God Will Lift Up Your Head

Opening:

Last week’s prayer service was such a good time for my heart and I hope it was beneficial to you as well.

As we petitioned the Lord for what He wanted of us as a church and individually, God has put outreach and evangelism on our hearts. I will post the results so you can see them but overwhelming they all aimed at outreach into our community.

Does that cause us all to have a little fear or anxiety? it sure can.

God Is Faithful

God will lift up your head

Principle: When you look up and cry out to the Lord, He will deliver you.

Context:

David was fleeing from his son Absalom. 2 Sam 15-18

Absalom had already murdered his brother, declared himself as king, but to do so officially, he’d have to kill the king (His father David).

Plus, Absolom was winning the favor of many of those who’s allegiances where with King David.

Clearly, this is one of the most extreme measure of rejection and betrayal imaginable; when your own child seeks to destroy you.

However, I feel it necessary to point out that David loved Absalom even though a coup was rising up against. When the army of David over-through Absalom,

David’s response to his troops Was…

They were afraid to rejoice in their victory! Joab actually rebuked David.

Finally, three times there is the word Selah in our passage. When you red it, you may have thought, “Selah? Who is she?”

She is a pause.

Illustration

Philip De Courcy noted that most scholars understand the word, but are unsure of its usage in the psalms.

1. The word means to pause, lift up, or reflect/repeat.

2. A Choirmaster is directing people to sing the song. The rest could be for the melody’s sake.

3. It could be that they wanted the choir to repeat the line.

4. Or it could mean- and I agree with De Courcy- it was likely a pause so they could be silent and just listen for God.

Illustration: Our minds are always racing and wondering. Most of us need some level of distraction- music, the TV on, talk radio, something! because silence is something we have become unfamiliar with and yet God speaks in whispers.

Psalm 3:1–8 HCSB

Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. I am not afraid of the thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side. Rise up, Lord! Save me, my God! You strike all my enemies on the cheek; You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah

God is Faithful in the Midsts of Neigh-Sayers. Verses 1-2

Explanation 1-2

David is under attack. He’s is pursued physically but its more than that.

this attack is tempting him to question if God is for Him. That is a full on mental, and spiritual battle that David is facing.

Salvation: means here is deliverance (not salvation)

They were saying “God will never help you, you deserve this.”

It hurt because David knew God was the only one who could help

Him, but according them God is on their side.

Amen moment

The battle against doubting God-specifically that God is for us, not against us is real, Amen?

Fearing we will not be cared for by God, is real, Amen?

We become anxious in all things when things seem to be going in a direction we did not want or anticipate. That is real, Amen?

Im not certain this conflict with David was 50/50 physical and spiritual.

David was a military genius.

He has a body count greater than the army facing Him.

1 Samuel 18:7 “As they celebrated, the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.”

David’s real battle was if he was right.

If he was doing what God wanted Him to do. Meanwhile the armies against him are saying God is with us. He is not with you!

This is where we can see ourselves in this psalm.

We aren’t Kings engaging in a war.

Hopefully your children are not trying to kill you.

Like David, our battle is for our minds.

Fear, doubt, anxiety, those are our enemies.

And they tempt us to question God’s faithfulness.

Transiton: How do we overcome this temptation? By crying out to the Lord!

God is Faithful When We Cry Out to Him. Verses 3-6

Explanation v3

David starts His prayer with hard facts.

Psalm 3:3 HCSB

But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.

You are a shield.

Shields back then protected against arrows that were launched from some distance away.

They protected against the things that seemed to come from out of no where.

Paul likened the devil’s schemes and temptation to be like arrows.

Ephesians 6:16 HCSB

In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

This is what David is doing. He is declaring what he knows to be true even thought his heart is drowning in doubt

Shield = Protection. David is saying “God, you are my protection!”

Glory = Vindication. David is saying “God, you are my vindication!”

When we preach to ourselves what we know to be true, even when we aren’t feeling it, we unlock something powerful!

