The False Report

The False Report

Psalm 3

Lord, how many are my foes!

How many rise up against me!

Many are saying of me,

“God will not deliver him.”

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high. (Verse 1-3)

We’ve all felt in too deep, from time to time. Perhaps it’s the sickening feeling of a bad day. For some, it’s investments that have failed to thrive; some have seen natural disasters break all they thought was secure.

David wrote those words at a desperate time – and of the people he called foes – he once called them generals, friends and even son.

In the times past, Absalom had already killed another of David’s sons, and David had forgiven him for it. But Absalom had not felt content and began subverting his father’s throne, and one day set up a scheme to undermine it.

I call out to the Lord,

and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

I will not fear though tens of thousands

assail me on every side. (Verse 4-6)

David fled Jerusalem through the Mount of Olives, ending up grouping with his armies at a distant place called Manaheim, the same place that Jacob met with angels and dispersed his family and flocks into groups.

David had an army with him, generals that were still faithful to him and no doubt much of the kingdom remembered who their king was truly. That said, there is no safe war, and like Jacob before him, he would know that he was not yet safe.

Yet, in David’s words, it was not the thought of battle that affected him. He will still sleep at night; his only expectation is that of God’s deliverance.

Arise, Lord!

Deliver me, my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth of the wicked.

 From the Lord comes deliverance.

May your blessing be on your people. (Verses 7-8)

The battle would be short. Like Jacob sorted his herds and family into groups, David sorted his generals and armies into regiments.

While the story of Jacob and Esau ended without bloodshed, the battle of David saw 20,000 fall, and the servants of Absalom fell. Absalom himself was caught in a tree and slain by David’s soldiers… to the grief of David.

The people around David told him that he could not expect God’s deliverance – yet David knew better. People who may have even seemed wiser than he had told him that God was not coming.

Yet – David knew better.

David knew God, together they had faced many battles. They were kindred. Some may have told him that God would not come to his aid, but David knew better, and was proven right. 

It was a If David had not ignored the false report that God would not deliver him, the day may have turned out much differently. David was shielded by his own people; they stood between him and the enemy. If David doubted God’s hand on that day, he may have acted differently and placed himself directly in harm’s way.

Bad news comes to us all from time to time, but but it is not always the end of the story. Houses can be rebuilt; families can be reunited. Trust can be rebuilt. Just as we pray, hold to the good report.  David knew that God would deliver him, and so should we, even when things are at their darkest. 

Kevin Vawser