Ps 3:1-3
LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
"Faith gives us the courage to face the present with confidence, and the future with expectancy." - E.C. McKenzie
Greetings to each of you in the name of our God. I desire to share with you today the joy that can be ours just knowing that we are covered by God. There comes a time in every life when you will need a fresh perspective just to continue on. The above Psalm is taken from a period in King David's life when his supporters are decreasing while his enemies are increasing. Among them was David's son Absalom who wanted to kill him and his chief counsel and advisor Ahithophel who conspired to dethrone him. David must seek God in order to know what to do. David teaches each of us that no matter what we must endure we can be secure in the knowledge that God will protect us.
David acknowledges that his trouble and his pain is real, but, he also acknowledges his confidence in the Lord's ability to protect him. In fact David suggests that he is being protected and secured in the midst of his present dilemma. The word for shield in the original Hebrew means a buckler, a form or protections that surrounds a man entirely, a shield above, beneath, around, without and within. This is the kind of shield that God is for his people. God wars off the fiery darts from beneath from the deepest depths of below us. He also quells and quiets the storms and trials from above us. However, at the same time he speaks peace to the raging tempests within the soul of man.
Beloved when our strength is exhausted and our will daunted, God promises to be the lifter of our head. C.H. Spurgeon says, "there is a lifting up in honour after shame, in health after sickness, in gladness after sorrow, in restoration after a fall, in victory after a temporary defeat; in all these respects the Lord is the lifter up of our head." Be encouraged to know that no matter what you are going through, by faith you can expect to receive the lift of love from our God. You too will rise again!