Lord

The Lord is my Shield

This is a psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. It is obvious, on the face of it, that the work is a collection. A number of separate poems, the production of different persons, and belonging to perhaps by several distinct editors and have been united into a volume, which has been accepted by the Jewish and later by the Christian church as one of the books of the holy scripture . The poems seem originally to have been, for the most part quite separate and distinct; each is a whole in itself; and most of them appear to have been composed for a special object, and on a special occasion. The Psalter, as the Book of Psalms is often called, is actually a collection of different kinds of poetry spanning many centuries of history (from c. 1100 BC to 400 BC ) and reaching essentially its present form around 300 BC . Occasionally, but very seldom, one psalm seems linked to many other psalms. The purpose of the psalms was well expressed by David when he instituted hymns in Israel. He appointed the Levites "to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel"(1 Corinthians 16:4). The book of Psalms is a record of petitions, thanksgiving, and praise to God by His people. As such it has brought comfort, encouragement, and blessing to God's people throughout the ages. Every human emotion is covered in these hymns of aspirations to God. The historical background to the psalm is described in 2 Samuel 15-17. Though David petitioned in verse 7, Arise, O Lord; save me, it is clear from 2 Samuel 15:32-37 that David shrewdly sent his friend Hushai back to Jerusalem to deceive Absalom. David used other means but trusted only in God. We can describe it first as based in history, second in an allegorical sense, and lastly in a moral sense . The historical sense is clear from its title which is when he was fleeing from the face of his son Absalon, as is treated of at 2 Kings 15 - David's son, Absalon, persecuting his father, desired to kill him. David yielded to him, leaving Jerusalem on foot with his household. There are two words that tend to draw the readers attention in this passage of scripture. Those two words are shield and enemy. The Hebrew transliteration of the word shield is Ganan . Which means to defend, to cover, and surround. There's a significance to the word shield in this passage of scripture. David said in verse 3 of Psalm 3 that the Lord was his shield. Then In verse 6 of Psalm 3, David said he would not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about (KJV). He knew that the Lord was his shield no matter how many of his enemies were around him. Apparently in this psalm David had a numerous amount of enemies, including his own son Absalom. The Hebrew transliteration of the word enemy is Ayab . The definition of the word enemy is to be hostile to, to be an enemy to. If it had not been for David's enemies he wouldn't have been was he was.

The Original readers of were the Israelites. The psalms were used by the Israelites in the context of worship to provide a structure in which they could bring their praises, thanks, hurts and grief honestly and openly before God . For the historical occasion mentioned, compare 2 Samuel 15:1-17:29 to Psalm 3:1-8. David, in the midst of great distress, with confidence, implores God's aid, and, anticipating relief, offers praise. That's the main point of Psalm 3, offering praise to God. It teaches 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 and the closer will he cleave to him. A child of

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