Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.
David, stripped of his kingdom and hunted by his own son, had every reason to despair, yet he clung to God's promise against mockery and death itself. He makes no mention of his sins here, his adultery and the blood of Uriah, which means this psalm captures only one part of his prayer; the full anguish of God's punishment for those crimes came first.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 3:1-8
God needs only to stand and all is well. David's enemies are wild beasts with teeth and jaws ready to devour, but the Lord has shattered their weapons entirely. Rejoice: you face a dragon whose head is broken and enemies whose teeth are dashed from their jaws, they cannot touch you.
AI summary
In every difficulty David had been driven to his knees, crying to God with his whole voice, and God had always answered him from His holy mountain. When care and grief turn us to earnest prayer, not mere sound but real fervency of heart, God takes notice and accounts it to us.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 3:4-8