I don't know about you, but there are a lot of things in my life that cause me to keep my head down. Stress about school, my constant procrastination, and the distractions that keep me from fully following Jesus can all feel heavy. Sometimes, I find my head being bowed as I look at my day-to-day tasks and needs. My head is weighed down by so much stress or frustration that I crumble and crack under the pressure. Other times, my head is low from shame, as I struggle with feeling like a second rate Christian. I know you've probably been there. You know, those times when your prayer to God sounds a little like, "Oh God, I did it again! Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?", and it feels like Jesus must be tired of you coming again and again for forgiveness for the same sins and the same struggles.
I was at a place like that when I read these words from Psalm 3: "But you, Oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head." The Lifter of My Head. David was in a far more difficult place than you or me. He cries out, "O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah" (Psalm 3:1-2). David's struggling. He's in a place of attack. You can just feel the shame radiating off of him at their attacks that say, "God won't help the likes of you." How downcast he must have been! And then it comes to him, a reminder of who His God is. God is his shield. God is his glory. God is the lifter of his head. In my place of shame, God's fingers gently brush my face, and tenderly He lifts up my head to look to Him, my glory, my strength, and my salvation.
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God doesn't want you stuck looking down at the mess you've made or the stressful situation you may be facing at home, school or work. He doesn't want your head down looking around at distractions and idols that won't satisfy. He isn't going to leave you wallowing in guilt and shame. Instead, He will lift your head to look up at His glory and His ever willing salvation. When we look down, we only end up seeing the small, limited picture. When we look up, we see Jesus and His plan of redemption that spans our lives and all of history.
Will you let Him lift up your head? Will you receive His mercy and grace to help you? Let's keep "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
