Finding Rest in God: Psalm Three on Anxiety

God is always awake, even when we sleep. And not only awake, he's at work, redemptive work. Do we trust that? Fully trust that? Or are we thinking, even subconsciously, that God might be distracted with bigger situations, or just needed some rest himself? Or maybe there is that little voice inside us saying that what I'm facing is my own fault, and I better pull up myself by my own bootstraps. Or what I'm facing is too small to get God's attention. I might stubbornly want to do it myself, almost like a little child insisting, I want to do it myself. We can lie down and rest while God works for us. [01:22:37] (56 seconds)  #GodAlwaysAtWork

While we might not like the thought in this prayer of God striking cheeks and shattering teeth, it does convey the quite visceral emotional reaction in David when he considers being pursued by an army. It also fits the reality that rebellion against God ultimately has consequences and leads to death. Henry Noun says in his book, In the name of Jesus, that we often pray that God would keep us from the things we fear most, and he does. And then, he leads us straight to those difficult things and goes through them with us to show that we actually don't need to be afraid. [01:25:18] (46 seconds)  #GodLeadsThroughFear

Language used by little children, Daddy, I'm afraid. By adults in love relationships, Honey, I trust your decision. By people dying, stay with me. By people in distress, help me. Eugene Peterson calls this language language one. We can distinguish it from from languages that convey information, the kind of language that names and categorizes things. And it's also different from the language of motivation, the kind of language that makes things happen, and often is the language that we use to make things happen our way. Eugene Peterson calls them language two and three, and they are secondary languages when it comes to expressing our feelings, our experiences, it expresses deep emotional connection. [01:06:11] (59 seconds)  #LanguageOfTheHeart

David is echoing in this prayer God's promise to his people that they can be strong and courageous and don't need to be afraid or terrified because he is going with them. He is fighting for them because their enemies are his enemies. In Deuteronomy 31, this promise is repeated again and again. We need to be reminded, like the Israelites, that God is present with us, and we don't need to be afraid, not because our circumstances are changing, although in his grace and mercy, God often does change them. But we have to realize we grow most in our faith when our circumstances don't change, and instead, God sees us through adversity. [01:24:22] (55 seconds)  #StrongAndCourageous

The two psalms leading up to Psalm three, Psalm one and two, are painting a picture of the state of humanity, two kingdoms at war, the kingdom of God and its its followers, and the worldly kingdom with those who follow it. There are two choices we all have, to follow God and his guidance for us, or to rebel against him and do what seems right in our own eyes. Psalm one talks about this on an individual level, Psalm two on a communal level. And as we know from Deuteronomy 30, God's invitation is to make a choice for him rather than against him, a choice between life and death. And God's invitation is, choose life, choose me. [01:04:28] (49 seconds)  #ChooseLifeChooseGod

What do I need to release to you tonight, Lord? What situations, ministries, injustices, people, relationships, hopes, fears, longings? And tomorrow morning, you will raise me again to join you once again in your redemptive kingdom, work in progress. I lie down and sleep. I wake again because the Lord sustains me. That is surrendering to sleep and rest as an expression of surrendering to God in trust. In the morning, we can follow that surrender and trust up with a welcoming prayer. We welcome whatever we might face, whether it's a whole army that fights against us, friends who betray us, or our own misconceptions that deceive us. [01:20:13] (54 seconds)  #ReleaseToGod

David prays in the face of a very difficult and even life threatening situation where anxiety and fear easily could have overtaken him. Let's pay attention to where his focus is and how he sees God present with him even in these dire circumstances. But before we dive in, let's ask ourselves three questions. How quickly are we turning to God for help when we are anxious and afraid? Or are we giving anxiety and fear the license to take over our life and thinking? Are we allowing them to take us down paths towards worst case scenarios? Are we giving in to ruminating on anxious and fear ridden thoughts? [01:00:03] (51 seconds)  #TurnToGodFirst

However, as David continues to pray in verses three and four, he obviously relies on God's forgiveness and calls on God's protection even as these very consequences hit him. Absalom, his own son turning against him. He prays, but you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the one who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. This is good news for us when there are consequences for our sin that we repented from. Like David, we can count on God with us as we experience these consequences. [01:15:11] (46 seconds)  #ForgivenAndProtected