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Psalm 3 Bible study: A shield around me

The many say, "There is no help for him in God" (3:2), and the psalm's last verse answers them: "Salvation belongs to the LORD" (3:8). In Hebrew help and Salvation are one word, yeshu'ah. And the verb of the many who "rise up" (3:1) is the verb of the psalmist's "Arise, LORD!" (3:7).

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“But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.”
Psalm 3:3 · World English Bible

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“In Psalm 3 the psalmist says he lay down, slept and awakened.”

Is that in Psalm 3, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

The first psalm with a title

In the text

Psalms 1 and 2 have no title. Psalm 3 does, and the WEB prints it as the opening words of the first verse: "A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son" (3:1) (tap fled). Then the psalm itself begins: "LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me" (3:1) (tap adversaries). In Hebrew the title is counted as a verse of its own, so in this psalm the Hebrew verse numbers run one ahead of the English; these notes follow the WEB's numbering. The title says who and when: David, when he fled from "Absalom his son" (3:1). The psalm's own lines, after the title, name no one but the LORD and God.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Psalm 3

That was a taste

The rest of Psalm 3 is waiting in Favor

  • Many, and you
  • "No help", and "Salvation"
  • Lay down, slept, awakened
  • The title beside 2 Samuel 15
  • "Arise, LORD!"
  • "Salvation belongs to the LORD", and Acts 4:12
  • 5 questions as you read
  • 13 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

יְשׁוּעָהyeshu'ahsay ye-shoo-AH

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "salvation", and among its uses, "salvation by God, primarily from external evils, but often with added spiritual idea". Strong's: "something saved, i.e. (abstractly) deliverance; hence, aid, victory, prosperity", and it gives the word as "feminine passive participle of 3467", the verb yasha', save. The psalm has it twice. The many say, "There is no help for him in God" (3:2), where help is this word, and the last verse says, "Salvation belongs to the LORD" (3:8). In between, the psalmist prays with the verb: "Save me, my God!" (3:7). The Psalms have the noun 45 times in Hebrew. Jonah's prayer ends with the same English words: "Salvation belongs to the LORD" (Jonah 2:9).

For your group

Psalm 3 Bible study questions

  1. 1"Many there are who say of my soul, 'There is no help for him in God'" (3:2). Have you ever heard that kind of voice, from other people or inside your own head? What did it say?
  2. 2"I laid myself down and slept. I awakened, for the LORD sustains me" (3:5). What keeps you awake at night, and what would it look like to lie down the way this psalm describes?
  3. 3The psalm starts with one person's adversaries and ends, "May your blessing be on your people" (3:8). Who could you ask God to bless this week, even while your own trouble isn't over?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 3 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Can I read Psalm 3 straight away?

Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 3 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.

Do I need a group?

No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.

I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?

Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.

Which Bible does Favor use?

The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.

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No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home