THE LIFTED HEAD Pastor Mike Harrison
But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. (Psalm 3:3)
T
hese words were penned by David when he fled from his son, Absalom. Betrayed by his own flesh, his closest advisor and thousands of his countrymen David, along with his family and closest friends, hurried from Jerusalem with nothing but the clothes on their back. Adding to the pain was David's knowledge that he had brought most of this upon himself, as a result of his sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12:11). Contemplating this, the Shepherd King wrote the word but. The word but negates everything that precedes it. But You, O' Lord. And with that the Sweet Psalmist gives us three reasons he could absorb betrayal and heartache without being broken or becoming bitter. 1. The Lord was David's shield. A shield is an instrument of protection. David knew its value well from his years of warfare. In the Hebrew the word translated shield used here literally means a shield around me. God was protecting David on all sides. 2. The Lord was David's glory. Absalom desired the throne for its power and prestige--its glory. But David's glory was God. God is where he derived his identity and found his fulfillment, not in position or prominence. 3. The Lord was the lifter of (his) head. This phrase is meant to paint the picture of a parent putting their hand
under the chin of a sobbing child and gently lifting his or her head up in order to look them in the eyes and speak words of comfort. So too, the a Heavenly Father desires to protect, fulfill and comfort his children--even in calamities they have created themselves. Allow Him to lovingly tilt your gaze upward in order to find strength and solace in even the sourest of seasons.
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world� - C S Lewis