I'd like to read it. It's the inspired word of God. It's infallible, it's inerrant and it's holy, and God sends it to us in love. So receive it now with expectation in your hearts.

Speaker 1: 8:11

Psalm 3, verse 1. A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. O Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul. There is no salvation for him in God, selah. But you, o Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill, selah. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, o Lord, save me, o my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people, selah. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever. God's people said amen, you may be seated. Father, we thank you as we come now to your holy word. It is sweeter than the honeycomb, as the psalmist says. As David says elsewhere, would you, by your Holy Spirit, make it sweet to our souls and help us to get a good vision of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray, amen. Let's look at part one here, verses one and two. How many are my foes? David cries out here. Look at it again, the superscription there, where it says the Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. That's actually a part of the scriptures. Some of your Bibles have a little notation above that, but the superscriptions are actually a part of verse one in the Hebrew text and so it says a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Oh Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul. There's no salvation for him in God, selah.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Many people think Selah means pause and meditate on what was just said. They're not 100% sure, but that's their best guess. Now we live in a fallen world. This world has many delights, has many joys, amen. God's given us many things to enjoy and appreciate. That just comes from his goodness. But the Psalms are acknowledging here that we also live in a world full of distress and deep pain, pain caused by the sinful hearts and actions of men, and in these hearts it's full of envy and hatred and ambition, among other things.

Speaker 1: 10:58

And that's the context here of Psalm 3. That's the importance of that little superscription at the top. There it's a situation of family betrayal with David. It's a situation of physical danger. His life's actually in danger and we don't have time to read from 2 Samuel, chapters 15 through 18 this morning.

Speaker 1: 11:17

But the bottom line is is that Absalom was one of the sons of King David and he was trying to take over the crown from David illegitimately. He was trying to take over the crown from David Illegitimately. He was trying to take over the crown. Absalom was not God's chosen king David was. So really Absalom's going against not just David, but against God and the will of God in all of this, and so he's trying to kill his own father to take over the crown.

Speaker 1: 11:43

Imagine for just a moment David, the human author of this psalm, the pain that he's dealing with in this reality. Imagine you parents, one of your own children, trying to kill you and driving you off a throne, if you happen to be a king or queen. King or queen, here was a son he loved. He saw Absalom grow up. He had dreams and aspirations for this young boy, just like any other dad would have any other parent. He's a real dad. Put yourself in his shoes. Begin to feel what David's feeling as he cries out in desperation in this psalm. And yet here you have Absalom. He's this hardened sinner. He's unrepentant. He gathers up many around him and he quickly raises a revolt against his father.

Speaker 1: 12:35

Absalom was a manipulator. He'd hang around the front gate of the city and sort of smooth people over when they came in and do them favors and all that. And he gathered around him people that he liked and kind of smooth people over when they came in and do him favors and all that. He gathered around him people that he liked and kind of became his supporters. And David the revolt came so quick. David had to hurry out of Jerusalem. He was on the run to get out of the city of God. So imagine David as he's running out of the city, driven out of there by his own son. The shame that he felt, the embarrassment that he felt, the fear that was going on at one level and the heaviness of heart from the mess of it all.

Speaker 1: 13:13

2 Samuel 15 30 says this David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. The Mount of Olives is on the east side of Jerusalem. There, it says, the people that went with David, he had his supporters too. They were weeping as they went as well. Pitiful scene, pitiful scene, heavy stuff from the real world. I love the Bible because it deals with the real world. It doesn't sugarcoat life's difficulties, even within the Christian life. And so when David cries out to God in verse one oh Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. The sad reality is the many that he's talking about here is the many that were gathered up by his own son to kill him and drive him off the crown. It's a terrible situation. And now, of course, we can hear the echoes of Psalm 2, one of the introductory Psalms to the Psalter. All those who were what gathering together in Psalm 2, the first three verses of Psalm 2, to go against God's anointed and chosen king. And right here in Psalm 3, we see it already. We'll see that played out quite a bit.

