Thursday, December 4: Psalm 3- Trust.

What a marvelous psalm of trust…

But you, LORD, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the LORD,

and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side (3-6).

I found myself entering and imaging each word picture functioning over and around me.

The Lord, a shield around me…  image upon image filled my thoughts. God protecting me. His angels surrounding me as His shield is protecting me. The Lord stopping every dart or arrow of the enemy from getting anywhere near me. How wonderfully safe I felt within the protection of the Lord.

The Lord, lifting my head... Shame and other self-worth destroying hurts can weigh us down. The weight of shame can slump shoulders. I have seen people who find it difficult to look up and make eye contact due to shame and self-worth destroying hurts. God lifts the Psalmist’s head. God invites the broken person to look at Him, recognizing our self-worth comes not from the world but from the Lord. I felt God lifting my head, in so doing saying to me, “You are my son, my beloved. I am your Abba, I am your God, gaze upon me and be refreshed and restored…”

I call out and the Lord answers me… God hears me. The Lord answers my cries and my prayers. The Lord God Almighty hears and answers me!!! He invites me to pray and He delights in answering my prayers. Pray, ask, seek, commune… He beckons me, He beckons all his daughters and sons. “Come to Me,” He calls, “and I will answer you…”

Sleep and wake, sustained… God gives me rest. He gives me sleep!!! My body is tired from some long intense days; God gives me sleep, restful sustaining sleep. A deep sigh comes over me, Ahhh, the sweetness of God-blessed rest! I wake sustained by the Lord. In my sleeping and in my waking, the Lord sustains me. O the delight of being a child of the Lord.

No fear though trouble surround me… Some days and seasons are awash in trouble. Life can and does assail us, yet even then, even in the worst of seasons, we can say with David, I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.  I will not fear… I need not fear, the Lord is on my side! I am reminded of verse 3, the Lord is my shield. I am ushered back to thoughts of protection, God’s protection that is all about me.

Peace flowed over me, a peace growing not from life situations. No, it was the peace of the Lord, the peace I find in the Lord. I lingered, I rested, here in God’s peace and protection.

Lord, How blessed I am. How blessed I am to be counted among Your children… bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not ALL His benefits! Amen.