Mensa Otabil - God Is My Shield

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Psalm 3, verses 2 and 3: Many are they who say of me, «There is no help for him in God.» Selah. But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head. I love this Psalm; in the midst of David’s troubles, he heard what people were saying, and he uses the word «many» again: Many are those who say of me, «There is no help for him in God.» In other words, God has abandoned him. There’s nothing like going through difficulty and people assuming that God has abandoned you, and that’s what is happening to David. People are saying, «Oh, God has left him; God is punishing him; this is God’s judgment on him.» And that’s what he’s saying: many are saying, «Lord, you have left me,» and that’s why my own son has rebelled against me. So when you go through difficulty and people are saying this is God’s own judgment against you, what do you do?

There’s something interesting about this Psalm, this part of the Psalm. This is the first time in the Psalms that a very interesting notation is introduced: it is Selah. Selah means to rest, to pause, to cool down, basically. It’s a musical notation that is used a few times in the Psalms, and in this Psalm, it is used three times, and this is the first instance of it.

So, in verse 2, we hear, «Many are they who say of me, 'There is no help for him in God.'» Selah. So David is building the crescendo of rejection. Those who are against me have multiplied; people are saying there’s no help for him in God. And then he introduces Selah. Selah is silence. In other words, after you’ve poured out that worry to God and the intensity of your heart, don’t continue; just pause, listen, relax. When he said Selah, or after the Selah, after saying people say God has abandoned me, he says Selah.

Then verse 3 shifts the language. So he’s not talking about the same thing he was talking about earlier, because after Selah, he says, «But you, O Lord, are a shield for me.» So many times when we are so full of anguish, desperation, and pain, there has to be a Selah. There has to be a time when you pause, and you just calm down. In that calmness, you discover a new direction, and that is what David teaches us. Many are those who say there is no hope for him in God, but relax, Selah.

Then he says, «But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.» In your anguish, you never discover God’s strength in your pain; you never discover the victory that God wants to give to you. There are times when your heart is overflowing with pain, but learn to Selah, learn to relax, learn to cool down, and in the quietness of your spirit, you discover that God is still with you.

So David trusted in the protection of God because he said, " Lord, you are a shield for me,» and then he trusted in the promotion of God because he said, «Lord, you are the one who lifts up my head.» But he discovered all of that after the Selah, not when he was complaining, but after he had relaxed. Then he saw, «Lord, You are my defender; You are my shield, and You are the lifter up of my head.» I just want somebody to know that in the quietness of your soul, God is telling you, «I am your shield, and I am your promoter.» He will protect you, and he will promote you. He’s not abandoning you; He’s still with you.

Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, in the midst of all my worries, I rest my soul in You. You are my glory and the one who lifts up my head. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, and amen.