LORD, Why Have They Who Trouble Me Increased?

[Mary Naeem]

LORD, Why Have They Who Trouble Me Increased?

LORD, Why Have They Who Trouble Me Increased? ..Weekly Wednesday Sermon H.H. Pope Tawadros II
November 7, 2018 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, amen. May His grace and mercy rest upon us, from now and unto eternity, amen.
I would like to read Psalm 3, one of the Psalms of the Morning Prayer from the Agpeya Prayer Book of the Hours:
“A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.
3 LORD, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the LORD with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Arise, O LORD;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs to the LORD.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah”
“Selah” is a musical pause, a pause for contemplation, or an indication of a musical shift, since the Psalms were said to music.
The grace of God the Father be with us all, amen. I wanted to contemplate Psalm 3 with you today. The Book of Psalms is one of the greatest Books in the Holy Bible, being that the Psalms our part of our daily Agpeya prayers as well as part of every Liturgy, every Church Reading, and every Church service. The Book of Psalms expresses the human journey and how just as you are here today, there was someone very much like you but in Old Testament times, and his name was David. You feel sadness, he felt sadness, you rejoice, he used to rejoice, you go through suffering, he also went through suffering; it is the same human emotions, they have not changed.
And that is why my beloveds, when we take refuge in the Psalms, we see ourselves in them: our emotions, our innermost feelings, the circumstances that surround us and the things we go through, whether we are young or old, we find it all in this Book.
And whether sufferings, joys, gladness or despair, we find all these states in this Book, reflecting the various stages of the human journey that each person goes through. This Book is a very important Book for us.
And I want you to keep in mind that of the 150 Psalms, the Prophet David wrote approximately half of them, or more accurately, he authored approximately 73 of the Psalms. The remaining Psalms are credited to others, like Asaph, the Prophet Moses, and others, but the majority of them are credited to David.
David’s personality is a rich one, and so you will be able to see yourself in many of the stages he went through. The periods of victory in your life – you can read about the victory periods in David’s life and see how he expressed them. Periods of brokenness, periods of repentance, periods of sinning, you will find that David also went through all these periods. You will find that David had a complete collection and range of human emotions.
Today’s Psalm, Psalm 3, reflects one of the scenes from the life of David, the beloved psalmist of Israel. David was a king, and to be a king during Old Testament times was a great thing, but unfortunately, David was harmed by many, but the greatest harm he endured came at the hands of his own son, Absalom.
And when Absalom sought the counsel of Achitophel and took his wicked advice to rebel against his own father, David had nowhere to go but to prayer. But these were not prayers of despair or of complaining; they were prayers of trust, trust that the Hand of God is at work. And it is here that we find the greatness of the David the Prophet, in his response to Absalom; his own son’s rebellion against him.
And it is for this reason that this Psalm is included in the Morning Prayer and Liturgies, because it may be that during your day you will come across people who will rebel against you, trouble you, or grieve you. For example, someone may speak negatively about you, someone may falsely accuse you, someone may gossip about you, and so on.
But before I begin contemplating the eight short verses of this wonderful Psalm, keep in mind that whenever you see the number eight, you are to remember heaven, because eight is the number that represents heaven and eternity. As you may already know, seven is the number of completion, six is the number of lack, and we call the number eight “completion of completeness,” which is none else but heaven.
And let us together read the scene that led David to pray this Psalm. And for those of you who like to study the Bible, this is from the Book of 2 Samuel Chapters 15 to 17 – a long section. I will only read a very small portion of it, beginning in Chapter 15 verse 1:
“After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, ‘What city are you from?’ And he would say, ‘Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.’ 3 Then Absalom would say to him, ‘Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.’” Do you see where it begins? This is his father, his very own father.
One of the duties of a king during that time was that he was also a judge, and so Absalom stood to intercept every person who was on their way to the king with a complaint. And he would ask each person, “Where are you coming from? What is your issue or concern? Well don’t bother, this king is not even available to listen to you.” He said this about his father, his very own father; he was disfiguring his father’s reputation.
