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Gustave Doré’s engraving of David standing crowned and bowed as he mourns Absalom

Psalm 3

What St Athanasius said to pray when your own people turn against you, in a letter from the 300s.

  • 8Verses
  • 1Situation

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus

When to pray it

In the 300s, St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to his friend Marcellinus about praying the Psalms. In it he matched psalms to what people go through. This is what he gave this one for.

Your own people have turned on you, and more and more others are rising up against you.

If you are hounded by your own people, and many are rising up against you, say Psalm 3.

Letter to Marcellinus

Psalm 3:3

Where it turns

But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

8 verses, Berean Standard Bible

The whole psalm

Psalm 3

Its own heading A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

  1. 1O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me!
  2. 2Many say of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah
  3. 3But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
  4. 4To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah
  5. 5I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
  6. 6I will not fear the myriads set against me on every side.
  7. 7Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
  8. 8Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah

When people turn against you

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All 53 situations, in one guide.

Your turn

Which Psalm are you living right now?

A few honest taps about your life right now, and the psalm an early Church Father gave for exactly that.

  • 3 min
  • 7 questions
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Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek.