Verses 1-8
The title of this individual lament psalm identifies the writer as David. It also uses the word "psalm" (Heb. mismor) for the first time in the Psalter. All but four of the psalms in Book 1 of the Psalter identify David as their writer, all except Psalms 1, 2, 10, , 33. The occasion of his writing this one was his flight from Absalom (18" class="scriptRef">2 Samuel 15-18). Fourteen psalms record the historical episodes from which they sprang (Psalms 3, 7, 18, 30, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 142).
In 1905, J. W. Thirtle proposed the theory that some of the titles, that appear at the beginning of some of the psalms, were originally postscripts at the end of the preceding psalm. He believed copyists unfortunately moved them. He based this theory on the fact that some Egyptian and Akkadian hymns ended with postscripts that contained the kinds of notations found in some of the psalm titles. Not many conservative Bible scholars have agreed with Thirtle’s theory. [Note: J. W. Thirtle, The Titles of the Psalms.]
In Psalms 3, David voiced his confidence that God would protect him, since he was the Lord’s chosen king. This is the first of many prayers in the Psalms. In Psalms 2 the enemies are foreign nations and kings, but in Psalms 3 they are the people of Israel.
Ironside, who believed there was a great deal of prophecy in the Psalms, wrote that in Psalms 3-7 "we have set forth in a peculiar way the sufferings that the remnant of Israel will endure in the days of the great tribulation. But they also apply to God’s people at any time while waiting for the coming again of the rejected King." [Note: Ironside, p. 27.]
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