“I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” -Psalm 3:6
The verse is to be taken in light of the previous verse: 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.” -Psalm 3:5–6
Not only does David know the peace that provides untroubled slumber in the night, but he also knows the same peace which sustains him in the day. The passage is definitely meant to be taken in poetic terms—“many thousands of people”—but it also applies in concrete terms. The narrative passage that corresponds to David’s Psalm tells us that “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom” (2 Samuel 15:13). In other words, all the kingdom had turned on David. But for his few friends, he was alone.
Yet, no foe, no matter how great in power or number, could cause God’s son to fear or lose sleep. But for those who are not in Christ, the very opposite is true. “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” -Proverbs 28:1