Speaker 1: 14:30

Maybe you too, like David and Jesus, know the pain of betrayal, maybe even from your own family. It's a tough subject. Those are the most painful kind of betrayals people that you love that betray you, and that's what David was experiencing. It was very deeply painful and personally bitter for David in that way. Here's what's amazing this revolt by Absalom we know from the scriptures was a consequence of David's own sin. It was a consequence of David's own adultery with a beautiful woman named Bathsheba and his subsequent murder of Uriah Bathsheba's husband. Uriah was one of his special commandos. We'd call him like a special forces kind of guy today. Why did he do that? Because he wanted to marry Bathsheba. You can read about that in 2 Samuel, 11 and 12. And you can see where David repents of that sin in Psalm 51 and the joy that God restored to him in Psalm 32.

Speaker 1: 15:42

But you may remember, if you're familiar with that story in the Old Testament, that the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to confront David. David, god's chosen king, was unrepentant in that sin. For over a year he was covering it up. But God sees all, doesn't he it up? But God sees all, doesn't he? Look how patient God was with David. And after a year he sends Nathan the prophet to David and we read in 2 Samuel 12, verse 11, the Lord says to David through the prophet Nathan Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. I don't want to hear that from the Lord. I don't want to hear that from the Lord. There's more that he says there. That's quite shocking, actually. The Lord to David. You can read it on your own.

Speaker 1: 16:36

But in this regard, let's remember a couple of things. Not all betrayal or tragedies of this sort are caused by our own particular sins. Be careful before you connect dots between your sinful failures and a betrayal or tragedy of this nature in your life. David knew this because Nathan the prophet told him that this was the case. So just be careful. The Bible reminds us that there are people that this is not the case. Job, for example, you know you have.

Speaker 1: 17:11

The life of Christ reminds us of this. It's not uncommon for people to have betrayals and tragedies in their life that have nothing to do with their particular sin. John, chapter 9, the man born blind that Jesus healed. Who sinned him? Or his parents, they said. Jesus said neither, but that God would be glorified. So just be careful. That's a qualification.

Speaker 1: 17:32

But second, some things that we experience in this life which are unjust on the part of others towards us may nevertheless be ordained by God because of our sins, and so we have to be humble enough to realize that it is possible that God brings people against us for a season as a consequence for our own actions. Now we have to remember, like all good fathers, he doesn't bring this into David's life to make David suffer and punish him, to atone for his sin, to make up for his bad. That's not what he's doing. It's a disciplinary measure to correct David. It's part of the consequence of what he's done and he's developing character in David.

Speaker 1: 18:26

So God ordained the rebellion of Absalom against David due to David's sin, just as he ordained the rebellion of Judas against Christ. There's a lot of mystery there, mystery we're not going to solve this morning, but Absalom's actions, just like the actions of Judas against Christ. Even though God ordained those things, they were sinful. Nonetheless, they were freely done by Judas, they were freely done by Absalom, so they were evil and they're condemned by sinful. Nonetheless. They were freely done by Judas, they were freely done by Absalom. So they were evil and they're condemned by God nonetheless. But God's sovereign use of our sin to accomplish his holy purposes does not excuse our personal sin. It just means that he's sovereign and great enough that he always trumps us. He always fulfills his purposes, even in our rebellion.

Speaker 1: 19:18

Now all this background is important because we get to verse 2 at the end. Look, it says many are saying of my soul. There's no salvation for him in God. There's no salvation for him in God. Not a few, many are saying. He's got a chorus of people that are saying this into his ear, no doubt inspired by Satan, the great accuser of God's people there's no salvation for him and God. Those words would have been very heavy for David. Now, why would they have been extra heavy for David? Because there's no doubt that David remembered those words that Nathan the prophet had said to him that God is going to bring chaos into your family for the sins of adultery and murder.

Speaker 1: 20:11

Now, if you were David, here's the question for you Would you be able to trust God in that moment, knowing that God had brought this into your life, not as the author of sin, but using even the sins of others. Would you be able to trust God in that moment? Martin Luther says that the greatest and most powerful temptation in all the world is to despair of God's mercy. Would you despair of God's mercy in that moment? David has a choice, and we see here.

