LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. (2) Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah (3) But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
Psalms 3:1-3

David wrote these words when his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against David, seeking to wrench the kingdom from his father. When you read the narratives of this episode in David’s life (2 Samuel 15-18) it is uncanny how calm David was. Why? Because his trust was in the Lord.

Like so many of David’s Psalms, this is a Messianic Psalm in which we can hear Jesus’ voice when Israel rejected their Messiah/King, demanding that He be crucified. Yet, like David, Jesus was remarkably calm while being nailed to the cross, praying for His Father’s forgiveness for those who drove those nails that tore through His flesh. Why? Because He knew He was fulfilling the will of His Father in whom Jesus trusted.

May we, regardless of the severity of our trials, trust in the Lord who “is our shield,” and who “lifts up our heads.” May we, no matter what befalls us, experience “the peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7).