The Lord lifts your head

Psalm 3:3 (NASB)

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

The 1986 movie “Hoosiers” is one of my all-time favorite movies.  When I read this verse I thought of the movie scene where the coach, played by Gene Hackman, confronted a despondent player, pointed his finger to his head and said, “keep your head in the game”.  Figuratively, I can picture God encouraging His despondent children in the same way. 

The psalmist (David) writes that God not only lifts my head---encourages, strengthens, undergirds---but also is my shield and my glory.  God provides protection (shield), but what is meant by God being “my glory”?  The Hebrew word for glory (kabowd) has several meanings---honor, abundance, riches, splendor, dignity, reverence, and reputation.  I like to think of this verse in this way---God’s shield of protection (and guidance) gives me honor, abundance, riches (not necessarily material, but spiritual), splendor, dignity, reverence (for Him), and a good reputation (Prov 3:4). 

I like the fact that David writes about trusting the Lord (“But You, O Lord…..”), not trusting himself or anyone else.  We read in this psalm that David is in trouble, that many adversaries have risen against him, but when in trouble, he puts his trust in the Lord to protect, guide, encourage, and provide all his needs.  This is a great lesson for all of us, that when we run into trouble, our first thoughts should be (must be) calling out to the Lord for help and trusting that He will help (read Psalm 3:4).

You may never be in the kind of trouble David was in when he wrote Psalm 3.  He was fleeing for his life against his son, Absalom; how much worse could life be if you knew that your own son was pursuing you with a huge army to kill you?  Yet, you will periodically your whole life encounter some kind of trouble where you know that you cannot handle it yourself.  Whenever this happens to you, remember the example of David where he shifted his focus from his troubles to the Lord in prayer.

In deepening my analysis of this verse I noted that David prayed that God be a shield “about me”.  David’s prayer, as your prayer should be, is very personal and very specific, affirming God’s protective shield around him.  God as a protective shield is used several times in the Psalms, e.g. 5:12, 7:10, 18:2, 28:7.  The shield of God is illustrative of (http://www.bible-topics.com/Shields.html):

·    Protection (Psalm 7:10, 18:2, 28:7, 33:20)

·    God’s favor (Psalm 5:12)

·    God’s truth (Psalm 91:4)

·    God’s salvation (Psalm 18:35)

·    Faith (Eph 6:16)

Are you in a situation right now where you need the Lord to protect you, restore your dignity and honor, and lift up your head (your self-esteem, self-worth, strengthen and encourage you)?  Go to the Lord in prayer, even use David’s prayer in Psalm 3 or any of the other psalms that are prayers for all kinds of situations.  Don’t try to handle your troubles without the Lord as this is a sign of pride which the Lord hates (Prov 6:16, 8:13, 16:5).  The Lord loves and desires to help those who put their trust in Him (Psalm 33:18, 34:15-18, 37:5, Prov 3:5-6, 30:5, Matt 11:28-30, many others).