Speaker 1: 20:49

This is the spiritual battle God's own people today still deal with. Are we going to drown in our guilt, under despair in such a situation, or are we going to be strengthened by faith in God's mercy and faithfulness alone, even in the face of our own sins and failures? That's what Psalm 3 confronts us with. The spiritual battle of the Christian life is where are we going to fix our eyes when we've made a mess of things, when other people are not treating us right, in fact, when they're doing outrageous and wicked and horrible things, when we're betrayed, where are we going to fix our eyes? We can fix them upon the wickedness of our own heart. That'll just spin us downward. Fix them upon the wickedness of our own heart. That'll just spin us downward. We can begin to fix them upon our enemies who are not acting right and doing sinful things unjustly against us. That'll just fill us with bitterness. Or we can fix them upon God's mercy and faithfulness, even in the face of our own sins and the sins of other people. And Psalm 3 is telling us where to fix them.

Speaker 1: 21:57

Follow David's example here, not in his murder and adultery, but what he does afterwards. He got it right when he went back to God and mercy, to the God of mercy, to the God of faithfulness. And that's what you see in verses 3 and 4. Look at it. He begins how many are my foes? Verses one and two. And then he says but you, o Lord, are a shield about me and this, but you is emphatic. I have made a mess of things, god, I have messed it up. But you, o Lord here's a but God verse in the Bible but you, o Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill, selah.

Speaker 1: 22:45

Note where David fixes his eyes of faith. It's upon the Lord. It's upon the Lord he doesn't allow his own guilt to swallow him up and ruin him. And notice the comfort that he takes Several things. He takes comfort about the Lord. He says you're a shield about me. You're a shield about me Now.

Speaker 1: 23:08

I think that's quite remarkable again, because here's a man who's very aware that it's his own sin and the problems that it's caused that have made such a mess and yet, at the same time, he has this strong confidence in the face of his great failure to declare Lord, you are my shield, even as you discipline me, you're my shield. That's great faith, it's a great vision of God and this is the important of the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ, the cross of Christ. What does it do when we're so confused by our circumstances? It's when we look at the cross we're able to knock the fuzz off things and say, there, I don't understand all of this. But when I look at the cross, we're able to knock the fuzz off things and say, there, I don't understand all of this. But when I look at the cross, I can see that God is my shield, because there Christ is drinking the cup of hell and the dregs of hell for my sin. He's taking the punishment for my sin to atone for my sins. There at the cross, I can see yes, indeed, god is my shield and my defender. And, of course, david, living a thousand years before Christ. How did he see the cross? He saw it in the old covenant shadows. He saw it, for example, in the temple worship, when the lambs and the bulls and the goats would be slaughtered and their innocent blood shed. What was he seeing there? That was an Old Testament picture of the true lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would one day come and shed his blood for David and for all God's people.

Speaker 1: 24:46

Romans 8 says it like this if God is for us, who could be against us? And you see, the cross is where we get that confidence that God is for us. And you see, the cross is where we get that confidence that God is for us. And if he is for us, then who can be against us? It's sort of it answers itself, doesn't it? David had this confidence in the face of his own failure.

Speaker 1: 25:09

Paul goes on further in Romans 8, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And he lists all these things. Is it tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, and I think we could even add in here our own worst sins? Can that separate us from the love of God in Christ? And Psalm 3 says no, it can't. And Psalm 3 says no, it can't. God's mercy and grace are so much greater than we often are able to see. Nothing in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Speaker 1: 25:49

Paul says Aren't you glad for that? See, grab hold of that this morning, Christian. Or maybe you're here just checking out the Christian faith and trying to find your way. You may have sinned, and sinned deeply. You may have made an absolute mess of things. Satan and your spiritual enemies would like to just remind you. He's the great accuser and he's the great liar about God, as if there's sins too big for God to deal with. Well, if God can deal with David's adultery and murder, what have you done that he can't deal with this morning? You see, even when the Lord was allowing David to feel the consequences of his sin and the Lord's heavy discipline, he was for David. Do you see that God may even have you behind the woodshed this morning, dear child of God, that doesn't mean he's not for you. A father disciplines those he loves. A father disciplines those he loves. David's faith glories in the fact that God is his shield.

