Dear Precious Friends,
On this beautiful new day I pray you are starting your day with the Lord, in His word, worshipping and filling your soul with His truth. Our Pastor is doing an amazing series called "Twisted" and it's been an amazing reminder that when we read scripture or take a verse from scripture we need to read the entire chapter so we know the context it was written from and how to apply it to our lives correctly rather than "TWIST" it to our needs...
This verse is a great example of delving in deeper to see what was happening. Once we do, it means so much more no matter what we are walking through but we can only imagine what David must have felt in this time. We also are reminded that even the greats in scripture sinned and fell short, as David's life reminds us when he was tempted by Bathsheba and her beauty and fell into horrible sin as a consequence of his choices, then this sin affected his generations... as we see:
In the title of Psalm 3 it says, “A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son”. David had experienced many challenges and some failures with regard to his dealings with his son Absalom. One of David’s sons, Amnon, had raped his half-sister Tamar, the daughter of David by a different woman (2 Samuel 13:1-19). Absalom was Tamar’s brother and he eventually avenged his sister and killed Amnon (2 Samuel 13:1, 20-29). Following this, Absalom fled and it was at least 5 years before Absalom was allowed into David’s presence (2 Samuel 13:38, 14:28). This appears to have created a lot of resentment in Absalom who then devised a plan to win the hearts of Israel to himself as he made plans to rebel against his father David (2 Samuel 15:1-6).
After 4 years of making efforts to win the hearts of Israel, Absalom made his move. He had it proclaimed that he was now reigning in the Israelite city of Hebron (2 Samuel 15:7-10). Most of Israel left from following David and began to submit to the reign of Absalom (2 Samuel 15:11-12). Things looked dire for David. David noted what many people were saying: “Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God’" (Psalm 3:2). It is hard to imagine the great pain that weighed on David’s heart as he contemplated his life being threatened by his own son!
In this dark hour, David turned to God as his Light to guide him through this crisis. He said, “But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head” (Psalm 3:3). God had delivered David many times in his life. The Lord had enabled David to defeat the Philistine giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40-51). The Almighty had also protected David from the ever-pursuant hand of King Saul who had sought David’s life (1 Samuel 18:9-31:4). God’s deliverance of David over the years had built in David an unshakable faith in God’s power to shield David from harm.
David called on God’s help and God heard him: “I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill” (Psalm 3:4). Because of his unwavering confidence in God’s protection, David would not be afraid even though he was heavily outnumbered by the thousands who were pursuing his life: “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around” (Psalm 3:5-6). Even though this was a terrible crisis, David was able to get a good night’s rest because he looked upon God as his Shield. Through God, David experienced great peace even as he was facing tremendous adversity!
David cried to the Lord for help: “Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly” (Psalm 3:7). God did help David. In the end Absalom was killed in battle and David was restored to the throne (2 Samuel 18:6-17). King David rejoiced in the salvation God had brought to him: “Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people” (Psalm 3:8).
As I think about Psalm 3 and these events from the life of King David, I am reminded of God’s continual watch and care for me. He will protect me from the fiery darts that Satan throws at me (Ephesians 6:16). Today, I rejoice that God is my shield!
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him” (Psalm 28:7).
No matter what sins we have committed, we must remember Jesus came and died for those sins, He is our strength and shield and He is our redeemer. Yes there are consequences for our sins and yes they can affect the next generations, we must remember the truth of God's word and who lifts our head no matter what we are walking through. He forgives, He cleanses and it is in Him we place our trust, our lives and yes He lifts our heads when we don't feel worthy of them being lifted.
If our "happiness" (circumstancial) depends on everything in your life being just right in our lives, boy are we in for a rude awakening.. If you think you can’t be happy until all your circumstances are right, you will never be happy. We all experience times in life when we feel down for various reasons, but we can’t allow our circumstances to control our emotions.
Satan seeks to fill our minds with negative thoughts and emotions that cause us to feel down because He is a discourager. BUT GOD... THERE IT IS AGAIN...
BUT Jesus is our encourager, and He came to lift us up. He came to give yus righteousness, joy, and all the things that cause us to feel “up”!
We all experience times of frustration and distress over unfulfilled hopes and dreams. When things don’t go according to our plans, it’s normal to feel disappointment. Things may make us feel sad temporarily, but when we know that weeping only lasts for a time and then comes joy, it makes everything better.
Father, Your Word says that You are “the Lifter of my head” (see Psalm 3:3). Today, I offer any sadness, discouragement and disappointment to You. Help me to purposely choose to walk in Your joy, knowing that You have so many good things ahead for my life. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Weeping may endure for a night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.
— Psalm 30:5 (AMP)
