The Lifter of Your Head (Psalm 3:3)

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
Psalm 3:3

There are three descriptions of who the Lord is for you in this verse.

First, He is a shield about you. David, the psalmist-King, knew the dangers and anxieties of war. Constantly escaping from evil, vulnerable to violence, he knew his only security came from the Lord’s sovereign protection. David knew the function of a shield—to be a wall of protection between him and an oncoming threat. This word-picture does not change for us: God is our shield, our fortress, our protection. As it is written elsewhere, we can hide “in the shadow of his wings” (Ps 17:8). Though God’s shielding of us is not physical, that is, seen with our eyes, it is nonetheless powerful. God, in infinite power and wisdom, is able to protect us through the working of His sovereign providence. If you are a child of God through Jesus Christ, “who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” (Rm 8:33). Though our enemies may look more like lies against our salvation, guilt from the devil, and persecution for living for Christ—God is our shield ever more.

Second, God is your glory. What reputations do we seek apart from the Lord? What securities do we build our lives upon that are not God? David knew that if everything was stripped away—his kingdom, how others perceived him, his family—he still had God as his glory. To have God as our glory is to know the infinite worth we have in Him despite what is happening around or within us. David knew God would vindicate him, for he did not place his worth in his own strength or abilities, but in the Creator Himself. Is all of your life set, fixated—obsessed—with being about God? Do you know who you are in Christ, all the promises laid out for you in Scripture? For God to be your glory, He must be your everything—or else He is secondary to another competing glory in your life.

Finally, God is the lifter of your head. What a tender promise we have here. There will surely be times we cannot lift our own heads from sorrow, despondency, fear, shame, anxiety, or grief. There will be times we tremble under panic, not knowing how to go one more day. But God—our great, merciful, slow-to-anger, and rich-in-love God—is the lifter of our heads. This is not something He only does once in a while; no, it is who He is. He is the lifter. It is what He does. Are you downcast today? It is ok; in due time the Lord will lift your eyes for you. Are you scared for your future? Do not fear; God has your days within His hands. His tender hand reaches down, softly pulls your chin up, so that you look at Him. God is in the business of reorienting our often-limited sight, lifting our heads to see Him, who He is for us in Christ, His everlasting love, protection, care, and security. Turn your eyes to Jesus today!

So whatever comes, God is your shield, your glory, and the lifter of your head. What encouragement we find in our great God!

Podcast #24 – We Walk By Faith (2 Cor. 5:6-10)

Text: ⁶So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

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Hard Things (Psalm 60:3)

You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger
Psalm 60:3

In David’s time it was very common for the corporate body of Israel to view the outcome of national or political events as either God’s favor or indictment upon them. In this psalm, which sits within the context of a military campaign, we find David (an individual) lamenting for his people (a corporate body). As Christians we can learn from this practice, although we should never apply it on such a strict basis as the Israelites did: for we are not under a theocratic nation-state as they were, but under the heavenly kingdom of the Spirit. Even still, this psalm clearly expresses a difficult time for the Israelites, and it applies to ours as well.

First note the agent of the “hard things.” David does not hesitate to say it is God: “Lord, it is you who have made your people see hard things. God, you have given us this bitter wine!” As Christians, we must remember the sovereignty of our Lord. There is not one situation in which He does not exercise complete control, wisdom and direction over the outcome. He reminds us of this elsewhere through His prophet: “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things” (Isa 45:7). So we see that, as difficult as it may be in the “hard things,” God is in control of both our blessings and our brokenness, our triumphs and our tragedies, our laughter and our lament. When we are tempted to doubt God’s wisdom and goodness for what He allows in our lives, we must ask our souls like Job, “shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).

