Help, I Need Somebody

HELP, I NEED SOMEBODY

Psalm 3:1-8

S: God

Th: Prayer: A Passion for His Presence

Pr: SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD.

?: Inductive

KW: Stages

TS: We will find in our study of Psalm 3 four unfolding stages that reveal God at work.

The ____ stage is the…

I. PROBLEM (1-2)

II. PRESENCE (3-4)

III. PEACE (5-6)

IV. PUNISHMENT (7)

Version: ESV

RMBC 10 Nov 02 AM

INTRODUCTION:

1. Do you live with the consequences?

ILL Notebook: Consequences (truth or consequences)

One day, a mother explained to her five-year-old daughter that if she chose to disobey her, she would have to live with the consequences. "Oh, Mommy!" she said with a terrified look on her face. "Please don’t make me live with the Consequences. I want to live here with you!"

Well, we all live with the consequences, don’t we?

We all live with the consequences of the choices we have made.

This is also true of a familiar Bible character known as “the man after God’s own heart.”

2. David had to live with the consequences of his sin.

Today we are giving study to Psalm 3 that was written by David.

The background of the psalm is the betrayal of his own son, Absalom.

To truly understand the betrayal, though, we have to look further back into David’s life.

David’s problems began when he took to himself the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

This act of adultery led to an even more despicable act on David’s part.

Instead of protecting and looking out for the interests of loyal Uriah, he chose to take Uriah’s life to cover up his own sin.

David’s adultery led to murder.

From this point onward, David had to live with the consequences of his sin.

Many years later, one of David’s sons, Amnon, became a bit too enamored with his half-sister Tamar and raped her.

This enraged Tamar’s full brother, Absalom who sought revenge, and got it, by killing Amnon.

When David learned about Absalom’s crime, instead of dealing with him in a just manner, he simply allowed him to leave Jerusalem.

Why?

Because David had committed the same crime.

He too had committed the crime of murder over a sexual sin.

Thus, as a result, David had lost the moral authority to deal effectively with Absalom.

In time, the undisciplined Absalom, who thought he was morally superior and a worthier leader than his father, mounted a rebellion.

It was a rebellion that caught David by surprise, so much so, the historical text tells us that he fled barefoot and weeping.

Think for a moment of the shame David must have felt being opposed and hunted down by his own son.

But David was reaping the consequences of the bad choices he had made.

So, as a result, this man who was known as “the man after God’s heart” and who had rejoiced in great victories because of God’s intervention, now was characterized by failure, loneliness, disappointment, and agony.

Has that ever been true for you?

Have you ever felt like a failure because of the poor choices you have made?

And you know that more than anything else, you need God’s intervention in your life because you are powerless to make it different.

Well, this study is for you…

3. We will find in our study of Psalm 3 four unfolding stages that reveal God at work in the life of those who will believe.

The psalm reveals that God is at work in David’s life.

And same can be true of us as well.

Psalm 3 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

(1) O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; (2) many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. (3) But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. (4) I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. (5) I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. (6) I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. (7) Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. (8) Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people!

OUR STUDY:

I. The first stage is the PROBLEM (1-2).

O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God.

1. There are times when we feel outnumbered.

David cries out to God because he was dealing with the rising tide of disloyalty.

Both family and friends have turned against him.