Psalms / Chapter 3

Psalms 3

9 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Psalm 3 is the first psalm attributed to David and the first individual lament in the Psalter. Its superscription places it during Absalom's rebellion, when David fled Jerusalem. Despite being surrounded by enemies who declare God will not save him, the psalmist confesses the LORD as his shield, lies down and sleeps in confidence, and calls on God to rise and deliver.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This is the Psalter's first morning psalm — the speaker has slept through the night despite being surrounded by enemies and wakes to declare trust. The act of sleeping when threatened is itself an act of faith: the person who can sleep in danger has transferred responsibility to God. The structure moves from crisis (vv. 2-3) through confession of trust (vv. 4-5) to confidence (vv. 6-7) to petition and blessing (vv. 8-9). This movement from lament to trust becomes the template for dozens of psalms that follow.

Translation Friction

The superscription (verse 1 in Hebrew) attributes this psalm to David's flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 15-18). Whether this reflects historical memory or later editorial framing is debated. The superscriptions were likely added by editors who connected psalms to episodes in David's life. The theological content of the psalm works with or without the historical setting — it is the prayer of any person surrounded by enemies who declare that God has abandoned them.

Connections

The Absalom narrative is in 2 Samuel 15-18. The phrase 'salvation belongs to the LORD' (v. 9) echoes Jonah 2:9. The 'shield' metaphor for God appears in Genesis 15:1 (God to Abraham: 'I am your shield'). The cry 'Rise up, O LORD' echoes Numbers 10:35, the ancient battle cry when the Ark advanced. Selah appears three times — its first occurrence in the Psalter.

Psalms 3:1

מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד בְּ֝בׇרְח֗וֹ מִפְּנֵ֤י ׀ אַבְשָׁל֬וֹם בְּנֽוֹ׃

A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

KJV A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. This is the first superscription in the Psalter that provides both authorship (le-David, 'of David' or 'for David' or 'belonging to David') and a historical occasion. The preposition le- is ambiguous: it could indicate authorship, dedication, or collection. The historical note connects the psalm to 2 Samuel 15-18, where David fled Jerusalem barefoot and weeping as his son seized the throne.
Psalms 3:2

יְ֭הוָה מָה־רַבּ֣וּ צָרָ֑י רַ֝בִּ֗ים קָמִ֥ים עָלָֽי׃

O LORD, how many are my enemies! Many are rising against me.

KJV LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The address to YHWH at the opening establishes this as prayer, not mere complaint. The psalmist does not describe his situation to a human audience but brings it directly to God. This directness — naming the crisis before the sovereign — is the defining characteristic of biblical lament.
Psalms 3:3

רַבִּ֗ים אֹמְרִ֣ים לְ֭נַפְשִׁי אֵ֤ין יְשׁוּעָ֓תָה לּ֬וֹ בֵאלֹהִ֬ים סֶֽלָה׃

Many are saying about me, "There is no deliverance for him from God." Selah.

KJV Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

סֶלָה selah
"Selah" — uncertain — possibly: lift up (voices or instruments), pause, interlude, forever

selah's meaning has been debated for over two millennia. The Talmud suggests it means 'forever.' Modern scholars generally treat it as a liturgical or musical direction. Its placement often coincides with shifts in mood or topic within a psalm, suggesting it marks a pause for reflection or instrumental interlude.

Translator Notes

  1. Selah (selah) appears 71 times in the Psalter and 3 times in Habakkuk 3. Its meaning is debated: it may derive from salal ('to lift up') indicating a musical crescendo, or from salah ('to pause') indicating a break for reflection. The Septuagint renders it diapsalma ('interlude'). We transliterate rather than translate because no consensus exists.
  2. The phrase ein yeshu'atah lo b-Elohim is a direct denial of the most basic confession of Israelite faith: that God saves. In the Absalom context, this echoes the counsel of those who believed God had transferred favor from David to his son (2 Samuel 16:8, Shimei's curse).
Psalms 3:4

וְאַתָּ֣ה יְ֭הוָה מָגֵ֣ן בַּעֲדִ֑י כְּ֝בוֹדִ֗י וּמֵרִ֥ים רֹאשִֽׁי׃

But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head.

