Psalm 3:3-4

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain.

This is the first psalm with a title, and it tells of a very difficult time in David’s life. His son, Absalom, had led what appeared to be a victorious rebellion, and to add insult to injury, many of David’s friends and associates had chosen to follow his wayward son. As David fled the holy city of Jerusalem, Absalom entered it and seized control. David’s days of glory appeared to be over…

“But you, O Lord…”

Most, if not all Christians, have experienced a similar situation. You may be walking through one right now as good times abandon you and dark days seize control. And while it may seem that nobody understands what you are going through – or even knows that you are going through it – God does. The Lord did not abandon David in his various seasons of distress and need…and He won’t abandon any of us, either. Its critical to notice the depth of the relationship between David and the Lord as it runs like a river from one psalm to the next. David’s foundation was his intimate walk with God.

David was not afraid to lay himself open like a book before God and is was afraid to share the depths of his emotions…and even his doubts. But he also has a good memory, and recalled times of protection, deliverance, and blessing (or glory). In our sin, we seek glory in fame, power, popularity, or material possessions…but in King Jesus we find it in His acceptance and love and delight!

Finally, while many Christians seek to contain their emotions as they lament in silent or whispered prayer, David “cried out to the Lord” and laid out his case boldly. Charles H. Spurgeon, in describing what David may have been thinking at the time, said, “My cruel enemies clamor against me; they lift up their voices, and, behold, I lift up mine, and my cry outsoars them all. They clamor, but the cry of my voice in great distress pierces the very skies, and is louder and stronger than all their tumult; for there is one in the sanctuary who hearkens to me from the seventh heaven, and he hath ‘heard me out of his holy hill.’”

Perhaps it is time for you to get alone with God and cry out with a loud voice. What enemy do you have that can overpower our Lord? What situation do you face that is beyond His understanding? Re-visit in praise what He has done for you in the past and cry out boldly for what you need Him to do for you in the present. He is listening.