“A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me” (Psa 3:0-1).
The relationship between Psalm 3 and Psalms 1-2 is critically important for identifying King David as a Messianic figure and for understanding the Messianic hope throughout the Psalter. Although Psalms 1-2 promise the establishment of the Messianic kingdom (Psa 1:3, 6; 2:4-9), they also describe a terrible rebellion against the LORD’s Messiah (Psa 1:6; 2:1-3), which anticipates suffering on the Messiah’s part. By placing Psalm 3 (a prophetically inspired song of David) as the first psalm in Book 1 (Psalms 3-41), directly after Psalms 1-2, David’s suffering (Psa 3:1-2) and eventual triumph over the wicked (Psa 3:5-8) become Messianically paradigmatic. When King David cries out, “O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me” (Psa 3:1), we hear prophetic echoes of the rebellion against the LORD’s Messiah (Psa 2:1-3).
“David’s suffering (Psa 3:1-2) and eventual triumph over the wicked (Psa 3:5-8) become Messianically paradigmatic.”
But this rebellion against King David, and by extension the Messiah, is deeper than we might first imagine. In both the first and last psalms of Book 1 (Psalms 3 and 41), David is betrayed by someone from within his inner circle. In Psalm 3, David is betrayed by his son Absalom, whose name in Hebrew means “father of shalom.” In Psalm 41, David is betrayed by a “man of shalom” who lifts his heel against him (Psa 41:9), most likely an allusion to Ahitophel, who partnered with Absalom to overthrow King David (2 Sam 15:12).
When Yeshua declares that one from among the inner circle of His disciples will betray Him, it is clear that He has been reading David’s story through the prophetic Messianic lens provided by the book of Psalms. By reading the Psalms this way, Yeshua knows that His path to victory must first lead Him through the valley of rejection and suffering.
