I cried to the Lord

I cried to the Lord...He heard my voice

We all face difficult things in our lives, for me at the moment its mostly my ill health that concerns me and can drag me down. One of the main things effected by my ill health is socialising with others. Often I'm too ill to attend an event whether it be at church or with friends etc... Often after an invitation to dinner and I say no or last minute can't attend,  its annoying how people can easily misunderstand you and think the worst e.g. 'Couldn't be bothered' or 'not committed to anything'. In the end I don't get another invite, people give up on me. Its at times like this that you can feel that everyone and the world is against you and is lining up in a queue to attack you.
Its easy to get caught up with negative people who steal our hope. Its a part of life that we always will have those encounters with people who drag us down.
It says in Psalm 3:1-4

1 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me,“There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

As we can see in verse 3, God is a shield for me, which connotes that we have to pick up a shield for it to protect us. Christ is our shield and we must lean on him and grip our shield tightly for protection. Using the analogy of the shield if we're not close behind it we are in danger of being hit by the 'fiery darts'

Action is required on our part; for example if were near drowning , we would cry for help and put our hands up to be saved. As in this Psalm we cry out to God and we see at the end of verse 4 'He heard me'!

I love verse 3:b 'the one who lifts up my head. This is such a vivid picture of a parent lifting up a child's head to reassure them that they are loved deeply. God loves us deeply and is better than any parent here on earth. He loves us so much he desires for us to trust in Christ and be completely shielded from 'the fiery darts of the wicked one'.(Eph 6:16)

Think about :

Are we laying everything at Christ's feet today?
How do you stay closer to God in your walk with Him?