O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God. Selah
But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
Comment: This psalm was written when King David’s son Absalom was leading a revolt to overthrow the beginning to age David. The three times repeated ‘selah’ is uncertain in its meaning but probably means something like ‘stop, and ponder that!’
To be in the place where you believe God wants you to be, and doing, to the best of your ability, what you believe you should be doing, does not mean a trouble free existence. David had foes and enemies who were evil in their intentions. His call was not that they should become repentant and submit to his leadership but that God break their cheeks and knock in their teeth! Absalom was David’s son, brought up in the royal household, and taught the ways of God. To rebel against all this makes one liable to judgement. In the historical record of this rebellion we do see the other side of David’s longing for his son (2 Kings ch. 17-19). Sometimes we have too gentle an attitude to continuous revolt. Judgement is not ‘anathema’ in the thinking of God.
Prayer: Keep me steadfast even in the time of opposition to You, my God.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. It is most interesting, as you wrote, that David did not pray for his enemies to repent and submit to his Kingship, but that God would break their cheeks and their teeth! I guess that this would cause them much more pain and discomfort God bless you.
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