Speaker 1: 27:07

Now, even as we see the grace and mercy of God in this psalm. It does remind us don't take sin lightly, because sin has painful consequences, even in this life, and we can be forgiven. Sometimes people say, well, I'm going to sow my oats and then later I'll come to the Lord. Well, it's got a lot of problems with it, we don't have time to deal with today. But what consequences are you going to sow as well with that? You see, david had God as his shield, but that didn't mean there weren't consequences in this life. His family was a mess.

Speaker 1: 27:50

Don't take sin lightly, but lean hard into the grace and mercy of God. You see, it's a both and Verse three. But you are Lord of my glory. That's the second thing he says you're my shield and you're my glory. So David knew the glory of God's presence and his love and his favor, and so savor that. And so how can we savor that? Well, again, because of Christ and his death for our sins, we have the one who's died, risen and ascended into heaven, who sits at the right hand of God, and he's there doing what, interceding for us. Romans 8 says he's for us, he's for us and he's with us, and by his spirit he's in us, he's for us and he's with us and by his spirit he's in us, and so David's able to call the Lord his shield and glory and, notice also, lifter of his head. Do you know how much shame David must have had and guilt and shame over the mess he had made? And it's as if the Lord took his two fingers and just put it under David's chin and says lift your head up, my son, I'm not done with you.

Speaker 1: 29:01

You see, in today's cancel culture, we wouldn't keep the 150 psalms in here, or at least the psalms that David wrote. He's out. You see, the world's tolerance is no substitute for the grace of God. With the world's tolerance, you're out, you're done. You messed up. Goodbye, canceled. Isn't it amazing God, who's so infinitely holy, cleanses David and he's not done with David. We're going to see that in Peter's life at some point too. Right, peter betrayed Christ three times. Jesus didn't cancel him. Aren't you glad we serve a God like that? The world doesn't understand the grace of God. They can talk about tolerance all they want, they don't get it. And so we see the grace of God here.

Speaker 1: 29:55

Elderly John Newton. You remember John Newton, the guy who wrote Amazing Grace? Right, he was a wicked slave trader before he became a Christian, not only a slave trader, but by his own admission, he said, I was a very vile man. He was extremely vile man, and so do you think Satan reminded him of his sins? And he became a pastor. By the way, do you think Satan reminded him of his sins throughout his life, right? You ever have that little whisper in your ear oh, why would God love someone like you, right? Well, when John Newton got older here's what he says.

Speaker 1: 30:40

Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior. Do you know that this morning is a great Savior? Do you know that this morning, you see, when we look at the cross, we see that how great our sin is. It caused the death of the Son of God. But in that same cross, we see the depth of the love of God and what a great Savior he is.

Speaker 1: 31:11

And that's what Psalm 3 is trying to show us in a different kind of way. The same Lord who is David's shield was also his prayer hearing and prayer answering God. Verse 4,. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill. Now, this holy hill language. From a New Testament perspective.

Speaker 1: 31:30

It can be a little bit confusing, but when we go back to Psalm 2 and look at verse 6, we see that the holy hill is Zion. It's the place where the tabernacle was in David's day. And then in Solomon's day, david's son, king Solomon, he built the temple on Mount Zion, right. That's the place of God's special and visible presence among and with his people. That's what the tabernacle represented, right? Remember, when they went through the wilderness, you had the 12 tribes of Israel all around, three tribes, three tribes, three tribes, three tribes. What's right in the middle? The tabernacle. Emmanuel, god with us, he dwells among his people, and all the temple is is a permanent tabernacle made of brick and mortar once they got in the promised land. And so what does that all represent? The bottom line is it all points to Jesus. That's the bottom line.