“4 Moreover Absalom would say, ‘Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.’” As if he were saying, “Oh, if someone would only make me king, then I would hear every person’s request.” He was showing off, he was self-aggrandizing. Absalom, did you forget yourself? Did you forget your place? Did you forget who it is you are biting against?
He spoke as if there was no king in the land, and as though the king that now is, his own father, did not deal justly with people. How great is your sin, oh Absalom!
“5 And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him.” Pretentions, appearances, deception. “6 In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” He stole.
He turned the hearts of the men of Israel away from the King of Israel who was the true judge, and so he stole them. How awful is your sin Absalom! And it was not just one sin, because if we were to analyze and count the sins of Absalom we would find them to be a complex combination of sins.
“7 Now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, ‘Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the LORD. 8 For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, “If the LORD indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.”’ And here he is, taking on a different appearance in the presence of his father. Do you know how there are people who appear to love you but then stab you in the back? This is not something new; this is a pattern since the days of David, which has remained across the centuries until today, tomorrow, and will continue through all ages.
And we see here the king’s beautiful and wholesome intention when it says, “9And the king said to him, ‘Go in peace.’ So he arose and went to Hebron.” You can read the rest of the story on your own when you go home, because it is a long story, and let us use the rest of our time together to contemplate Psalm 3.
Absalom stands outside showing off, being arrogant and self-aggrandizing, insulting and marring the reputation of his father the king, gathering people to himself and rebelling. Rebelling against who? Against who? Against your own father? Oh yes.
Have you forgotten yourself Absalom? Yes, because that’s what sin does, it blinds a person. And yet the Prophet David, whose intention was pure, said to Absalom, “Go in peace.” And as you may know, Absalom kept falling in one sin after another until the end of his life, which was a very wicked ending.
As he pretended to have replaced his father the king, Absalom proudly rode around on his horse, with his beautiful long hair. And this beautiful long hair of his got caught around a tree so that he ended up getting hung on a tree by his own hair. This is the end of evil ways, or do you think that God is asleep, or silent?
And the evil continues to grow and to grow and to grow, exactly as Jesus said in the parable of wheat and the tares, “Let them grow together” (cf. Mt 13:30) And we may say, “But Lord, the evil is still very small here, let me just get rid of it,” but He says, “Let them grow together.”
And so listen to what David said as he suffered and complained to God; as he communicated his pains to Christ he said:
“LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God.’” There were many who troubled him and the reason behind it was his son, he had enemies and the reason behind them was his son, he had dissensions with others and the reason was his son. He had many who opposed and rebelled against him and the reason was his own son.
David says that many “rise up” against him, as if Absalom was trying to lead a revolution against his father. Okay Absalom, let’s see what the end of all this will be. Do we even remember you today Absalom? Because in every Liturgy we remember David the Prophet – in every single Liturgy! And we pray using the Agpeya, in every prayer hour we have the Psalms and prayers of David, which are all taken from the Book of Psalms in the first place! But whoever remembers Absalom? Evil is forgotten.
He prays and says, “2 Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God.” There is no one to save him, no one to rescue him. And in situations such as these, people will usually and generally use words that discourage a person, so it is as if the people here were saying to David, “Oh David, forget about it, you have become of no use to us. And where is this God of yours whom you praise day and night? How is He going to help you now?”
They were breaking his oars and giving him doses of hopelessness, doses of despair, so to speak. People do that sometimes, they give it each other doses of despair, and this despair greatly increases a person’s suffering.
We just simply read the lines of this Psalm, but I imagine that David kept praying these few lines all day long, and with tears.
I want you to know something very important, that the enemy of good, evil, only has two weapons: the weapon of despair and the weapon of arousing doubt. Either he makes you despair over your life, your circumstances, or despair about the people around you, or he makes you doubt everything.
And may God protect you from this disease of doubt because it can lead to psychological illness, which doctors do have many remedies for. Nevertheless, the enemy of good may make you doubt God’s love for you or the love of others for you, or he may lead you to doubt their abilities, their deeds, their words, their services.
And so the two feet the enemy of good stands on are called despair and doubt, and so wherever he walks about he causes people to fall into either of these two states. If he makes you fall into despair, you feel that things are hopeless, and if he makes you fall into doubt, then you get lost in your life.