KJV But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase kevodi ('my glory') is striking — the psalmist attributes his kavod ('glory, honor, weight, significance') entirely to God. If David is the speaker, this is a king acknowledging that his royal dignity derives not from the throne but from the LORD. The enemies may have stripped him of crown and city, but they cannot strip him of the glory that comes from God.
  2. Merim roshi ('the lifter of my head') is a gesture of restoration. In the ancient world, a defeated person hung their head; to have one's head lifted was to be vindicated, acquitted, restored to honor (cf. Genesis 40:13, where Pharaoh 'lifts the head' of the cupbearer to restore him).
Psalms 3:5

ק֭וֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א וַיַּֽעֲנֵ֨נִי מֵהַ֖ר קׇדְשׁ֣וֹ סֶֽלָה׃

With my voice I cry out to the LORD, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah.

KJV I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The tension between David fleeing from Jerusalem (the superscription's setting) and God answering from His holy mountain is theologically productive. The physical holy mountain may be in enemy hands, but God is not confined to His mountain. He answers from Zion even when the worshiper cannot reach Zion.
Psalms 3:6

אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽ֫אִישָׁ֥נָה הֱ֭קִיצוֹתִי כִּ֖י יְהוָ֣ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustains me.

KJV I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The three verbs (lay down, slept, woke) echo the daily rhythm of Deuteronomy 6:7 ('when you lie down and when you rise up'). The psalmist's faith is not a crisis-mode exception but woven into ordinary physical experience. Psalm 4:9 will make the same connection between trust and sleep.
Psalms 3:7

לֹ֣א אִ֭ירָא מֵרִבְב֥וֹת עָ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר סָ֝בִ֗יב שָׁ֣תוּ עָלָֽי׃

I will not fear the tens of thousands of people who have positioned themselves against me on every side.

KJV I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The progression from verse 2 ('how many are my enemies') to verse 7 ('I will not fear tens of thousands') shows the psalm's emotional arc. The same reality — massive opposition — is perceived differently after the confession of trust in verses 4-6. The circumstances have not changed; the psalmist's posture has.
Psalms 3:8

קוּמָ֤ה יְהוָ֗ה הוֹשִׁ֥יעֵנִי אֱלֹהַ֑י כִּֽי־הִכִּ֤יתָ אֶת־כׇּל־אֹיְבַ֬י לֶ֗חִי שִׁנֵּ֖י רְשָׁעִ֣ים שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃

Rise up, O LORD! Save me, my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the jaw; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.

KJV Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The cry qumah YHWH ('arise, O LORD') appears in Numbers 10:35, Psalm 7:7, Psalm 9:20, Psalm 10:12, and elsewhere. It is one of the oldest prayers in the Hebrew Bible, rooted in the tradition of the Ark of the Covenant leading Israel into battle. To ask God to 'arise' is to ask Him to act, to intervene, to make His power visible.
  2. The perfect tense verbs ('You have struck,' 'You have shattered') may describe either past experience or prophetic confidence — the psalmist is so certain of God's action that he speaks of it as already accomplished. This 'prophetic perfect' is common in psalms of trust.
Psalms 3:9

לַיהוָ֥ה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֖ בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ סֶּֽלָה׃

Salvation belongs to the LORD; Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah.

KJV Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase la-YHWH ha-yeshu'ah echoes Jonah 2:10 (Hebrew v. 10), where Jonah declares from the belly of the fish: yeshu'atah la-YHWH ('salvation belongs to the LORD'). Both speakers make this declaration from a place of extremity — surrounded by enemies (David) or swallowed by the sea (Jonah). The confession that salvation is God's exclusive property is precisely the confession that desperation produces.
  2. The shift from individual petition ('save me') to communal blessing ('upon Your people') is characteristic of Israelite prayer. The individual never prays in isolation from the community. Even in personal crisis, the psalmist remembers that he is part of a people.
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