The psalm of David when he fled from the face of his son Absalom.

“It is shown in various statements and examples of holy Scripture that God has used domestic disputes, rebellion and multiple disasters in the punishment of sin. The purpose of David was to chastise and to edify life through the psalm, so that no one would do evil, or violate the law of God or experience what befalls a sinner. David was fleeing his son because he had acted unchastely; he was fleeing his son because he had violated purity in marriage; he was fleeing his son because he had departed from the law of God, which says, "You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery." … Many today wage wars in their homes; one is opposed by his wife, another is besieged by his son; one is ruled by a brother, and another by a slave; and each one is in anguish and afflicted. He fights, wages war and is harassed by war, and no one can understand why. But if he had not planted the seeds of sin, it would have never happened that thorny plants and prickly bushes would grow up in his home; if he had not hidden the glare of his sins, his home would not burn.”

“When the great David served as interpreter for the Spirit, he related in his song the things that he had previously learned, and if he was taught something additional while he was speaking, he submitted to the Spirit who was making the hearing of his soul resound and stopped the music, and when he was filled with these thoughts he related these matters, again entwining the words with the melody. One who has comprehended the term in a definition might say, then, that diapsalma is a pause that occurs suddenly in the midst of the singing of a psalm in order to receive an additional thought that is being introduced from God. Or, one might rather define it as follows. diapsalma is a teaching from the Spirit that occurs in a mysterious manner in the soul, when the attention given to this new thought impedes the continuity of the song.… In the third psalm he spoke first about the distress and hardship that occurred when his enemies "rose up against" him. Then he separated that part with the diapsalma and put his trust in the one who was causing that sound of salvation to resound mysteriously in him and said, "But you, Lord, are my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head." Again, when he has stopped the music, saying, in accordance with that gracious voice that he has made his own, "I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy mountain," he is taught what the solution is for the hardship that is common to human ills. And after he has been taught the mystery related to the passion of the Lord in the sudden illumination of the Spirit, he assumes the character of the Lord and says, "I lay down and slept, and I was raised, because the Lord will help me."”

“A song of David, when he fled The Aggadists expounded many homilies on this matter. Our Sages said (Ber. 7a): When the prophet said to him (in II Sam. 12:11), “Behold I will raise up against you evil out of your own house etc.,” his heart was quaking, perhaps a slave or a mamzer [a child of an illicit union] will rise up against me, who will not have mercy on me. As soon as he found out that it was his son, he was happy. The Midrash Aggadah (Midrash Psalms 3:3) [states]: Because he saw his order intact, for his servants, and the Kerethite and Pelethite, who were the Sanhedrin were affirming his lordship over themselves. When he said to them (ibid. 15:14), “Arise and let us flee etc. from Absalom,” what is written there? (verse 15) “Whatever my lord the king shall choose, behold your servants [are ready to do].” And when he came to Mahanaim (ibid. 17:27), “Shobi, etc. and Machir the son of Amiel, etc. and Barzilai the Gileadite” came to meet him and sustained him there.”

“A psalm of David when he fled (mizmor le-David be-vorcho): The Gaon, Rav Saadia, desired to link all the psalms one to another. And he said, after [discussing the verse] "Why do nations assemble?" (Psalm 2:1), that what befell Absalom would [also] befall them [i.e., the rebellious nations of Psalm 2]. However, the commentator does not have the ability [or it is not possible] to link [them all] thus. This psalm [Psalm 3] is written in the First Book [of the five books of Psalms]. Therefore, one should not wonder if we find, in the Fifth Book, the prayer [composed] when he was in the cave (Psalm 142), an event which preceded the incident involving Absalom. And [this] psalm is in the manner of prophecy, in that [David] prophesied he would be victorious, [anticipating the outcome expressed later in verse 5] "and He answered me from His holy mountain." This is like the prayer of Jonah [who confidently declared from the fish's belly, (Jonah 2:8)], "My prayer came in unto You."”

