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God Is On Your Side

"But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head."  Psalm 3:3

One of my absolute favorite songs is a song entitled "Thou Oh Lord" (take a few minutes to enjoy it).  On days that I need to be reminded that God is on my side, I'll plug in my iPod and crank it up real loud!  The absolute best part of the song comes around three minutes into it when all of the various musical parts are doing their own thing and it combines together to make one of the most beautiful sounds of praise you've ever heard!

I don't care what has gone on in my day (or week . . . or month), listening to that song brings worship to my soul unlike any other song I know.  It's not just the beautiful harmonies or the amazing orchestra that provides such beautiful accompaniment, but it's the power of the words . . .  it's the power of THE WORD.

You see, this song comes practically verbatim from Scripture.  David penned Psalm 3 when he was being threatened by his son Absalom and was on the run.  Absalom had conspired to gain control over the people of Israel by betraying his own father.  David's spirit was crushed and he called out to God in this psalm.

As you read these first five verses of Psalm 3, I want you to pay close attention to David's confidence level and also the state of peace he was in:

"O Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him."
But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
to the Lord I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me."

This is a man who knows that the one true God is on his side!  He has been betrayed by his son and several of his closest counselors, yet he knows that his God will not betray him.  He knows that God has a plan for him and will not hang him out to dry.

David had CONFIDENCE AS HE WAS PRAYING!  He didn't pray a prayer with a defeatist attitude, but rather he prayed with a recognition that God was already protecting him and was going to continue to do so.

So many times whenever we are going through a trial, or if we are praying on behalf of someone else going through a trial, our prayers lack in the confidence department.  We pray wondering if God is going to bring us or our loved on through the valley, not claiming that He already is and will continue to do so.  Just like David, we can only see what is right in front of us, and if we choose to look closely, we'll see a very big God standing right there.

David also had PEACE IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAINTY.  For David to be able to lay his head down at night and actually accomplish sleep in the midst of his calamities, he must have had an undeniable peace in how God's hand was going to provide protection for him.

I don't know about you, but whenever I am stressed, worried, or in any kind of battle, sleep is the first thing to go!  After struggling to finally get to sleep, I'll wake up multiple times in the middle of the night with my problem at the forefront of my mind.   I tend to be restless in the midst of uncertainty, rather than peaceful.

These two lessons from David are probably some of the most difficult to tackle, and hear me when I say that I have not conquered them myself.  As believers, we are not promised a life that is carefree, stress free, or pain free.  You probably won't be forced out of your homeland by your own son like David was, but you will have your own unique opportunities to practice confidence and peace.

How can God use this beautiful psalm (which became a beautiful song) to give you strength for today?  Can you read those words again and claim some of David's confidence and peace?

Remember, we don't have to know in advance what lies before us, we just have to take heart in the divine shield that surrounds us, the divine hand that lifts us up, and the divine ear that hears all of our prayers.

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