Speaker 1: 32:29

When David's getting his hope because he looks to Zion, god's holy hill, he's thinking of the tabernacle and the temple and the fact that God is with his people. He's a God that's with his people. You remember in John chapter one, it says in John 1, 14, that Jesus dwelt, literally tabernacled, amongst us. And in John chapter two, jesus says that his body is the true temple, all those Old Testament tabernacle and temple. Everything about it pointed to Christ. And so this is just an Old Testament way. When he looks to Zion, god's holy hill, he's looking in a Christian way. We'd say we're looking to Christ Because that's everything that it represented. Hebrews 12 says but you, christian, have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. It's just a fancy way of saying that our God in heaven is with us and that in the Old Testament was represented with the tabernacle and the temple and that whole complex of worship, and out of the new we can see that that all pointed to the reality of Christ. Those are the shadows. Jesus is the reality. And so David got his confidence by looking to Mount Zion, just as we get our confidence by looking to Christ. It's the same essential reality. And then David moves to part three.

Speaker 1: 34:04

I will not be afraid verses five and six. This is called a morning song because it's from the perspective of the next morning. Look at verse five. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. You see, we hear an echo of Psalm two again. Those who gathered together against God's anointed and chosen King David had a strong faith here, which is remarkable. Sometimes our faith isn't strong, but here David's faith is strong, even though there's a mess of things, and he's become fearless.

Speaker 1: 34:43

When Martin Luther. James Boyce points out, when Martin Luther rode into the Diet of Worms in 1521 to face King Charles V, people said to him don't go, because 100 years prior King Charles V, people said to him don't go Because 100 years prior King Charles V's grandfather had given the same promise to John Hus that he'd give him a safe conduct out of town even if he was found guilty. That's a seven-day safe conduct is we'll give you seven days to take off and run and then we're going to start coming after you. Well, they gave that same promise to John Hus and as soon as they found him guilty, they burned him. He died, they executed him. So Luther thought he was riding to his death.

Speaker 1: 35:21

But when his friend George Spalatt wrote to him, luther, do not go to Worms. Don't enter Worms, luther wrote back. You tell your master that even if there should be as many devils in Wormms as tiles upon the housetops, still I would enter it, fearless In the face of likely death. Before King Charles V, he said here I stand, here I stand for the gospel. Is what he meant. I can do no other. God help me. Amen, that's a good prayer.

Speaker 1: 35:57

Looking back on his life, luther said I was then undaunted, I feared nothing. Well, that's the kind of faith David had here. He became fearless as he began to pray to God. God gave him strength, and Luther wrote about this. And though this world with devils filled should threat do undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness, grim we tremble, not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. One little word from King Jesus will do away with Satan. That's all it takes is a word from the Lord. And then, notice, so David goes from how many are my foes to, but you, o Lord, are a shield about me to. I will not be afraid. And he gets that confident boldness to now.

Speaker 1: 36:55

He's proclaiming salvation belongs to the Lord. You see, the guy that's saying this is a guy who made a mess of things. That's very important to remember. That's the importance of the superscription up top In verses seven and eight. Arise O Lord, save me, o God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your Well. Arise, o Lord.

Speaker 1: 37:22

That's a battle cry to war. We know that from the book of Numbers. When God's people go out to war, they get the ark and so forth. Arise, o Lord, be with us as we go into war. That's war language. God heard King David's prayer. Absalom was killed in battle. So it was a bittersweet victory, but a victory. It was.

Speaker 1: 37:45

Judas betrayed Christ. God dealt with Judas as well. You cannot rebel against God's chosen, anointed king, whether it be King David or King Jesus, and get away with it. That's one of the things Psalm 3 is saying. In fact, it's quite strong language. Do you notice? In verse 7, god breaks the teeth of the wicked in his wrath. As Ralph Davis says, the wicked. They need a good orthodontist because God is going to deal with them. Thank God, he's very patient. But the good news here is verse 8.

Speaker 1: 38:24

Salvation belongs to the Lord. I just want you to see what Charles Spurgeon saw here the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is the great doctrine of the Word of God. From first to last Sal. Salvation belongs to the Lord. As I close, I want you to remember two things. Remember what Luther in light of Psalm 3, remember what Luther said the great temptation is to despair of the mercy of God. You've never messed it up so bad that God's mercy can't take care of it. I want you to remember that. And the other thing I want you to remember this morning is when the devil whispers in your ear you are a great sinner. Here's what you say. Well, yes, I am, but Christ is a great Savior.