“A Psalm of David when he fled from before Absalom his son: – Our teachers of blessed memory have explained (Midrash, Shoher Toh, ad loc.; Babli, Berakhoth 7b) that David gave utterance to this Psalm as he ascended the Mount of Olives, as it is said (2 Sam. 15:30), “And David went up by the ascent of the (Mount of) Olives and wept as he went up.” If weeping, why singing, and if singing, why weeping? (Nay) but as soon as the prophet said to him (ibid. 12:11): “Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house” he said, “Perhaps it is a slave [or a nathin] or a bastard, one of the members of the household, who has no pity on me?” As soon as he saw that it was his son he thought that he certainly would have pity upon him, and he said: A Psalm. Further they say (Midrash, Shoher Tob, ad loc.): “[Thus] David said: Jacob our father fled (Gen. 27:43); as it is said (Hos. 12:13): ‘And Jacob fled into the field of Aram.’ Moses fled, as it is said (Exod. 2:15) ‘and Moses fled;’ and I am a fugitive as they were. I thought that I was condemned to death, and now that I am going into exile, exile atoneth for iniquity” (Babli, Berakhoth 56a; Sanhedrin 37b). He says: “I have remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself” (Ps. 119:52). I remember the men of old time – and Thou hast borne with ine as Thou didst with them – and am comforted, knowing that through my flight the iniquity has been pardoned me. He begins and says A Psalm of David, (to be taken) according to the literal sense. For the Psalms were not so named (called) at the time of (the actual) event, but because they were sung in the Sanctuary. So, “When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul” (Ps. 52:2); and “When the Ziphites came” (Ps. 54:2); and “And they watched the house to kill him” (Ps. 59:1). Similarly, those which have reference to the Exile and the Destruction of Jerusalem, as, “A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance” (Ps. 79:1). So all those which were uttered with reference to David, on an historical occasion when David was in danger, but after he had been delivered from them all they became Psalms and praise and confession to God – Blessed be He! – while those which were uttered concerning the Exile became Psalms on the Return of the Exiles. Now it is possible that this Psalm is connected with the preceding because the Philistines had come against David to contest his right to the kingdom and fight with him; and so Absalom his son proposed to take the kingdom from his father and kill him, but [David] conquered all and was left in possession of the kingdom. Our rabbis of blessed memory who have interpreted the Second Psalm of Gog and Magog have said (Babli, Berakhoth 1o a), “Why is the passage about Absalom (Ps. iii) connected with the passage of Gog and Magog? For this reason. If a man should say to thee, Is it possible that a servant would rebel against his master? say to him, Is it possible a son would rebel against his father? But so it was – it really was so.””

“The preceding Psalm showed the effort of the adversaries; here, against their effort, he implores divine help. And this Psalm is composed in the manner of a prayer. In this Psalm we can lay down the foundation of the history, and afterward set forth the allegorical sense, and further the moral sense. The historical sense is clear from the title, which is, "when he fled from the face of Absalom his son." As is found in 2 Kings 15, Absalom the son of David, pursuing his father, sought to kill him; David yielded to him, going out from Jerusalem with his men with bare feet. He understood this to befall him on account of the sin of homicide and adultery, just as the prophet Nathan had foretold to him: 2 Kings 12: "The sword shall not depart from your house forever, because you have despised me." But while Absalom was pursuing David, the army of David turned against him; and Absalom, carried by the impetus of his mule, was brought under a branching oak, where, the branches entwining his neck, and there hanging with his head caught, he was slain by Joab, the commander of David's army. When he had died, David, restored to the kingdom, reigned in peace. Against this persecution, therefore, is this Psalm, "Lord, why..." and so forth. Yet by this was prefigured the persecution which Christ suffered from his son Judas, John 13: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you." And again Matthew 9: "Can the children of the bridegroom mourn..." and so forth. From this Judas Christ fled, when, at his departure, with the other apostles he withdrew to the Mount of Olives as the passion drew near. And just as David showed peace to his wicked son, when he charged the people going to war: "Spare the boy Absalom," and when he had been slain, said, "Who will grant me that I might die for you, my son Absalom," etc., so Christ did to Judas the betrayer, as is clear at the banquet and in the kiss; for which reason Absalom is fittingly called "the peace of the father." For "Abba" in Hebrew is