I think it was Martyn Lloyd-Jones who said, “There is always hope for a man who takes time to stop and think.”

Psalm 3 tells us to stop and think. The psalm is divided by three “selah’s” – the first of the psalms in which this odd term appears.
Though we can’t be absolutely sure, most commentators agree that at very least “selah” meant a pause, a rest, to give singers time to reflect on what they were saying in their singing.

In the course I take on Preaching I emphasise the Importance of Pause.
White space in speech can speak as loudly as words; words are lost in a jumble of confusion without white space.

In the Psalms, a well-placed “selah”  reminds us not to rush prayer. We need white space; we need to stop and reflect on what we are praying.

Psalm 3 is one of my favourite Psalms.
It is a wonderful psalm to pray when your troubles overwhelm you.

Think! Reflect on the trouble you are in

David was in big trouble: three times he cries out:

Lord,
How many there are that trouble me!
How many  rise up against me.
How many say of me, “There is no help for him in God.”
                                                                                                               Selah

David’s enemies were many. His troubles overwhelmed him.
Suddenly, overnight, he had lost his kingdom.
Unbeknown to David, a plot had been being hatched against him behind his back, probably for months.
But the first he knows about it, the kingdom is already lost. Ten thousands of his subjects have risen against him.

His own son led the rebellion.
Absalom was the consummate politician.
He had the image: “In all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.” (14:25)

In 1960 the U.S. presidential debates were televised for the first time, as well as broadcast on radio. Those who listened on the radio gave the debate to Nixon; those who watched on TV believed the suave Kennedy was the clear victor.
Image stole the presidency.

Image is king. In this case image stole a whole kingdom: “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” (15:6)

David’s favourite son led the rebellion: “O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom.” (18:33).
David’s favourite son mocked him: “There is no help for him in God.” Not that God can’t help you; but God won’t help you. David is yesterday’s hero.
Rarely are the most popular the most godly: “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Tim 3:12)

But the worst foe we face in a time of trial is the recollection of past sins. “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions… Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.” (Psalm 25)
David was distressed that, not only maybe God wouldn’t help him, but he didn’t even deserve God’s help. He didn’t – none of us do.
David had sinned horribly in the case of Uriah and Bathsheba; then covered up his gross sins for the best part of a year before he repented and was forgiven.
Even then, God warned him that his sins would bring trouble from, and upon, his house for the rest of his life (2 Samuel 12:10-12).
Was it the recollection of his own moral failure that crippled David so that he failed to act when his son Amnon raped Tamar, his half-sister? Or, when Tamar’s brother, Absalom, took revenge and murdered Amnon?
Have the chickens come home to roost?

The worst foe we face in a time of trial – especially in a time of trial – is the recollection of past sins. David had plenty to reflect upon in his past in coming to prayer.
A lesser man would have simply taken his own life and finished it there.

Think! Reflect on the God who is yours

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill.
                                                                         Selah

It is important to reflect realistically on our present troubles; it is foolish to pretend they are not real. It is useful to reflect on the extent to which our past sins have brought our troubles upon us.
But, if that is all we do, we will sink into despair.
We must move beyond that in prayer to reflect upon the God who is ours.

Back in Jerusalem the plotters initially planned to pursue and attack at once. Had they done so, it would be “all over red rover” – there was no way David’s rag-tag band could have survived at that stage. And David knew it.
After a day of high drama, beating a hasty retreat from Jerusalem, David at last lay down. As he lay there, he reflected upon his precarious situation.
Then, perhaps with his own shield over him sheltering him from the elements, he was able to say:

1) “You, O Lord, are a shield for me.”

