LIFTING MY HEAD
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Psalm 24:7
God speaks to His people and joyfully commands them to lift their heads. He has gone out to battle on their behalf and has come back victorious.
Have you been shamed? No matter what the context, the experience is gut wrenching. Every part of your being feels it. Your emotions plummet. Your mind runs tapes of the accusations. Your body language turns inward.
I recall when Joseph told the cupbearer, who was falsely accused, that Pharaoh would lift up his head in three days. The Hebrew idiom paints a beautiful picture. It is when the one shrunken in shame is restored to his position of power. It’s used other places in scripture that expand its beauty.
King David, betrayed by his son Absalom, on the run with just the clothes on his back, turns to God for vindication. He climbed the Mount of Olives, covered up his head, wept, and said, “You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” Psalm 3:3 As king, he could have formed an army, or at least a posse, to get back his throne. He abandoned all ideas of conniving, of battling, and of manipulating. He recognized that God was his rescuer.
Who has stripped you of your honor? How long have you been brought low? Have you accepted your fate and given up all hope of restoration? Perhaps you even abandoned prayer.
I hope you’re not a fighter who has vowed to take revenge and battle it out. Perhaps you intend to get back what you’ve lost no matter who has to pay. You’ve turned aside from God as your Redeemer and have taken up your own cause.
The hardest thing for any of us to do when betrayed is to wait on God to move. He always will. We just don’t know when. In the meantime, the waiting is never wasted. God draws near, comforts, teaches us what He suffered under the same circumstances. He pours out treasure upon treasure that is only found in the darkness. He is, and will be, the lifter of our heads.
Satan offered you a way out of waiting when he offered you the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship. Thank you for not caving. Everything would have been lost. So teach me to wait! Amen
Copyright Christine Inc.
Find more info at: www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Monday, 12 August 2019.
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