interpreted in Latin as "father." "Salon," however, means "peace." And Judas himself betrayed Christ with the utterance of peace. And just as Absalom, so also Judas perished by hanging. When he had died, Christ reigned in peace, because he rose again in glory; and this can be referred to all the tribulations of the Church. It can also be read morally, against the tribulations which one suffers from enemies, whether temporal or spiritual. And therefore the affection of a man imploring is expressed. Concerning this, therefore, he does two things. First he sets forth beforehand the effort of the adversaries, or explains to God his torment. Second he confesses that divine help is present to him, "But you, O Lord," etc. Now he sets forth the persecution, as to the number of those doing harm: "they are multiplied," namely nations, peoples, kings, and princes. And not only these, who are outsiders, but even his son: Psalm 39: "They are multiplied over my head," etc. And as to the motive for doing harm, that it is without cause. Hence: "why": 1 Kings 10 and 26: "What have I done, or what evil is in my hand?" And as to the manifold torment, that they vex in many ways by afflicting. Hence: "they afflict." A tribulus is a pricking plant: Genesis 3: "It shall bring forth to you thorns and thistles." Those, therefore, afflict who prick. But they pricked Christ by buffeting, scourging, spitting upon, mocking him, and threatening him with death. And this is what he says: "many rise up," namely in deeds. For Absalom wished to kill David, as is clear in the counsel of Hushai, 2 Kings 17. Likewise also Judas handed over Christ to death. Again, they afflict with words, by detraction, or by putting forth falsehoods: hence "many say," etc., against that which is said in Psalm 36: "But the salvation of the just is from the Lord." For if the wicked considered this, they would not easily rise up against the just; but because they do not believe this, or because they despise the power of God or the justice of man, therefore they say by mouth and by deed, "There is no salvation for him," etc., that is, in him whom he worships and makes a God for himself. This the persecutors also said of Christ: for if they had hoped that he would rise again, neither would Judas have betrayed him, nor would they have killed him. And the sense is: he will not save him, nor is he the Son of God; hence they said, Matthew 27: "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross"; and further on, "If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." "But you." This is the second part. Where he shows that help has been prepared for him by God. And concerning this he does two things. First he shows that divine help is present to him specially. Second, that it is present generally to all, at the place, "Salvation is of the Lord." And concerning the first he sets forth three things. First, the divine help. Second, the experience of the help, at "with my voice." Third, the conception of security, at "I will not fear." He says therefore, "But you, O Lord"; as if to say: these rise up to make war, but you take me up to protect me. And this is better according to the letter of Jerome, which says: "my shield is round about me," as if defending me like a shield. Likewise, he not only preserves in life against those wishing to destroy him, but also in glory against those who defame; hence he says "my glory": 2 Corinthians 10: "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord"; Jeremiah 9: "In this let him glory who glories, to know and understand me." And not only do you stand by me against those who defame me, but you also make me prevail against those who oppress me; hence he adds: "lifting up my head": Psalm 26: "And now I have lifted up my head over my enemies." These things can be referred to Christ, who was conceived according to human nature in the incarnation, since "the Word was made flesh," John 1. Isaiah 42: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my elect, in whom my soul is well pleased": Psalm 64: "Blessed is he whom you have chosen and taken to yourself." Likewise he was glorious in the resurrection: John 17: "Glorify me, you, Father." Likewise exalted in the ascension: Philippians 2: "Wherefore God also," etc. Then when he says, "with my voice," he shows the experience of the help. And he sets forth three things: namely the prayer, at "with my voice"; second the being heard, at "and he heard me"; third he shows in what he was heard, where he says: "I have slept," etc. Concerning the first he touches on two things which ought to be in prayer: for it ought to be attentive. And therefore he says: "with my voice," namely of the heart, which sounds to God, by which Moses, silent in mouth, cried out to the Lord in his heart: Exodus 14: "The Lord said: Why do you cry to me," etc. By this voice also, crying out, Susanna was heard; Daniel 13: "who, weeping, looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord," etc. 1 Kings 1: "Moreover Hannah spoke in her heart," etc. 1 Corinthians 