BACKGROUND/COMMENTARY (david guzik @ blueletterbible.org): According to David Guzik, "The events are recorded in 2 Samuel 15-18, but the heart is recorded in this Psalm." At the writing of this Psalm David was in a great deal of trouble. His own son led what seemed to be a successful rebellion against him. Many of his previous friends and associates forsook him and joined the ranks of those who troubled him (2 Samuel 15:13). David's situation was so bad that man felt he was beyond God's help. Those who said this probably didn't feel that God was unable to help David; they probably felt that God was unwilling to help him. They looked at David's past sin and figured, "This is all what he deserves from God. There is no help for him in God." "If all the trials which come from heaven, all the temptations which ascend from hell, and all the crosses which arise from the earth, could be mixed and pressed together, they would not make a trial so terrible as that which is contained in this verse. It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God." (Spurgeon)
Starting in v. 3, we see, however, what God did for David: Under attack from a cunning and ruthless enemy, David needed a shield. He knew that God was his shield. This wasn't a prayer asking God to fulfill this; this is a strong declaration of fact: You, O LORD, are a shield for me. God was more than David's protection. He also was the one who put David on higher ground, lifting his head and showing him glory.
Verses 5 & 6 show us the blessings to and from God: "I lay down and slept; I awoke:" David used both of these as evidence of God's blessing. Sleep was a blessing, because David was under such intense pressure from the circumstances of Absalom's rebellion that sleep might be impossible, but he slept. Waking was another blessing because many wondered if David would live to see a new day. God sustains us in our sleep, but we take it for granted. But think of it: you are asleep, unconscious, dead to the world - yet you breathe, your heart pumps, your organs operate. The same God who sustains us in our sleep will sustain us in our difficulties. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people: With God sustaining him, David could stand against any foe. Before it was written, God knew the truth of Romans 8:31: If God is for us, who can be against us?
PERSONAL APPLICATION: In this Psalm, David was in a very dire -- life and death -- situation. Things looked hopeless, but, David continued to trust in God. He knew that God was still on His throne and that He has a good reason for what David is going through. David was "a man after God's own heart" and his life is an example to us. Despite David's personal failures, there was ONE THING that defined him--David knew that God loved him and cared for him. He knew God was his sun and shield. He knew that God would fight for him. That's why David was able to sleep at night: He did not fear what man would do to him because he had GOD on his side. This is a lesson we can all learn from the life of David, a man who loved God above all else!!
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