When Your World Falls Apart (Psalm 3-7)

When Life Takes a Turn for the Worst (Psalm 3-7)

1. Psalm 3: Facing a New Day (Ps 3:5-6). You are not alone.
2. Psalm 4: Facing Another Night (Ps 4:4; 6:6). Who can I turn to?
3. Psalm 5: Starting a New Day (Ps 5:3). On pleading with the King.
4. Psalm 6: Waiting is Hard (Ps 6:1-4). The way prayer makes a difference.
• Prayers and tears (Ps 6:6-9).
5. Psalm 7: Sin and judgment. The judge is on your side.
• A Conscience without Offence (Ps 7:3-5).
• A cry for justice (Ps 7:6-11).

"Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!" (Ps 3:1).

"But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high" (Ps 3:3). "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me" (Ps 3:5).

"Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer" (Ps 4:1).

"Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent" (Ps 4:4). "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Ps 4:8).

"Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly" (Ps 5:1-3).

"Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield (Ps 5:12).

"Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?" (Ps 6:1-3)

"I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears" (Ps 6:6).

Facing a new day. Psalm 3 is one of 14 psalms that are linked with historical episodes, all in the life of David (Ps 3, 7, 18, 30, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 142). David's son Absalom, whom he loved, was trying to kill him. This family dysfunction was David's own fault. He never addressed Absalom's murder of his brother. Now David is fleeing to save his own life. David faces personal grief (2 Sam 18:33) and pressing issues: a rising tide of disloyalty (Ps 3:1, 6; 2 Sam 15:13), the rumor that God has withdrawn from him (Ps 3:2; 2 Sam 15:26) and the precarious state of his people (Ps 3:8). Psalm 3 (Charles Spurgeon).

• A. Lament over enemies (Ps 3:1-2). His enemies.
• B. Prayer to the Lord (Ps 3:3-4). His God.
• C. Trust in the Lord (Ps 3:5-6). His peace and assurance.
• B' Prayer for deliverance (Ps 3:7). His prayer.
• A'. Hope in the Lord (Ps 3:8).

Facing another night. Psalm 4 describes the approach to night with its temptation to brood on past wrongs (Ps 4:4) in the midst of present perils (Ps 4:1-2). Despite the most wounding of aspersions and discouragements, David recounts God's calling (Ps 4:3).

1. Prayer (Ps 4:1).
2. Detractors (Ps 4:2).
3. Sevenfold spirituality (Ps 4:3-5).
4. Detractors (Ps 4:6).
5. Peace (Ps 4:7-8). Joy apart from circumstances (Ps 4:7-8).

Starting a new day. Psalm 5 is a morning psalm (Ps 5:3) when David is surrounded by enemies, who are seldom absent from David's psalms. Despite their presence, David goes to God (Ps 5:7). He prays to be led by God's righteousness (Ps 5:8, 12) and for their demise by their own counsel and plans (Ps 5:10; 2 Sam 15:31). Despite being hemmed in by his own troubles he is conscious of those who join him in praise (Ps 5:11).

1. Beginning with morning prayer (Ps 5:1-3).
2. The fate of the wicked (Ps 5:4-6).
3. Resolve and commitment (Ps 5:7-8).
4. Entrust to God to deal with lies (Ps 5:9-10).
5. Breaking free of self to consider others (Ps 5:11-12).

Waiting is hard. Psalm 6 is the first of 7 "penitential" psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). It vividly describes the agonizing anguish by one who is deeply troubled and alarmed (Ps 6:1-4) as well as his prayers and tears (Ps 6:6-9). David is not pleading against rebuke, correction and discipline (Ps 6:1, 38:1-4), but that it may be tempered with mercy (Ps 6:2). He is tormented in mind and body with an uneasy conscience, and appeals to grace to temper the discipline he deserves.

• A. Prayer for God's favor. The terrified soul (Ps 6:1-3).
• B. Prayer for God's love. Prayer for deliverance (Ps 6:4-5).
• B' Need of God's love. Sorrow upon sorrow (Ps 6:6-7).
• A' Prayer for God's favor. God hears and accepts prayer (Ps 6:8-10).

A Cry for Justice. Sin and judgment (Psalm 7). Justice means salvation, for the 2 collide when God tries the case of the oppressed. Psalm 7 moves from the intensely personal plea of one who is betrayed and hounded, to the conviction that God is judge of all the earth, and that wickedness is self-defeating. 

1. The hunted man (Ps 7:1-2). Prayer.
2. The oath of innocence (Ps 7:3-5). A just God rules in exact justice.
3. The righteous judge (6-11). God of judgment (Ps 7:6-8a). Standing before the righteous judge (Ps 7:8-9). The God of judgment (Ps 7:10-13).
4. Sin, when it is finished (Ps 7:12-16). Sin is a boomerang.
5. Thankful praise (Ps 7:17).

1. What was the context or situation in which David wrote this Psalm (Ps 3:1; 2 Samuel 15-13ff)?
   
2. Who is God to David in the midst of trouble and adversity (Ps 3:3-4, 7-8)?
   
3. How is David able to sleep in such a time (Ps 3:5-6)?