Psa 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

The episode here described in this psalm of David is from one of the lowest accounts of his life. It is one thing to have enemies, its hard and we have to deal with that. It is quite another when it is a loved one who stabs you in the back. David’s own son Absalom has turned against him and has convinced most of the country to turn on David. So many of us can relate to Davids situation, he has troubles on every side. He is not a young man anymore and one could forgive him for thinking “have I not suffered enough?”

People all around him are telling him that there is no help from God. Yet this is not David’s reaction. He has learned to trust God after all these years of serving him. He says that he cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard him from His holy hill. He did cry, we see that in 2 Sam 15:30 where he and all the people who were loyal to him weep as they make their way up Mount Olivet. What a sad tragic scene.

Yet David says that the Lord heard his cries. He acknowledges that the Lord is His shield and the lifter of his head and that in the glory of the Lord there is strength and peace to be found. So much so that David could lie down and sleep. As so many of you know, in a crisis, sleep rarely comes easily. Yet David slept for the Lord sustained him and he was not afraid. He trusted God so much that he sent the Ark back to Jerusalem and announced that it would be God who would determine the outcome of this situation. Whether on a throne or on the run David recognizes that God is his shield. He recognized that there was power in the glory of God and that this power was able to lift up the hands that hung down low and lift up the head to survey the heavens, from whence his help came from.

Those around us, who do not have eyes to see the glory, many well intentioned people, whisper in our ears along with the devil himself that there is no help from God. The man whose eyes are fixed on the glory of God, he is drawn away from his doubts and fears and drawn deeper into the heart of God. He abides under the shadow of the Almighty’s wing. And so we see here a principle that was so clearly demonstrated by Peter when he walked on the water. If your eyes are upon Jesus, He elevates you above the storm. The storm is still raging yet it cannot consume you. If your eyes are upon your situation then you start to drown, you will go under.

Maybe today you face that kind of situation with a loved one, or perhaps you are just surrounded on every side by trials, or maybe it is your future that deeply troubles you for any number of reasons. Remember this dear saint, God is a shield for you and in His glory He will lift you up. You keep looking to Jesus and you will lie down and sleep. He will give you the strength to arise every morning. He is well able.

He knows your situation, just as he knew David’s. And David knew that. And in that trust that David had developed over decades of troubles, he could say with the Apostle Paul “I have learned to be content.” Be content today saint for God knows your situation. He will be with you through the fires and through the floods. He will not allow you to drown nor to be consumed by the fires of your trials.