Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 3. This is the first psalm with a title. The title names David as the author and ties the psalm to the occasion of Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15-16), although this need not mean that David actually composed it then. As explained in the Introduction: Authorship, Occasion, and Date, David as author is the representative of God's people. Readers must discern whether the emphasis is on his role as the ruler of God's people, in which case the congregation joins in offering his prayer, or else on David as the ideal member of the people of God, with the song being well-adapted for the use of Israelites in their various kinds of distress. The second option seems more likely, and thus the psalm can be considered an individual lament. The purpose, then, of the information in the title is to add concreteness: here is how David models genuine faith in his dire straits, and readers can learn to do the same in theirs.

3:1-2 What He Sees. The opening of the psalm lays out the desperate situation, with its repetition of many. The description here ties in well with 2 Sam. 15:12-13 ("many") and 16:8 ("no salvation for him").