Many are saying of my soul, “There is no deliverance for him in God.” Selah. But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the LORD with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. (Psalm 3:2–4)

While we see the Lord as a shield in Psalm 18:2 and 2 Sam 22:3, here we see Him as “the One who lifts up my head” or “the Lifter of my head” (ESV, KJV). The background to this psalm gives texture to this cry of the writer’s heart. The prescript indicates the writer was David, reflecting his time fleeing from his usurping son, Absolom. If you remember, one of David’s sons, Amnon, had raped his half-sister Tamar. When David did nothing about this, Tamar’s brother Absalom killed Amnon in revenge. David subsequently banished Absalom for a period of exile. He eventually relented in bringing Absalom back but would have nothing to do with him thereafter. The charismatic Absolom, in bitterness and spite, began to win over the people of Israel, and in time pulled off an insurrection against his father, David (2 Sam 13-14). Such was the dysfunction of David’s family, resulting from his earlier sin with Bathsheba. The repercussions of sin propagate through a family.

Rather than fight against his son (2 Sam 15:13-17), David fled Jerusalem and wept bitterly on the Mount of Olives as he went (2 Sam 15:29). This is the time reflected in Psalm 3. Who knows exactly what went through his mind at that time, but in this psalm we can see at least part of his thinking. The word on the street was that David was done for; even God wouldn’t be helping him now. Is it not easy to see the sin in others and conclude God is finished with them? Or else when it is us in that position, we believe others are thinking that about us.

David had learned not to put stock in what others thought of him, for even though his family dysfunction was due to his own sin and neglect, he still continued to look to the Lord. This gives us hope today when we feel our sin has marginalized us from usefulness or from God’s blessing. No matter where we are or the circumstances in which we find ourselves, God can still be a “shield about me” and “the one who lifts my head.” In David’s case, that would mean protection from being killed and a restoration to his former position as king. For us today, the protection of God is there for us, if we trust in Him. While He may not restore to us past ministry positions or opportunities, He will take us from where we are to where He wants us to be. He is the “Lifter of my head.”

Lord, any of my many sins would disqualify me from service for You. Thank You for continually lifting up my head, giving me a place in Your workforce.