I decided to read Psalms 3 parallel to the account of the events in 2 Samuel 15-18. I find this exercise astonishingly fruitful. It makes me wonder if Psalms 3 was written based on David's reflection of the event of his fleeing from his son Absalom on that fateful night.
O Lord , how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying to me, “There is no help for you in God.” Selah
Psalms 3:1-2 NRSV-CI
Verse 1 reflects what's happening in 2 Samuel when the messenger brought the message to David. The people have turned against him to Absalom through his careful scheming to win their hearts and his conspiracy with unsuspected guests who accepted his invitation to gather.
A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the Israelites have gone after Absalom.”
2 Samuel 15:13 NRSV-CI
Verse 2 shows the doubt shown by David himself in the event's unfolding. He knew the wrong he had done against Uriah and the judgement on him and his family.
Thus says the Lord : I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun.
2 Samuel 12:11 NRSV-CI
So when Absalom rebelled, David was unsurprisingly ready to give in, suffer defeat and give away his throne to the point of calling his son the king and waiting to see how his son would decide his fate without even an effort to fight.
His doubt of his standing before YHWH was reflected in his conversation with his priests when they came to him with the ark of the covenant which represented the Presence and Glory of the Lord.
Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord , he will bring me back and let me see both it and the place where it stays. But if he says, ‘I take no pleasure in you,’ here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.”
2 Samuel 15:25-26 NRSV-CI
David knew God was judging him for his sin. It's the worldview of the time for people to think that whoever is the king, God is with him. But more than that, David himself was uncertain or doubtful if God was still with him or whether he had the right standing before Him. This again was seen in David's reaction when he was cursed by his adversary.
David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him.
2 Samuel 16:11 NRSV-CI
Selah
But you, O Lord , are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord , and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah
Psalms 3:3-4 NRSV-CI
After an interlude or perhaps reflection, the psalmist believes that God is indeed with him, protecting him in this adversity and that He has not left him. What changed David's doubt and uncertainty? It's because God answered his prayer or the cry of his heart with what transpired next as recorded in 2 Samuel.
How did God answer David's prayer? I think the clue comes from his reference to the holy hill. Two holy hills come to my mind reading Samuel. First, the Mount of Olives. Second, undoubtedly Jerusalem, the city on the hill.
What happened on the Mount of Olives? 2 Samuel 16 recorded David received encouragement in the form of sustenance from Ziba. When we're in the midst of trouble, any help is welcomed and in David's case, seen as God's providence.
But more importantly, it was on the Mount of Olives that David prayed against his traitorous and wise advisor, Ahithophel. It was also on the summit where God was worshipped (2 Samuels 15:32) that David sent Hushai to Absalom who became the key factor for the usurper's defeat when he chose Hushai's advise instead of Ahithophel.
This is only part one. What completes the answering of David's prayer comes from the second holy hill, Jerusalem.
Hushai's success in overturning Ahithophel's counsel was seen as God working to protect David and deliver him from death. And Hushai's effort in getting the word out to David through Jonathan's sons, again by God's providence, was the answer to David's prayer coming from the holy hill literally. It allowed David to escape, by crossing the Jordan, encirclement and death from Ahithophel's twelve thousand men if his counsel would have succeeded.
Selah
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
Psalms 3:5-6 NRSV-CI
I believe David was really expecting to die at the hands of his son after hearing Hushai's warning for him to delay no further. He expected Absalom's army to come anytime soon to deliver the final blow. He was not expecting to wake up again from his sleep after tiring himself through the crossing throughout the night, but he did because God had delivered him from certain death. Notice the number "ten thousands" somewhat matches the number chosen by Ahithophel.
This gave David renewed faith and confidence that God would indeed deliver him from his predicament.
Rise up, O Lord ! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.
Psalms 3:7 NRSV-CI
As David's men crossed the river by daybreak, he pleaded to God to arise as well for deliverance and defeat his enemies. After the interlude of his sleep, where he was expecting nothing more than the jaws of death, his confidence totally changed realizing that he was still alive because God sustained him. David was even confident enough to call for the death of his enemies. But who was his actual enemy? Who wanted David's head?
Yes, Absalom eventually set out to kill David, but it was Ahithophel, David's traitorous friend who, for the strategic reason of ensuring no further opportunities were given to David to regain his throne, gave Absalom a deadly counsel to have his father killed when he had already surrendered his kingdom without fighting him. David only mustered his men to defeat Absalom when he came to Gilead with his army.
God indeed answered David's prayer by defeating Ahithophel's counsel, sending him to his own suicidal death because he knew that David or his men would eventually come for him because of his treachery.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord ; may your blessing be on your people! Selah
Psalms 3:8 NRSV-CI
David's surrender to Absalom was also motivated from his care and concern for his people. He even cared for the foreigners who decided to follow him in his escape. He wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and death. This realization was heightened by Shimei's curse that he indeed won the kingdom by the lives of many fallen warriors on both sides in a civil war. All of them Israelites. God's people. He had blood on his hands especially Uriah's.
In the end, the psalmist sums up the truth from his contemplation of David's escape from Absalom. The fateful event that showed God's righteousness and faithfulness in judging David's sin while preserving him to ensure His promise to David and the covenant with Abraham would be fulfilled. Deliverance comes from the Lord and He is faithful to His people.
On my 30th year today since the Lord Jesus Christ called me, I will do well to remember this. God is righteous, faithful and gracious to His people. He will judge what's wrong and deliver His people. Amen.
Selah
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