Pastor Claude Thomas Blog

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

At one point David, the great king of Israel and writer of the Psalms, was in what appeared to be a hopeless situation. In that moment he did what all of us should do. He turned in faith to God.

What did David believe God would be to him? Psalm 3 pictures David’s belief and hope in God.

And he declared God was “…a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah” (Ps. 3:3—4).

What does this mean? David was humiliated, but he turned to the Lord and recognized the reality of God. Although the enemies were strong and well supplied and they had the best of David’s army, David knew in his heart God was his protector.

David recognized his true condition… he saw God as his “shield.” The shield was a complete covering. It protected from the front and the back and the sides and the top. In other words, God enveloped David as a shield enveloped a soldier. God protected David, and that was of great comfort to him.

Do we see God as a protector or a persecutor? The Bible shows us clearly God is for us even when life has thrown us a “curve ball.” And He delivers us from the destructions of life and gives us hope.

Notice also David declared He was significant because of God. David calls God “his glory.” You know, as rich as David was as king, for all of David’s power and prestige, for all of his reputation as a man’s man, David realized this truth: none of that made him who he was. David knew that God gave him his significance, worth, value, accomplishments, accolades, etc. That’s why David calls God his “glory.” Even in poverty and humiliation, God gives David dignity, honor, and prestige.

Here’s a word to us: where do we find significance in life? Wealth? Power? Relationships? Spiritual knowledge? Let me tell you, if our value is not built on the LORD, and if we don’t “glory in the LORD,” we’ll discover that we’re living for the wrong reason. That’s what Jesus intends when He talks about true riches in His sermon on the mount, “Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven.” Glory in God, not in stuff.

He was comforted by God. God lifted his head. When David calls God “the lifter of my head,” he paints the following picture: God reaches down and gets hold of the downcast head of David and lifts it up.

A child can be very sad and it shows in a head turned down. What do we do? We lift that child’s head and look into their eyes to give comfort and encouragement!
All of us know what it is like to have your head down. I pray you know what it is like for God to reach down and lift your head, comfort you, give you encouragement, and renew your hope!

God heard David when he cried out to God. Psalm 3, verse 4 says, “And God received David’s cry…” In other words, David knew that God saw his sad situation and didn’t turn a deaf ear or blind eye to it!! David received comfort in the knowledge that God heard, and would soon act for him.

God sees our situation and hears our cry today. That encourages me! That rekindles my threatened hope!

God gave David rest. Psalm 3:5 shows us David was able to lay down and sleep because the Lord sustained him.

God knows how and does comfort us when the adversities of life threaten our hope.
God is our ultimate Hope. He is reliable in any and every situation. It may be beyond all human hope and no one can help us. But God can!

Turn to Him as your Hope and let Him comfort you and let Him give you hope.