Second, we must be careful to note that this does not make God the author of evil. Evil as the absence of good is foreign to God’s nature. We are not talking about evil in the moral sense, but evil in the sense of disaster, calamity, strife, or suffering—the effects of living in a fallen world. What we see through David’s words is that God is able to use these various sufferings for our good. It is easy to believe that suffering is pointless; it certainly feels that way. But there was an immediate purpose for the staggering wine of affliction which God made His people drink. It was to make them trust in Him. Our “hard things” have a way of emptying our self-dependence and making us realize how frail and destitute we really are apart from God. Unless God shows up, we don’t know if we will be able to carry on. This makes us cling to God, and this is good. God’s purposes for our sufferings are often outside of our immediate view, but through grueling dependence we learn to say “whom have I in heaven but you?” (Ps 73:25). When everything is stripped away, only God remains. So we see that God has a purpose for our hard things.

Finally, we recollect the plural nature of this psalm: lament is done together. There were national events occurring which caused the Israelites to grieve. So too will there be events in our lifetime that should grieve the corporate body of Christ. On a smaller level, in our local bodies there will inevitably be hardships among our individual members. In these times we must remember that the sufferings of one impact the whole. Paul tells us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rm 12:15). In your sufferings, then, you need the body of Christ; and in others’ sufferings, they need you.

To end, the good news is that in our “hard things,” we have One who has walked the wasted roads of a fallen world with us, and for us. The Good Shepherd Himself wept at the grave, grieved loss, felt betrayal, was falsely accused, and took a piercing bed of thorns upon His head. This Jesus is Emmanuel—God with us. So no “hard thing” will remain that way. In reality, it is “light and momentary” (2 Cor 4:17, NIV), for we know that He is there with us, He has beaten death, and one day He will return to make all things new.

Enter His House (Psalm 5:7a)

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house…
Psalm 5:7a

Everyone has a manner in which they approach God. Some offer quick requests in the face of dire circumstances. Some bring their list of long deeds and their perceived worthiness. Still others come stuck in a state of shame or condemnation, never believing the gospel.

But David teaches us the right way: we come through the abundance of His steadfast love. The Hebrew word behind “steadfast love” is qesed, the covenantal favor and kindness of God towards His people. This is the same word found in the other psalm which refrains, “His steadfast love endures forever” (Ps 136). It is a strong love, based upon God’s character—not on our present feelings or actions.

So the manner we are to “enter” God’s house is through His abundant, never-ending, secure qesed love. Later in the New Testament we find proof of His love towards us: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2:4-5). This is our standing as children of God: we are secure. We have forgiveness of every sin. We are lavished with grace. We are given the Holy Spirit. This is all because of God’s great, unshakable, glorious love for us in Christ Jesus.

But we cannot stop here! We can recognize this love, we can view it from afar, peering into the house from the outside—but all of this does us no good if we do not enter his house for ourselves. David knows his soul would be bereft if he could not go into the temple of God for himself. He needs to be with God. So too for us, the love of God in Jesus invites us to come, abide, dwell, and glory in God’s house. Because we know that He is “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near” (Heb 7:25), we trust that we—by the gracious, firm, declarative favor of God poured out on us in Jesus—can draw near. And when we do, we go boldly to the throne room of grace, “that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). I leave you with two applications:

First, there is never a reason why you cannot go to God in prayer today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your life. Condemnation is removed through Jesus. He took your shame upon His shoulders. Bring to God your empty works, and trust in the finished work of Christ. Go through the abundance of His love.

Second, there is never a time when you cannot enter his house. You do not have to schedule an appointment with God; His door is always open. If the gospel is true on your worst day, then every day is an opportune time to draw near. Whether in a time of need, praise, confession, or intercession, the abundance of His steadfast love assures you that He always has an ear for you. We can never deplete His grace, so we return to receive it as He has given it: freely, in abundance.

All this is yours in Christ Jesus. Do you believe that this morning?

