朋友向我傾訴，他最近睡不好，因家庭問題而徹夜難眠。恰好那天我正準備在成人主日學，與大家一起探討詩篇第3篇。

大衛王寫下詩篇第3篇時，也正面臨一個會讓人失眠的家庭問題。他的兒子押沙龍暗中削弱大衛王對以色列的統治，企圖推翻大衛，奪取王位。

大衛陷入絕望。當有人告訴大衛：「以色列人的心都歸向押沙龍了！」（撒母耳記下15章13節）大衛就逃離耶路撒冷。在詩篇3篇1節，大衛如此描述自己的處境：「耶和華啊！我的仇敵竟然這麼多。」（新譯本）

但值得留意的是，大衛如何得享平安。他想起上帝是他的盾牌，上帝會保護他，使他「抬起頭來」（3節）。接著，他就得到幫助：可以「躺下睡覺」，這也是當我們為自己的處境而苦惱時所需要的幫助。他還說：「我醒來，都因耶和華在扶持著我。」（5節，新譯本）

對我那身處困境的朋友而言，這真是個好消息。對我們所有面對艱難的處境及夜晚失眠的人而言，上帝會保護我們，並讓我們得享安歇。當我們全然信靠祂，祂會幫助我們「躺下睡覺」（5節）。

My friend confided that he hadn’t been sleeping well. His sleeplessness was related to a difficult family situation that had kept him up at night. It happened that this was the day I was prepared to discuss Psalm 3 in my adult Sunday school class.

In Psalm 3, King David also had a family problem, one that would lead most of us to sleeplessness. His son Absalom was undermining David’s rule over Israel as part of his plan to overthrow him and snatch the crown for himself.

David was in despair. He fled Jerusalem after a messenger said, “the hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom” (2 Samuel 15:13). In Psalm 3:1, David describes his situation: “Lord, how many are my foes!”

But notice how David found peace. He recalled that God was his shield of protection and that He “lifts [his] head” (v. 3). Then came the help we all need when we fret over our circumstances: David was able to “lie down and sleep.” He observed, “I wake again, because the Lord sustains me” (v. 5).

For my friend facing a tough time, this was great news. And for all of us who face hard circumstances and sleepless nights, our God protects us and gives us rest. When we place our total trust in Him, He helps us “lie down and sleep” (v. 5).