“But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the Lifter of my head.” – Psalm 3:3

Josh Groban’s version of the song, ‘You Raise Me up’ took me through a very difficult season a few years ago.

The chorus says:

“You raise me up,

So I can stand on mountains
You raise me up,

To walk on stormy seas
I am strong,

When I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be.”

“A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom,” is the story behind Psalm 3.

David was a mighty king who had beheaded lions and giants and conquered many kingdoms.

Now for such a king to flee in fear from his own son, was the lowest level that a man could sink to.  

Apparently, Absalom had stolen the people’s hearts, including the king’s army, with his charisma and turned his guns on his aging father (read the story in 2 Samuel 16). 

Talk of public humiliation, betrayal, backstabbing, duplicity, fear, despair, gloom, failure; just name it. 

We’ve all been there, haven’t we?

But from the depths, David made a grand declaration: “But You O Lord”!

The reality to David was that there were enemies all around, stress; fear; darkness, “but you O Lord; You’re my glory and the lifter of my head”!

Throughout the Bible, God is described as a “Lifter.”

“I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up” (Psalm 30:1).

Hang in there brother/sister; we have a Lifter, His Name is Jesus Christ!

Formerly a barren wife, Hannah, the mother of Prophet Samuel, declared: “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory” (I Sam 2:8; Ps. 113:7–9).

Dust is a symbol of the abject humiliation of defeat and failure.

“The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14).

In another Psalm, the psalmist proclaimed: “He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay [quagmire], and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.”

Biblically speaking, to ‘lift’ is to mark with distinction; to give honor to; to place in a position of strength.

Indeed, David’s head, having dropped in shame, was eventually lifted as the insurrection was halted when his rebellious son Absalom’s head got got stuck in a branch of a tree while riding his horse.

Whatever your pits of despair or bogs of misery and confusion that you are stuck in, we have a Lifter; an elevator – an escalator – to pull you out.

Are you bowed down by pain or shame or defeat?

By His awesome power and grace, God can lift a scavenging beggar from the garbage heaps – the worst of circumstances – and make him to dine with princes.

Have you been dumped? Are you in the gutters searching for significance and purpose?

By God’s Grace through Christ, God’s mission is to lift rejected people and to make them joint-heirs with Christ – to reign with princes!

Hang in there brother/sister; we have a Lifter, His Name is Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!

Prayer:

Almighty God, thank you because I know you as the Lifter of my head. You’re raising me up, so I can stand on mountains.
You’re raising me up, to walk on stormy seas. I declare that I am strong because I am on Your shoulders. Amen!