Podcast #19 – I Once Was Blind (2 Cor. 4:1-6)

Text: 1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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Podcast #18 – Where the Spirit of the Lord is: FREEDOM (2 Cor. 3:17-18)

Text: 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

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The Earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24:1)

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof…
Psalm 24:1

Our lives are often marked by a forgetfulness of these two truths about God: His all-seeing presence, and His ownership of all things. This verse speaks to both, and we will take each in turn.

First, His all-seeing presence. David says the fullness of the earth is God’s. In other words, there is not a square inch where He is not present. He is everywhere at all times, though He is distinct from His creation as the Creator. Theologians call this God’s omnipresence. However, because of sin’s dimming effects in our lives, the natural human tendency is to run away from the Lord’s presence. This is what our first parents did in the Garden of Eden once their sin ruined their innocence and caused great shame (Gn 3:8). They tried to mask their guilt with man-sewed fig leaves, but the Lord, seeing all things, knew their inward rebellion. We are no different from them—trying to cover our sin with good works, excuses, leisure, or pleasure—anything that will keep us one more moment from seriously reflecting on our condition before a holy God. We are afraid that if we stop, we must reflect on the absurdity of our attempts to run away from God. We are like a hamster on a wheel: we run, thinking we are escaping, but in reality we don’t move one inch. This is what we do when we forget God’s presence.

Why do we try to hide? David knew he could not. Elsewhere he asked, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Ps. 139:7). It is only when we bring our sin to the Lord in humble cross-examination, knowing that God sees what we have done, yet has graciously provided our forgiveness in Christ while we were yet enemies (Rm 5:8)—only then can we draw near to God’s all-seeing eye. Amazingly, while he sees the depths of darkness in sinners’ heart, He has chosen to draw near by making Christ the propitiation for our sins. Christ reminds us of God’s nearness to us—even when our sin or feelings attempt to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rm 8:39).

Secondly, this verse teaches us to remember God’s ownership of all things. David says “the earth is the Lord, and the fullness thereof.” He does not limit God’s reign to a geographical boundary. He does not limit God’s possessions to a finite amount of resources. He does not limit God’s control to a select few circumstances. No, the entire globe is under the grip of a sovereign God. He owns all things: the money in your bank account, the palaces of princes, the gold under the earth. He is in control of all things: the movement of the birds, the breath of a child, the heartbeat of the elderly. He moves all things according to His purpose: turning evil to good, suffering into beauty—the cross into salvation. The earth is the Lord’s. As Abraham Kuyper once said, “There’s not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord over all, does not exclaim, ‘Mine’!”

But we struggle, once again, to remember this truth. Our self-sufficiency dims our view of God’s control over our lives. How easily we believe that life is in our hands, that we turn the wheel, that we sail the boat, so to speak. Our vision is so short-sighted. We grasp onto the limbs of life while forgetting the trunk of God’s power which holds us up. Everything we have therefore is a gift from God, who gives and takes away (Job 1:21). Our time. Our money. Our children. Our physical health. Our future. Either we recognize God’s claim on every domain of our lives (i.e., the fullness) or He does not have any at all. There is no middle ground. You cannot at once say “Jesus is Lord” while hiding how you spend your pennies (Mt 6:24). You cannot at once say “God is first” without an honest audit of your time.

Yet under Christ’s full reign, there is a sweetness when we surrender every part of our lives to say “Lord, what would you have of me in _________?” When we order our lives under the truth that all we have is God’s, we are free to give our best to the Lord. And when we live with the awareness that God Himself is our greatest treasure—that the all-surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus deserves the throne of our hearts—only then will we see that everything in this earth, therefore, is by God, from God, for God, and to His glory.

So daily we are called to recognize these wondrous truths: there is no where you can run from the Lord, and there is nothing you have which is not already His. In Christ we have the privilege of drawing near to the all-seeing One, and in Christ we have our greatest possession of all: God Himself. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.

Podcast #17 – The Veil is Removed (2 Cor. 3:12-16)

Text: “12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” -2 Cor 3:12-15

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