A Psalm a Week - Psalm 3

So, this weeks Psalm is really simple, but it gives us each alot to think about. If you don't have a Bible handy, here's a link to PSALM 3 - NIV

Anyway, as you see in the picture above, this week we're talking about shields. Looking back through the course of history, we see that the shield is of the most popular military devices ... why? It protects its bearer from attack! Think about it. If some dude came running at me, flailing his sword all over the place, I would want to be able to defend myself. That's the sole purpose of the shield - defense. Now looking at the Pslam, we see that we as Christians have a shield of our own. As we saw last week, we have a God who chooses to protect us, or in this weeks Psalm, a God who is our SHIELD. He protects us from harms way, he defends us from attack, he protects us from evil. Our God is the mightiest shield in the entire world - there doesn't exist a shield that comes even close to matching His power ... and He is on our side.

Getting a little more into the text, we see a funny word used a few times. "Selah" is a horribly difficult concept to translate, but it basically means "STOP AND THINK."

STOP AND THINK 1 - There are so many times in each and every one of our lives that we feel outnumbered. The world stares us straight in the eyes and says "your God will not save you." Stop and think about it. Is our God one who will leave us out to dry, or is he one who will protect us? Is he really outnumbered? Is there anything in this world that can stand up to God? Hmmm ....

STOP AND THINK 2 - So the psalmist does his thinking and comes up with the idea that God is his shield (which we already talked about) ... When i think of that statement, I think of a few examples from the Bible. If you remember the story of Gideon, God took an army of 300 and annihilated an army of tens of thousands. How about Sampson? God took one man with whom he destroyed the entirety of the Philistines. And lastly, David himself. A young man matched against a giant named Goliath ... oh yeah ... God won that one too. So what does it mean that God is our shield? Does it mean he'll fight our battles while we sit back and watch? Or like these men, does God want to see us take a little jump in faith so that he can fight side by side with us? ... Hmmm ... think about it.

STOP AND THINK 3 - The psalmist takes a full turn in the chapter. At the beginning it was "Uh oh, there's too many people against me." He closes the chapter with "From the Lord comes deliverance." No matter what it is that's going in your life, God is bigger than it. No matter what sin you might be struggling with, God is bigger than it. No matter what group of people you might face in this world, God is bigger than it. What does it mean that God will deliver us? It means he will take our frustrations, our fears, and our battles and help us claim victory. It's not "hmm" this time ... it's Wow.

Have a great week!

-Chris