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)

We have all been there.  

Maybe we still are. We very well may be in the future.

Where David was when he penned those words in the 3rd Psalm.

Maybe not hiding out in a cave from someone searching to find us, to kill us, as Absalom intended to do to his father, David.

But feeling alone, even with people around. No safe trusted person, without judgement, to reach out to. To share feelings and concerns. No safe place to be.  

Just at the end.

A cave sounds good for the moment—where no one can get to you.  

Feeling at times like all was revolting against us, and before us—which we could not move beyond. Unsuccessful. Failed. And it all keeps piling up.  

Personal moments we cannot get through, while the world, close and far away, spins angrily out of control. Magnifying the hopelessness and emptiness we feel within.

No one is immune. Not the successful, popular, or wealthy, the poor and set-aside, the recognized and respected, not even the powerful.  

So then, seek a cave to hide in, like David. When we seem to be at the end, and don’t know what steps are next. 

But hold on. All may not be lost. All is not without hope.  

One reason—God.  

The anthem “Thou Oh Lord” written by Lisa Brunson Ireland, reminds us that when we find ourselves in a cave, we are not there alone.  

Embracing the reminders and hope David was inspired by God to pen in Psalm 3, we are reminded that there is, and eternally remains, One greater than it all.  

One greater than all the stuff, the foes and naysayers, the judgements, emptiness, despair, and hopelessness, rising up and seeking to overwhelm us.

One always pointing us to that forever safe place there for me, and for you.  

That eternal safe place—God.

That in the midst of feeling alone, when others turn away, rise up against us, or simply don’t care, with a world continuing to spin out of control, with seemingly no safe place to reach out to for security, encouragement, and protection—God is always there.  

Here are few words of the anthem reminding us of God’s never-ending presence, protection, and encouragement for you and me—

“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 was with me in those moments.  

The Lord answers when we cry out. He sustains, lifts, and guides us when we just do not know where to turn.  

When we can’t help or lift ourselves, when we need direction and help.  

The Lord is always our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our head.  

Thou oh Lord. Always there. Always.  

In His Name–Scott

Be lifted and encouraged, restored with hope, as you listen to the First Baptist Church of Dallas Choir and Orchestra present— “Thou Oh Lord.”