Psalm 3:1 NKJV
Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
When the Crowd Turns Against You
MY NOTES
“LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.” — Psalm 3:1 (NKJV)
The Heart of the Matter
Have you ever felt like life was a series of “one thing after another”? You handle one crisis, only to look up and see three more marching over the horizon. That is exactly where we find David in Psalm 3. David’s words are refreshingly honest. He doesn’t pretend everything is fine. He doesn’t sugarcoat his pain. He brings the full weight of his trouble straight to God.
This wasn’t just a bad day at the office; this was a heartbreak of cosmic proportions. The title of this Psalm tells us it was written when David fled from his son, Absalom. Imagine the sting: the boy he raised, the people he served, and the nation he led had all turned their backs on him. The “many” David talks about weren’t strangers—they were the people who used to cheer for him.
David doesn’t sugarcoat his reality. He looks at the growing opposition and says, “Lord, they are multiplying!” It’s a raw, honest realization that sometimes, despite our best efforts and our innocence, the “many” are simply against us.
A Shadow of the Savior
If you feel overwhelmed by “many” troubles today, look at Jesus. David’s experience was a foreshadowing of the Garden of Gethsemane and the Hill of Calvary. Jesus was surrounded by a “multitude” with clubs and staves. The same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” on Sunday shouted “Crucify Him” on Friday.
He dealt with the “many” so that you wouldn’t have to face them alone. Every sin, every demonic influence, and every earthly sorrow rose up against Him. He allowed the “many” to overwhelm Him so that He could overcome them for you.
Even if things seem tough and the numbers aren’t in your favor, just remember that when you’re with God, you’re always in the majority.
Key Takeaways
- Honesty is the Best Policy: David didn’t pretend he wasn’t afraid or outnumbered. He took the number of his enemies straight to God.
- Popularity is Fleeting: People are fickle. David went from the hero of Israel to a fugitive in a matter of days. Don’t build your identity on the “many”; build it on the One.
- Troubles Flock Together: Like birds of a feather, sorrows often come in groups. Don’t be surprised when trials arrive in multiples; it’s the nature of a fallen world.
- The size of your problem is never bigger than the size of your God.
Cross References (NKJV)
2 Samuel 15:12
“Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city—from Giloh—while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number.”
Psalm 118:10-12
“All nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; they were quenched like a fire of thorns; for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.”
Psalm 27:1-3
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.”
Matthew 26:47
“And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.”
Prayer
Abba, I’ll be honest—it feels like the “many” are winning today. My troubles have increased, and I feel surrounded by pressures, bills, and people who don’t have my best interest at heart. But David didn’t look at the crowd; he looked at You. Help me to do the same. Remind me that even if a thousand rise against me, You are the shield that covers me. Thank You for Jesus, who stood against the ultimate crowd of sin and death so that I could stand in victory today. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Things to Think About
- Inventory the “Many”: What are the specific things “increasing” in your life right now that are causing you trouble? List them out, then physically hand that list to God in prayer.
- The Source of Security: David realized that the hearts of men are “slippery and deceitful.” In what ways have you been relying on people’s approval rather than God’s presence?
- Reflecting on Christ: How does knowing that Jesus faced a much larger, more hostile crowd for your sake change the way you view your current opposition?
Proverb for Today
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge; For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips, So that your trust may be in the Lord; I have instructed you today, even you. Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you? Proverbs 22:17-21 NKJV
Daily Scripture
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 3:1 shows David overwhelmed by the rapid growth of enemies during Absalom’s rebellion. Commentators emphasize his shock, grief, and honesty before God as former friends, counselors, and subjects turned against him. They note that troubles often multiply suddenly, like a snowball or a flock. Many also see David as a foreshadowing of Christ, who faced an even greater multitude of enemies. The verse reminds believers not to trust popular support, but to rest in God.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
The poor broken-hearted father complains of the multitude of his enemies, and if you turn to 2 Samuel 15:12, you will find it written that “the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom,” while the troops of David constantly diminished!
“Lord how are they increased that trouble me!” Here is a note of exclamation to express the wonder of woe which amazed and perplexed the fugitive father. Alas! I see no limit to my misery, for my troubles are enlarged! There was enough at first to sink me very low, but lo! my enemies multiply. When Absalom, my darling, is in rebellion against me, it is enough to break my heart; but lo! Ahithophel hath forsaken me, my faithful counsellors have turned their backs on me; lo! my generals and soldiers have deserted my standard. “How are they increased that trouble me!” Troubles always come in flocks. Sorrow hath a numerous family.
