Psalms
Chapter 3

1

^{1 2} A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

2

How many are my foes, LORD! How many rise against me!

3

³ How many say of me, "God will not save that one." Selah

4

But you, LORD, are a shield around me; my glory, you keep my head high.

5

Whenever I cried out to the LORD, I was answered from the holy mountain. Selah

6

Whenever I lay down and slept, the LORD preserved me to rise again.

7

I do not fear, then, thousands of people arrayed against me on every side.

8

Arise, LORD! Save me, my God! You will shatter the jaws of all my foes; you will break the teeth of the wicked.

9

Safety comes from the LORD! Your blessing for your people! Selah

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Footnotes

¹ [Psalm 3] An individual lament complaining of enemies who deny that God will come to the rescue (Psalm 3:2-3). Despite such taunts the psalmist hopes for God's protection even in sleep (Psalm 3:4-7). The psalm prays for an end to the enemies' power to speak maliciously (Psalm 3:8) and closes peacefully with an expression of trust (Psalm 3:8)[9].

² [1] The superscription, added later, relates the psalm to an incident in the life of David.

³ [3,5,9] Selah: the term is generally considered a direction to the cantor or musicians but its exact meaning is not known. It occurs 71 times in 39 psalms.

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