So these are the first two verses of this Psalm, which talk about his severe suffering. I will read them again: “LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.” Let’s count how many they are; they’re innumerable. “2 Many are they who say of me” – this one from here and this one from there “‘There is no help for him in God.’”
In the Arabic Agpeya translation of this Psalm it says, “LORD, how they have increased who cause me sadness” – sadness. And that is why when bid our beloveds farewell, as we recently bid farewell to our martyrs who fell several days ago, we always say, “In the hope of the resurrection,” which means that we bid them farewell, but not without hope; we do not lose hope.
The second part of Psalm 3 speaks of the peace David had in his heart. Many caused him sadness, many troubled him, many rose up against him, and many discouraged him – this was his apparent reality, but within himself he possessed peace. Listen to what he says:
“3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah” These two verses describe to us the peace David had within his heart. Outside the world is in chaos? Let it be in chaos, but how is it within you David? He would say, “Oh no, things are very different within me.
When he calls God his shield, this is a very positive armor, in literary terms it is known as “the armor of the courageous warrior.” He is unbreakable; his spirit is not easily broken when he hears a few discouraging words from this one or that one, no. This is the form or character of a courageous warrior, of David the Prophet.
And he goes on, as if to say, “Although I had fear, anxiety, worries, troubles, and all these other things, but my faith in my God is greater than all that.” He called God his shield, and shields were usually made of either wood or metal. They would then cover the shield with leather and paint the leather with a shiny oil, so that the shield would shine, which would provide additional protection as one entered into war. So this is an image of being protected from danger.
“3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.” That’s great David; he says that God is his glory and the lifter of his head. It’s true, there are troubles and people going and coming, destroying and discouraging, planting despair, doubt, and fear, so will this cause you to bury your head in the dust David? He says, “No, in the midst of all this, You are my glory and the One who lifts my head.”
Reminds me of a nice proverb that says, “If you are with God, then you are with the Majority.” Pay attention to this because so often we hear, “Everyone is saying this,” or “Everyone is saying that,” but know that if you are with God, then you are with the Majority.
“4 I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah” – wow, so God is always listening, as if God is sitting there with nothing else to do but to care for David? Oh yes, that’s exactly how it is. The more difficult things get, the more God hears the cries of the heart.
And when he says “I cried” here, he is not talking about crying with his voice but about crying from his depths, as we pray in the Agpeya Prayer Before Sleep, “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord” (Ps 130:1).
And when he says, “The One who lifts up my head,” this means that he is looking to God to restore his dignity, his honor, his esteem. Because my self-worth is from You, O Lord and so when someone violates it, You are responsible to restore it. For You are “My glory and the One who lifts up my head;” You are the one who gives me victory.
And when he says, “He heard me from His holy hill,” the holy hill is a high place that has a special place for prayer, like when we say, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?” (Ps 121:1). The word ‘hills’ or ‘mountains’ always refers to the saints, because they are like mountains – in the height of their spiritual stature.
“4 I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me” – this means that just as soon as he cries out when he is trouble, God answers him and says, “Please go ahead, speak, I’m listening to you and I will answer you. What you want, I will do for you, only you just stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD (Exo 14:13),” and out of the depths, God answers.
So in the first two verses he spoke of his suffering, and in the second two verses he makes clear to us the peace he has within himself. The last four verses, which is the second half of this Psalm is about true prayer to God, listen to this:
“5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.” What? How are you going to sleep David? You are in a state of anxiety and fear and terror and doubt and despair, how will you ever get sleep? Because when we are just a little scared, we can’t fall asleep, so how are you going to sleep, David?
But he says, “Oh no, I am safe in the hands of God. I lay down and slept, and the entire time I was asleep I was completely and utterly rested, and then I awoke in the peace of God, for the LORD sustained me.” This, my brethren, is what it means to trust in the care of God. At night he sleeps in peace, knowing that God sustains and supports him. And so no matter how distressful his situation may be, because he is in God’s caring hands, he can sleep.
And the word “slept” here indicates the peak of trusting in God, and so no matter what is going on in the world outside, I’m going to sleep. Another thing about this verse – “5 I lay down and slept; I awoke” – is that it speaks of the resurrection, and the events of resurrection.