14: "I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind." And therefore he says "my." For a voice, when it does not proceed from the heart, is not "mine." Likewise it ought to be right; for then it is right, when it tends where it ought: and therefore he says, "to the Lord," where help is: 2 Chronicles 20: "When we do not know what we ought to do, this only remains to us, that we direct our eyes to you": Psalm 120: "My help is from the Lord." Likewise it ought to be devout: hence he added, "I have cried out"; for prayer is called "clamorous" on account of the greatness of feeling: Psalm 10: "Let my cry come to you," etc. Hebrews 5: "with a strong cry and tears," etc. Then the being heard is set down, when he says: "and he heard me from the mountain," that is, from the sublimity of the divine majesty, which is inaccessible: Psalm 23, "Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord," that is, to his omnipotence; or from the height of his justice, because it is incomprehensible: Psalm 35: "Your judgments are a great abyss"; or from the holy mountain, that is, from me who was a holy mountain, concerning which Isaiah 2: "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared," etc. There follows, "I have slept." Where he shows in what he was heard. "Because I have risen." Now there is a difference between one who is dead and one who is asleep: for the dead does not rise again: Job 14: "Do you think that a dead man shall live again?"; but one asleep does rise: Psalm 40: "Shall not he who sleeps rise again?" Thus, therefore, when the tribulation is so great that a man does not return to his former state, it is called death. But when one afflicted, or tempted, falls into sin and rises again, it is called sleeping. Thus David, as it were, slept, because he was freed from his son and from sin. Now he is said to "sleep" as it were a little; but to be "sunk in slumber" as it were much: hence another text says, "I took sleep," that is, I slept deeply. Thus Christ is said to have slept, because he offered himself willingly to the passion; and because he was sunk in slumber, death followed. Hence from sleeping he passed over into deep sleep. This deep sleep is signified in the deep sleep of Adam. Genesis 2: "The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam," etc., because from the side of Christ, dead on the cross, the Church was formed. He says therefore, "and I have risen up," namely by his own power: John 10: "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again." And this is because "the Lord has upheld me." Another text has, "sustained." For he had the power of the divinity, that he should rise. Psalm 36: "When the just man falls, he shall not be bruised, because the Lord puts his hand under him." Then when he says, "I will not fear," the confidence of security is set down: as if to say, since I have thus been heard, I will not fear, etc. Below, Psalm 26: "If armies should stand together against me," etc. In which it is signified that the Church of Christ cannot be entirely brought down. To Christ also, after the resurrection, the multitude of the people, which stood about him crucified, could do no harm at all: for "Christ, rising from the dead, dies now no more," Romans 6. And whence he has this confidence, he shows when he says, "Arise," namely, manifest your power by making me rise from death; and this is, "save me," etc. "For you have struck," etc. Above he had said two things: that they afflict him: "Lord, why are they multiplied who afflict me"; and against these he says: "for you have struck"; likewise they defamed him: "there is no salvation for him," etc.; and against these, "the teeth of sinners," that is, you have brought their cursing words to nothing; Job 19: "I was breaking the jaws of the wicked," etc. The text of Jerome has, "you have struck the jaws and the teeth"; as if to say: you have struck so strongly that the teeth were broken. Absalom was the jaw, but the teeth those adhering to him. Hence, Absalom being destroyed, the others were broken. Finally, when he says, "of the Lord," he shows that divine help belongs to the whole people. And first as to preservation from evil; and therefore he says, "salvation is of the Lord." And therefore prayer ought to be directed to God. Second, as to the multiplication of goods; and therefore he says: "upon your people your blessing," that is, upon the people who hope in you and from you, and not in another, is your blessing. The blessing of the Lord always implies the multiplication of goods: Proverbs 10: "The blessing of the Lord makes rich." This Psalm can, however, be read otherwise according to the Gloss, namely that the whole Christ speaks this, that is, the Church and its head, set amid the storms of persecutions. Or this Psalm can be read morally in the person of each and every believer, who is assailed by vices and desires. And according to this, by David is understood any believer whatsoever, by Absalom the vices and carnal concupiscences, as is clear in the Gloss.”

