Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
Many are saying of me, there is no help for him in God.
But thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill.
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
Psalm 3: 1-5 (RSV)
Been there. We all have.
Maybe we still are. Maybe we will be.
We’ve all been where David was when he penned those words in the 3rd Psalm.
Maybe not hiding out in a cave from someone seeking to find us to kill us, as Absalom had in his mind and heart to do to his father David.
But feeling alone. With no safe person to go to, or safe place to be.
A cave sounds good—where no one can get to you.
Feeling at times like too many were rising up against us, and too much was rising up before us—to ever be able to handle.
And worse, having no one you trusted enough to go to. No one to seek out, with whom you felt safe enough to share your feelings or concerns.
So then, a cave.
And then add to those personal moments we go through, all that’s going on in our nation and world. Our insecurity and emptiness is magnified and maybe, in all truth, is justified.
Then add the uncertainty of the culture created by the Covid epidemic as we seek to find our way to the other side—individually and aggregately.
Cave. Sounds right. With a steel door and many padlocks.
But wait. All is not lost. All is not without hope.
Because—God.
I first heard this anthem years ago, and it has become one of my favorite pieces of encouragement, and reminder of that safe place always there for me, and always there for you—God.
That in the midst of feeling alone, when others turn away, rise up against us, or don’t care, and the world spinning out of control, and with seemingly no safe place to reach out to, to seek out—God is always there.
Here are few words—
“Many are they increased that troubled me,
Many are they that rise up against me,
Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God.
But Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head,
Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of His holy hill
I laid me down and slept and awaked, for the Lord sustained, for he sustained me
Thou, oh Lord are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head,
Thou, oh Lord are shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head.”
Been there? Me too.
So has God, because He was with you and with me in those moments.
The Lord answers when we cry out. He sustains and lifts us when we can’t lift ourselves, and when we need direction and help.
The Lord is a shield about us, our glory, and the lifter of our head.
Always there. Always.
In His Name–Scott
If you would like to listen to the anthem—“Thou O Lord”— here is a video—