“6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.” What else do I need? I have this God who sustains me and supports me. And here it says ten thousands of people – yes, tens of thousands of people may speak, say things, and cause fear. People have gathered around him, surrounded him, they want to choke him, but he was confident and trusting.
Because the smart thing to do in the midst of trouble is to make sure that your eyes see nothing but Christ. Your eye can see one of two things: either it will see the trouble and it will fear, or it will see God and this will fill you with faith and confidence. So what will your eye see?
If your eye looks down toward the earth, to the dust, there will be fear and trouble, but if your eye looks toward heaven, you will have confidence and faith and hope.
He says, “7 Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God!” And this doesn’t mean that God was sleeping or doing nothing, but it means, “Reveal Your strength to them. God does amazing things. We see them and we hear stories of things that happened in the depths of suffering, that bring glory to the Name of God.
“7 Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone.” The mouth is used to do two things: to speak and to eat. And because enemies are often devouring beasts and they speak evil words, it is appropriate to ask God to strike them on their mouths.
Especially today, we live in age of words – media, gossip, news, stories, people make up so many stories. Then they wait to see how many people are “following” them on social media, how many “shares” they got, how many “likes” they received. And then this person feels like he is an International superstar, that everybody knows him and listens to his words.
This person then begins to feel very proud within himself but in reality, he offers no threat at all, as it says in Psalm 1, “The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away” (Ps 1:4). Just imagine a very tiny ash and how it is so easily blown by the wind; nobody pays it any attention at all.
“7 Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.” Broken the teeth! Just imagine a lion without teeth, how threatening would that be? There are those who pretend to be lions, but they have no teeth.
“You have broken the teeth of the ungodly” – the ungodly are like devouring beasts. And by breaking their teeth, God has stripped the enemy of his power and of his ability to harm. He is merely an external appearance of a threat. And the word “broken” here really means ‘crushed,’ so just imagine that God crushed their teeth to a powder! Teeth – these teeth that are intended to last a person their entire lifetime, eating with them and breaking things apart with them, God turns them into a powder! Wow.
And so this means that God takes away from the ungodly any strength or power; he will even lose the ability to speak. And I want to tell you something else here: courage alone is not enough, the only thing that is enough is God’s help.
David doesn’t say of himself that he is courageous or give credit to his courage, no; he acknowledges that God’s help is needed.
And in the last verse he says, “8 Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah.” David wants to say that salvation is not a thing; salvation is a person. I want to repeat that: salvation is not a thing; salvation is a person. Salvation is the Person of God and salvation belongs to Him, victory belongs to Him.
And not only is God the Source of salvation, but David goes on to say to God, “Your blessing is upon Your people.” This means to say that God is the owner and Source of blessings. And so after David speaks to God about his enemies, striking their mouths and crushing their teeth, he is now saying, “No, no, no, put all that aside because I have another responsibility: my people. And these people are not just my people Lord, they are Your people.”
And so “Your blessing is upon Your people,” because it is only You Lord who is able to bless the people. These are the same people whom Absalom stood gossiped to about David, they are the same people of whom Absalom said that he had “tens of thousands of followers,” but here we see David’s trust in God leading him to request blessing for all the people. He asks for God’s blessing for the people because he is a person in a position of responsibility.
This is a short Psalm but this Psalm reflects and expresses the journey of a person’s life during times of trouble and when faced with hardships. This Psalm was born out of the time of Absalom’s rebellion, and it can apply to any experience of being rebelled against that we may go through.
“LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah”
These are the beautiful feelings David had. And so with us, we are not to at all shaken by the events happening around us today, because these are the same kinds of things that happened during the days of David and the same things which will continue to happen in future generations.
Humans are humans, people haven’t changed. And to evil, it makes no difference that we are now in an age of technology or in “modern” times; people are people. But the one who perceives God is never shaken, no matter what, even if there are tens of thousands of people standing against and around him, because he has complete confidence that everything is in the hand of God.
When you go home, read Psalm 3 and read 2 Samuel Chapters 15-17, so that you may experience this story and scene in its entirety, and so that you can feel the intensity by which David prayed these words to God.
Glory be to God forever and ever, amen