Our own enemies are many: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
In response, we are to “take up the whole armour of God” (v 13) – “above all, the shield of faith” (v 16).
But is faith really a shield? Carl Amerding observed of his faith: “My faith was more like a sieve than a shield”.
But “shield of faith”, for David, didn’t refer to a “shield made of his faith”. Rather, David had in mind the “shield that faith takes.”
His “shield” was not his “faith”, but what his faith took hold of: “the Lord”.
That night, the Lord was shielding him from his enemies by thwarting their plans. (2 Samuel 16)

Our shield is not our faith; it is the One our faith takes hold of. “The Lord is my strength and my shield.” (Psalm 28:7)
Especially when your past sins, though repented of and forgiven, rise up to accuse you – as they do with a vengeance in times of trouble – remember that Christ is your shield.
I love those words of the communion hymn:

…for lo, between our sins and their reward
we set the passion of Thy Son, our Lord.

Christ is our shield between the accusations of our past sins and what they deserve.

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there who made an end of all my sin

“Above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one’s [accusations].” (compare Revelation 12:10)

2) “You, O Lord, are my glory.”

When once we see God for who He is, the threat that comes from those in this world pales into insignificance.

I remember when we were missionaries in Kenya, trying to get the church registered there. We were not allowed to remain in the country unless the church was registered; but we were tolerated as long as we were attempting to have it registered. We made five such attempts. But each time, some official found a reason to refuse us registration.
We spent endless hours travelling back and forth to Nairobi, knocking on the doors of various government officials, being received cordially – sometimes with the added not-so-subtle hint that some sort of “gift” could help to open the door. But always later this was followed with a letter of rejection.
This was frustrating; it was hard not to get angry: that God’s creatures would be using their puny power to obstruct the work of God’s kingdom. (Psalm 2:1-3)
But then I would remember who they are, and who God is. Suddenly their opposition seemed tragic; one could not help but feel sorry for them when they would finally face the Judge of all the earth.

The glory of God has a way getting things in perspective.
“Our trials become less trying when we place them in the glare of the greatness of God.” (Roger Ellsworth)

3) “You, O Lord, are the One who lifts up my head.”

In the face of overwhelming trouble, our heads are bowed down.
– bowed down with fear.
– bowed down in dejection and despair.
– bowed down with an induced shame brought on by those taunting us: “There is no help for him in God.”
– bowed down with real shame as we bring to mind our past failures and sins.

But our God is there.
He is the God who lifts up our head.
He is the God who will “hear me from His holy hill” when “I cry to the Him with my voice.”

If this God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)

Think! Reflect on the assurance we have in God

I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

Lying awake at three in the morning our troubles appear at their worst: our troubles overwhelm us.
Those that hate us appear invincible; our past sins unforgivable.
But if we know God for who He is, if we know forgiveness in Christ, we will pray.
We will pray; then we will sleep.

William Nichols recounts how:

During the Second World War the people of London were subjected to devastating air raids. There seemed to be no escape from them, and no shelter provided absolute security. Few people could sleep well at night with such frightening possibilities.
But one old woman never sought the refuge of a shelter and always seemed to sleep peacefully, even when the bombs were falling.
Asked how she could sleep so soundly under such circumstances, she replied, “I read in the psalms that ‘He who keeps you will not slumber’ (Psalm 121:3), and I figure, what’s the use of the both of us staying awake?”

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3)

This is your answer to:
– the “many that trouble” you
– the “many who rise up against” you
– the “many who [taunt]” you…
Your answer is: “I will not be afraid of many, no, not ten thousands of people, who have set themselves against me all around.”

Finally David prays:

Arise, O Lord. Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people.
                                                                     Selah

This is your answer to those who taunt you, saying: “There is no help for him in God.”
There is help for me in God:
“Arise, O Lord. Save me, O my God!… Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
God will arise.
God’s enemies will be decisively defeated in the end.

But some of those who rose up against David were not God’s enemies – though they had sided with them and were behaving as such at the time.
Some were just misled, seduced for the time being by the consummate politician.

Sometimes, God’s people are misled by our Great Enemy; sometimes they inflict pain upon us, their brothers and sisters. (And sometimes, we have done the same.)
But where the peace of God rules in our hearts we will refrain from desiring revenge. (Colossians 3:15)
Rather, like David, we will commit our way  to the Lord and pray even for them:

Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people.
                                                                          Selah