Psalm 3: Sustained

As I’ve started this process of writing my way through the Psalms, I’ve found myself focusing on one word in each Psalm. That wasn’t my plan and I’m not sure if it will be my pattern throughout the year, but to start, one word in each Psalm has jumped out to me. I’ve been reading Psalm 3 for over a week, I’ve been wrestling with it, not because it’s difficult to understand, but because its circumstances break my heart. Before the first verse, before we read any of the words written by David, we read the Psalm’s description, “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.” The word I can’t seem to get away from in Psalm 3, is a word that isn’t actually found in the Psalm at all, betrayal.

We’ve all been betrayed. At some point in our lives someone that we loved and someone that has loved us has turned on us. We may not be quick to admit or acknowledge it, but we’ve probably also all betrayed someone as well. It stands to reason doesn’t it? How could we have all been betrayed and yet none or few of us have ever been then betrayers? Betrayal is a part of the fallen human condition, it was not a part of our created purpose, it was not a part of God’s plan or desire for us and yet, here we are, betrayed and betrayers. What do we do when friends become enemies, when family members become adversaries, when those we love become those we no longer trust? Maybe before we discuss what we do, we should ask, how does it happen?

Everything changes. Every season, every stage, every purpose, every plan and every person. Everything changes and so that means that every relationship is going to find itself in need of change, the question becomes, are we willing? When change is required, do we hold on tight to what we’ve had, or do we make room for the change? Do we find ourselves afraid of being left out or left alone? Do we take change personally or do we explore the idea that change in others can often open the door for change in us? Often betrayal is simply a rejection of change. Cain was unwilling to accept that the rejection of his sacrifice had nothing to do with the acceptance of Abel’s, and so he killed his brother. Saul was unwilling to believe that the loss of his kingdom was due to his own actions, not David’s anointing and so he exiled his greatest warrior. Judas was unwilling to change his view of what Jesus should be doing as the Messiah and so he gave in to his greed. Absalom, the eldest son of David, when he realized that he would not succeed his father as king of Israel, decided to take the throne from his father. He wouldn’t change his mind, his desire or his expectation and he chose betrayal. Stubbornness doesn’t help us get our way, it keeps us from continuing our relationships, it leads us to betrayal.

But Psalm 3 can’t be defined by Absalom’s betrayal. When all I could see was that theme, I was reading it from my own places of hurt and betrayal, in fact, I found myself returning to those places. I was thinking of those in my life that I have chosen to call my “Absaloms” (they are not, that is my hurt talking, not the true intentions or outcomes of those by whom I have been hurt), my own disappointments, my own relationship issues that I’ve allowed to stay unresolved in my heart. That’s not what Psalm 3 is here to teach us, it’s not here to prepare us for the hurts we will encounter, it’s here to teach us that in the worst of trouble (because what could be worse than being ousted from your throne by your son), there is a place of peace, there is even a place to lay down and sleep. David wrote, “I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill . . . I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.” 

If you’ve never read II Samuel 15-18 please find some time to read it. To be honest, it’s agonizing, David leaves Israel broken, weeping, barefoot and with his head covered. His supporters left with him, some of his detractors chided him, gloried in his betrayal and his son, his eldest son, made his way to his throne, showing that he valued the king’s glory more than his father’s love. And in the midst of all of this, at some point David prayed and the LORD sustained him. The Hebrew word that we translate as “sustained” means, according to Strong’s Concordance, “to lean, lay, rest, support, put, uphold, lean upon”. This means that David is not only saying that God had taken hold of him, but he had chosen to lean upon God. Being sustained is not when God swoops in, it’s when we go to God, it’s not when God changes everything, it’s when we submit the changes that are happening, those we like and don’t like, understand and don’t understand, agree with and don’t agree with, to God. Being sustained requires trust because it means we won’t stand on our own any longer, we won’t find our own way or create our own peace, but we will, lean on God, we will put ourselves in a defenseless position because we are trusting God to be our defense. The promise of Psalm 3 is that no matter what we face, no matter what changes, no matter how personal the betrayal may be, if we will choose to lean on God, if we choose to relinquish our control, to hand over our hurt we will, just like David, be sustained by the LORD. It’s not a promise that everything will be okay, or that it will all turn out in the end, it’s a promise that God does not drop those who lean on Him. We’ve all been betrayed, most of us want restitution, but what the Lord desires and what we truly need is to be sustained. If you are struggling today, don’t try to stand on your own two feet, lean in on God’s grace and believe that even in the worst of pains, He will be all you need.