“Many are they that rise up against me.” Their hosts are far superior to mine! Their numbers are too great for my reckoning!
Let us here recall to our memory the innumerable host which beset our Divine Redeemer. The legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the crowd of bodily pains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies of death and hell set themselves in battle against the Son of Man. O, how precious to know and believe that he has routed their hosts and trodden them down in his anger! They who would have troubled us he has removed into captivity, and those who would have risen up against us he has laid low. The dragon lost his sting when he dashed it into the soul of Jesus.
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Enduring Word
How they have increased who trouble me: 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). (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Lord, how are they increased – How are they multiplied; or, how numerous they are. Perhaps the idea is that at first they seemed to be comparatively few in number, but had now so multiplied as to endanger his crown and life. This is an appropriate expression on the supposition that it refers to Absalom. At first the number of those who adhered to Absalom was not so great as to excite much alarm; but by the arts of a demagogue, by complaining of the government, by saying that if he were made a judge in the land, every man would have justice done him 2 Samuel 15:4-5, he won the hearts of the people, and gathered so many under his standard as to make it necessary that the king should flee from Jerusalem to a place of safety.
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John Gill
Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?…. David’s enemies increased in the conspiracy against him, 2 Samuel 15:12; the hearts of the men of Israel were after Absalom, and against him. Christ’s enemies increased when Judas, with a multitude, came to take him; when the body of the common people cried out, Crucify him; when the assembly of the wicked enclosed him, and pierced his hands and his feet. And the enemies of God’s people are many; the men of this world are against them; legions of devils oppose them; and they have swarms of sins in their own hearts; and all these give trouble. David’s enemies troubled him; he wept as he went up the hill, to think that his own son should seek to destroy him; that his subjects, whom he had ruled so long with clemency, and had hazarded his person in war for their defense, and to protect them in their civil and religious rights, should rebel against him. Christ’s enemies troubled him when they bound and led him away as a malefactor; when they spit upon him, smote and buffeted him; when they scourged and crucified him, and mocked at him. The enemies of the saints are troublers of them; in the world, and from the men of it, they have tribulation; Satan’s temptations give them much uneasiness and distress; and their indwelling sins cause them to cry out, “Oh wretched men that we are!” This address is made to the Lord, as the Lord God omniscient, who knew the case to be as it was, and who had a concern in it not being without his will, but according to it, he having foretold it, and as he who only could help out of it: and the psalmist delivers it in a complaining way, and in an expostulatory manner; reasoning the case why it should be so, what should be the reason of it, for what end and purpose it was; and as wondering at it, suggesting his own innocence, and how undeserving he was to be treated in such a way;
many [are] they that rise up against me; many in quantity, and great in quality, great in the law, in wisdom, in riches, and in stature, as Jarchi interprets it; such as Ahithophel and others, who rose up against David in a hostile manner, to dispossess him of his kingdom, and to destroy his life. And many were they that rose up against Christ; the multitude came against him as a thief, with clubs and staves: the men of this world rise up against the saints with their tongues, and sometimes with open force and violence; Satan, like a roaring lion, seeks to devour them, and their own fleshly lusts war against them.
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Matthew Henry
Lord, how are they increased! beyond what they were at first, and beyond whatever he thought they would have been. Absalom’s faction, like a snowball, strangely gathered in its motion. He speaks of it as one amazed, and well he might, that a people he had so many ways obliged should almost generally revolt from him, rebel against him, and choose for their head such a foolish and giddy young man as Absalom was. How slippery and deceitful are the many! And how little fidelity and constancy are to be found among men! David had had the hearts of his subjects as much as ever any king had, and yet now, of a sudden, he had lost them. As people must not trust too much to princes (Ps. 146:3), so princes must not build too much upon their interest in the people. Christ, the Son of David, had many enemies. When a great multitude came to seize him, when the crowd cried, Crucify him, Crucify him, how were those then increased that troubled him! Even good people must not think it strange if the stream be against them and the powers that threaten them grow more and more formidable.
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