How To Sleep In A Storm Series

Title: How to Sleep in a Storm

Text: Psalm 3

Introduction:

There are nights when sleep refuses to come. You lie in the dark, but your mind is racing, replaying the worries of the day and rehearsing the anxieties of tomorrow. The problems feel like they are multiplying, and the voices of doubt—from the world around you and from deep within your own soul—grow louder and louder. In those moments, peace feels like an impossible dream.

If you have ever felt that way, the Bible has a song for you. It's Psalm 3, and it's not a theoretical poem about peace written from a quiet study. The title tells us it is "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son." This is a prayer from a man at his absolute rock bottom. David, the great king, is now a fugitive. He has been betrayed by his own beloved son, abandoned by many of his people, and is running for his very life. He is surrounded, outnumbered, and heartbroken.

This psalm is his prayer from the battlefield, a song sung in the night of his deepest crisis. It is a divine roadmap that teaches us how to journey from overwhelming anxiety to supernatural peace, not by changing our circumstances, but by changing our focus from the size of our storm to the greatness of our God.

I. Acknowledge the Storm

David begins with brutal honesty. He doesn't pretend he's fine. He lays the raw data of his crisis before God. “LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.” He feels the crushing weight of the opposition. It’s not a small problem; it's a vast, growing army.

But the deepest wound isn't the physical threat. It’s the spiritual attack he describes in verse 2: “Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God.” This is the voice of ultimate hopelessness. His enemies are not just saying, "We're going to defeat you." They are mocking his faith, saying, "Your situation is so bad, your sin is so great, that even your God has abandoned you." This is the enemy’s cruelest lie, the whisper that we are beyond the reach of grace. True peace begins only when we are honest about the storms we face and the lies we are tempted to believe.

II. Pivot to God

After laying out his desperate situation, David makes a decisive turn. It is the single most important moment in the psalm, a pivot of the heart marked by three powerful words: “But thou, O LORD…” He makes a conscious choice to lift his eyes from the waves of his problems and fix them on the character of his God.

In the face of overwhelming opposition, he reminds himself of who God is for him.

* He is “a shield for me.” In the face of attack, God is my Protector.

* He is “my glory.” In the face of shame and betrayal, God is my Vindicator and the source of my true worth.

* He is “the lifter up of mine head.” In the face of despair and discouragement that pushes my head down, God is the one who restores my dignity and my courage.

This is not wishful thinking. David’s faith is anchored in his own history with God. “I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.” He remembers God’s past faithfulness, and that memory becomes the fuel for his present trust.

III. Experience the Peace

This deliberate pivot from his problem to his God produces a miraculous, tangible result. In verse 5, David makes one of the most profound statements of faith in the entire Bible: “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”

Think about this. Surrounded by thousands of enemies who want him dead, with his kingdom and his family in ruins, David sleeps. He doesn't just get a few fitful hours of rest; he lays down, sleeps soundly, and awakes refreshed. Why? Because his trust in God was real. He handed the battle over to his Shield and rested in His care. This is the peace that surpasses all human understanding.

This supernatural peace then gives birth to supernatural courage. He declares, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.” The circumstances have not changed. The ten thousand enemies are still there. But David has been changed. His fear has been conquered by his faith. He ends by looking beyond his own crisis to a universal truth: “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people.” The God who can rescue him is the God of all salvation for all His people.