A Shield Around Me
David wrote Psalm 3 while running for his life, and he still called God his glory
Psalm 3:3NIV
Psalm 3:3. The heading of this psalm says David wrote it when he fled from his son Absalom. That is the setting: a king in exile from his own house, betrayed by his own child, hearing the taunt in verse 2 that God will not deliver him. Into that darkness he says that the LORD is a shield around him, his glory, and the one who lifts his head.
Three images, each answering a wound. A shield, because he is under attack. His glory, because his royal dignity has been stripped and mocked. The lifter of his head, because grief makes a person stare at the ground.
You may not be fleeing a coup this Saturday. But most of us know what it is to feel exposed, diminished, and unable to look up. This verse does not deny any of that. It simply says who God is in the middle of it. Say it slowly today. He surrounds. He restores dignity. He lifts the head.
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