“The title of this psalm and many others is as a key hung ready at the door, to open it, and let us into the entertainments of it; when we know upon what occasion a psalm was penned we know the better how to expound it. This was composed, or at least the substance of it was meditated and digested in David's thought, and offered up to God, when he fled from Absalom his son, who formed a conspiracy against him, to take away, not his crown only, but his life; we have the story, 2 Sa. 15, etc. 1. David was now in great grief; when, in his flight, he went up the Mount of Olives, he wept greatly, with his head covered, and marching bare-foot; yet then he composed this comfortable psalm. He wept and prayed, wept and sung, wept and believed; this was sowing in tears. Is any afflicted? Let him pray; nay, let him sing psalms, let him sing this psalm. Is any afflicted with undutiful disobedient children? David was; and yet that did not hinder his joy in God, nor put him out of tune for holy songs. 2. He was now in great danger; the plot against him was laid deep, the party that sought his ruin was very formidable, and his own son at the head of them, so that his affairs seemed to be at the last extremity; yet then he kept hold of his interest in God and improved that. Perils and frights should drive us to God, not drive us from him. 3. He had now a great deal of provocation given him by those from whom he had reason to expect better things, from his son, whom he had been indulgent of, from his subjects, whom he had been so great a blessing to; this he could not but resent, and it was enough to break in upon any man's temper; yet he was so far from any indecent expressions of passion and indignation that he had calmness enough for those acts of devotion which require the greatest fixedness and freedom of thought. The sedateness of his mind was evinced by the Spirit's coming upon him; for the Spirit chooses to move upon the still waters. Let no unkindness, no, not of a child or a friend, ever be laid so much to heart as to disfit us for communion with God. 4. He was now suffering for his sin in the matter of Uriah; this was the evil which, for that sin, God threatened to raise up against him out of his own house (Sa2 12:11), which, no doubt, he observed, and took occasion thence to renew his repentance for it. Yet he did not therefore cast away his confidence in the divine power and goodness, nor despair of succour. Even our sorrow for sin must not hinder either our joy in God or our hope in God. 5. He seemed cowardly in fleeing from Absalom, and quitting his royal city, before he had had one struggle for it; and yet, by this psalm, it appears he was full of true courage arising from his faith in God. True Christian fortitude consists more in a gracious security and serenity of mind, in patiently bearing and patiently waiting, than in daring enterprises with sword in hand. In these three verses he applies to God. Whither else should we go but to him when any thing grieves us or frightens us? David was now at a distance from his own closet, and from the courts of God's house, where he used to pray; and yet he could find a way open heaven-ward. Wherever we are we may have access to God, and may draw nigh to him whithersoever we are driven. David, in his flight, attends his God, I. With a representation of his distress, Psa 3:1, Psa 3:2. He looks round, and as it were takes a view of his enemies' camp, or receives information of their designs against him, which he brings to God, not to his own council-board. Two things he complains of, concerning his enemies: - 1. That they were very many: Lord, how are they increased! beyond what they were at first, and beyond whatever he thought they would have been. Absalom's faction, like a snow-ball, strangely gathered in its motion. He speaks of it as one amazed, and well he might, that a people he had so many ways obliged should almost generally revolt from him, rebel against him, and choose for their head such a foolish and giddy young man as Absalom was. How slippery and deceitful are the many! And how little fidelity and constancy are to be found among men! David had had the hearts of his subjects as much as ever any king had, and yet now, of a sudden, he had lost them. As people must not trust too much to princes (Psa 146:3), so princes must not build too much upon their interest in the people. Christ, the Son of David, had many enemies. When a great multitude came to seize him, when the crowd cried, Crucify him, Crucify him, how were those then increased that troubled him! Even good people must not think it strange if the stream be against them and the powers that threaten them grow more and more formidable. 