Psalm 3:3-4

Devotional Thoughts

By Carter Conlon

As a true follower of Christ in this hour, you will need to contend with all kinds of voices around you — and you will fight in your mind. Every saint, with no exceptions, will engage in this secret war. We see in the Scriptures that even King David experienced this battle of the mind.

“Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me … But You, O Lord, are a shield for me; my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Selah.

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! … Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people” (Psalm 3:1, 3, 5, 6 and 8).

David wrote this psalm during a season of struggling with a sense of past failure and present weakness. He had made a terrible mistake in his life — adultery and even murder — and the consequences were dire. How difficult it must have been for David to fully embrace the fact that he was still on the victory side — that God was proud of him and the lineage of Christ would still flow through him.

We can all look back on our lives and see things we wish we had done better. Our failures and weaknesses can often instill in us a sense that we are far from where we should be, and the enemy will taunt us because of it.

The apostle Paul described a specific season in his journey when this happened: “We were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears” (2 Corinthians 7:5). In other words, voices of mocking and cursing had produced fear within his heart.

God called you to be more than a conqueror — indeed, you are to be a song of praise to His name in the earth.