I remember singing a chorus when I was young based around this psalm.
My glory and the lifter of my head
My glory and the lifter of my head
For thou oh lord art a shield to me
My glory and the lifter of my head
It was one of those choruses where every time you did the turnaround you picked up the pace. And you made blimmin’ sure that you clapped vigorously on one and three.
Perhaps it was the exuberance with which we sang it but I always thought it was a happy, jaunty little number. There was no sense of the the impending doom and desperation that was plaguing David as he wrote…we were too busy trying to sing it fast and clap in the wrong places for that.
Then I read it again this morning. And through the trite little melody I had grown up with I could hear David’s heavy heart and God reassurance for him. David’s son Absolom is trying to hunt him down and kill him. Then I tried to imagine his situation. For me, this involved imagining the scenario with Molly rather than a son, but I tried to imagine how hopeless it would feel on so many different levels to be fleeing Molly because she is trying to hunt me down and kill me. There’s no scenario here where daddy’s winning.
Amidst the dire predicament, David proclaims: Lord, you are a shield around me. You are my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he heard me. God didn’t stop the onslaught from David’s foes nor did God intercede on his own behalf for those who were convinced God would be of no use to David. But God is faithful and he hears David’s cry as he reminds himself who is his glory.
Sometimes God does the miraculous and utterly removes our foes (whether they be people, circumstances, addictions or afflictions) but more often God shows himself amidst the storm as he becomes our shield of protection amidst the storm as we cry out to Him. It’s more common that we discover God’s sustenance in these times of desperation…our awareness of our own helplessness gives us fresh perspective of who can, in all circumstances, strengthen us, lift up our heads and be our glory. In these times God truly becomes our strength, our song…and our victory. Not necessarily a dance over the top of your enemies type victory but a victory over circumstance. A victory in the midst of darkness.
Psalm 3 is primarily a psalm of reassurance – a reminder that God remains Lord over all and in all through it all.
– Simon Elliott