2. That they were very malicious. They rose up against him; they aimed to trouble him; but that was not all: they said of his soul, There is no help for him in God. That is, (1.) They put a spiteful and invidious construction upon his troubles, as Job's friends did upon him, concluding that, because his servants and subjects forsook him thus and did not help him, God had deserted him and abandoned his cause, and he was therefore to be looked on, or rather to be looked off, as a hypocrite and a wicked man. (2.) They blasphemously reflected upon God as unable to relieve him: "His danger is so great that God himself cannot help him." It is strange that so great unbelief should be found in any, especially in many, in Israel, as to think any party of men too strong for Omnipotence to deal with. (3.) They endeavoured to shake his confidence in God and drive him to despair of relief from him: "They have said it to my soul;" so it may be read; compare Psa 11:1; Psa 42:10. This grieved him worst of all, that they had so bad an opinion of him as to think it possible to take him off from that foundation. The mere temptation was a buffeting to him, a thorn in his flesh, nay, a sword in his bones. Note, A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of help in God; you cannot vex him with any thing so much as if you offer to persuade him that there is no help for him in God. David comes to God, and tells him what his enemies said of him, as Hezekiah spread Rabshakeh's blasphemous letter before the Lord. "They say, There is no help for me in thee; but, Lord, if it be so, I am undone. They say to my soul, There is no salvation" (for so the word is) "for him in God; but, Lord, do thou say unto my soul, I am thy salvation (Psa 35:3) and that shall satisfy me, and in due time silence them." To this complaint he adds Selah, which occurs about seventy times in the book of Psalms. Some refer it to the music with which, in David's time, the psalms were sung; others to the sense, and that it is a note commanding a solemn pause. Selah - Mark that, or, "Stop there, and consider a little." As here, they say, There is no help for him in God, Selah. "Take time for such a thought as this. Get thee behind me, Satan. The Lord rebuke thee! Away with such a vile suggestion!" II. With a profession of his dependence upon God, Psa 3:3. An active believer, the more he is beaten off from God, either by the rebukes of Providence or the reproaches of enemies, the faster hold he will take of him and the closer will he cleave to him; so David here, when his enemies said, There is no help for him in God, cries out with so much the more assurance, "But thou, O Lord! art a shield for me; let them say what they will, I am sure thou wilt never desert me, and I am resolved I will never distrust thee." See what God is to his people, what he will be, what they have found him, what David found in him. 1. Safety: "Thou art a shield for me, a shield about me" (so some), "to secure me on all sides, since my enemies surrounded me." Not only my shield (Gen 15:1), which denotes an interest in the divine protection, but a shield for me, which denotes the present benefit and advantage of that protection. 2. Honour: Thou art my glory. Those whom God owns for his are not safe and easy, but really look great, and have true honour put upon them, far above that which the great ones of the earth are proud of. David was now in disgrace; the crown had fallen from his head; but he will not think the worse of himself while he has God for his glory, Isa 60:19. "Thou art my glory; thy glory I reckon mine" (so some); "this is what I aim at, and am ambitious of, whatever my lot is, and whatever becomes of my honour - that I may be to my God for a name and a praise." 3. Joy and deliverance: "Thou art the lifter up of my head; thou wilt lift up my head out of my troubles, and restore me to my dignity again, in due time; or, at least, thou wilt lift up my head under my troubles, so that I shall not droop nor be discouraged, nor shall my spirits fail." If, in the worst of times, God's people can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that all shall work for good to them, they will own it is God that is the lifter up of their head, that gives them both cause to rejoice and hearts to rejoice. In singing this, and praying it over, we should possess ourselves with an apprehension of the danger we are in from the multitude and malice of our spiritual enemies, who seek the ruin of our souls by driving us from our God, and we should concern ourselves in the distresses and dangers of the church of God, which is every where spoken again, every where fought against; but, in reference to both, we should encourage ourselves in our God, who owns and protects and will in due time crown his own interest both in the world and in the hearts of his people.”

“Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?.... David's enemies increased in the conspiracy against him, Sa2 15:12; the hearts of the men of Israel were after Absalom, and against him. Christ's enemies increased when Judas with a multitude came to take him; when the body of the common people cried out, Crucify him; when the assembly of the wicked enclosed him, and pierced his hands and his feet. And the enemies of God's people are many; the men of this world are against them; legions of devils oppose them; and they have swarms of sins in their own hearts; and all these give trouble. David's enemies troubled him; he wept as he went up the hill, to think that his own son should seek to destroy him; that his subjects, whom he had ruled so long with clemency, and had hazarded his person in war for their defence, and to protect them in their civil and religious rights, should rebel against him. Christ's enemies troubled him, when they bound and led him away as a malefactor; when they spit upon him, smote and buffeted him; when they scourged and crucified him, and mocked at him. The enemies of the saints are troublers of them; in the world, and from the men of it, they have tribulation; Satan's temptations give them much uneasiness and distress; and their indwelling sins cause them to cry out, "Oh wretched men that we are!" This address is made to the Lord, as the Lord God omniscient, who knew the case to be as it was, and who had a concern in it not being without his will, but according to it, he having foretold it, and as he who only could help out of it: and the psalmist delivers it in a complaining way, and in an expostulatory manner; reasoning the case why it should be so, what should be the reason of it, for what end and purpose it was; and as wondering at it, suggesting his own innocence, and how undeserving he was to be treated in such a way; many are they that rise up against me; many in quantity, and great in quality, great in the law, in wisdom, in riches, and in stature, as Jarchi interprets it; such as Ahithophel and others, who rose up against David in an hostile manner, to dispossess him of his kingdom, and to destroy his life. And many were they that rose up against Christ; the multitude came against him as a thief, with clubs and staves: the men of this world rise up against the saints with their tongues, and sometimes with open force and violence; Satan, like a roaring lion, seeks to devour them, and their own fleshly lusts war against them.”

“(Heb.: 3:2-3) The first strophe contains the lament concerning the existing distress. From its combination with the exclamative מה, רבּוּ is accented on the ultima (and also in Psa 104:24); the accentuation of the perf. of verbs עע very frequently (even without the Waw consec.) follows the example of the strong verb, Ges. ֗67 rem. 12. A declaration then takes the place of the summons and the רבּים implied in the predicate רבּוּ now becomes the subject of participial predicates, which more minutely describe the continuing condition of affairs. The ל of לנפשׁי signifies "in the direction of," followed by an address in Psa 11:1 (= "to"), or, as here and frequently (e.g., Gen 21:7) followed by narration (= "of," concerning). לנפשׁי instead of לי implies that the words of the adversaries pronounce a judgment upon his inmost life, or upon his personal relationship to God. ישׁוּעתה is an intensive form for ישׁוּעה, whether it be with a double feminine termination (Ges., Ew., Olsh.), or, with an original (accusative) ah of the direction: we regard this latter view, with Hupfeld, as more in accordance with the usage and analogy of the language (comp. Ps 44:27 with Psa 80:3, and לילה prop. νύκτα, then as common Greek ἡ νύκτα νύχθα). God is the ground of help; to have no more help in Him is equivalent to being rooted out of favour with God. Open enemies as well as disconcerted friends look upon him as one henceforth cast away. David had plunged himself into the deepest abyss of wretchedness by his adultery with Bathsheba, at the beginning of the very year in which, by the renewal of the Syro-Ammonitish war, he had reached the pinnacle of worldly power. The rebellion of Absolom belonged to the series of dire calamities which began to come upon him from that time. Plausible reasons were not wanting for such words as these which give up his cause as lost.”