God lifts our head!

When you declare what is true of God, in-spite of how things feel to you, God uses that to lift your head (or turn your attention) from the situation to a laser focus on Him.

That redirect of his thoughts upward lead David to cry out to God

God lifts the weight from David or relieves Him from his fear.

David focused his attention on God

One of the hardest things we must do as Christians is to get our attention off of our pain

Pain from people, or groups, or circumstances.

When we look down, we are observing the battlefield of life, and what we need is to [Selah] pause and reflect.

God wants us to shift our focus from what's below to what's above.

That's why the Psalms are so valuable.

They teach us to look up and let God change our perspective.

What does it take for our hearts to be lifted up by the Lord?

Psalm 3:4 HCSB

I cry aloud to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah

As Christians, we are good at crying out.

As Christians, we are good at CO to refs

As Christians we are good at CO to each other

To Cry out to the Lord is to verbally yell out!

Illustration:

Together for the Gospel, the man cried out to the Lord.

Psalm 77:1 HCSB

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me.

Psalm 142:1–2 HCSB

I cry aloud to the Lord; I plead aloud to the Lord for mercy. I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.

This is what David meant when he cried out to the Lord.

That was why his head was lifted.

We are promised peace that surpasses all understanding! As believes it is freely given to you, but it is conditional.

Philippians 4:6–7 (HCSB)

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Cry out to God!)

And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We have to guard our hearts by crying out to God.

Don’t settle for crying out to people of the church.

The Lord offers you peace.

Mission Moment

Our advice to people when they are heavy burdened by life should be,

Have you taken this before God?

If not let’s cry out to Him together, let’s petition Him together

so that in those moments, God will lift your head, and raise your heart above the pain of this situation.

Use the time when your anxious, worried or nervous to cry out to God.

God promises to meet with the person who cries out to Him with all they have from the depths of their hearts.

What does that meeting look like, or how does that fix my situation?

Psalm 3:5–6 (HCSB)

I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.

I am not afraid of the thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.

He’s not saying he’s never going to be tempted to be afraid.

Instead, David’s stressing his determination not to give into the fear under no circumstances

“with clinched teeth, I will not be afraid! I will Trust in the Lord!”

Am I tempted to be afraid? Everyday, every minute of every day!

But I will not be afraid

Application

What can we learn from David’s attitude? While looking straight in the face of his fears, anxiety, and his stress, he says NO I will not Give way to you.

David was aware that fear, stress, and anxiety were just as formidable an enemy as the trained soldiers who were trying to kill him.

They posed an equal threat.

It is important to understand that giving in to fear is just as dangerous, as it invites the enemy into your heart and your home.

I’m not trying to judge or condemn any of you; I struggle too!

Last Sunday was afraid of what God was impressing on my heart because of how big it was.

God wants me to share my faith with 200 people this year!

The war with fear started immediately.

Prayer is a battleground!

I will be crying out every time I am tempted to be silenced because of fear and anxiety

When we fear, and we need to recognize the enemy has broken through our defenses and gotten in,

It’s time to repent and recognize that fear IS SIN.

God has not given us a heart of fear.

So if it’s not from God, then it’s either my flesh, or it’s demonic; both are categorized as sin in the Bible.

Don’t allow the sin of fear to live in your heart and pay rent in your mind.

Say, “Lord forgive me for being fearful. I am not walking with confidence in you.

I have allowed my circumstances to become greater than you.

I trust Your Word and your promise, you will never leave me or forsake me and when I cry out to You, you have promised my heart and mind peace, rest and the ability to worship in these times and I am claiming those things now, in Jesus name.”

When you do that, you take this matter to the cross.

When we confess our sins to the Lord and ask for forgiveness, we gain a great power in our walk with Him.

By doing so, we disarm the enemy who can no longer use our sins to beat us up.

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, our sins lose their power, resulting in a new attitude and outlook on life.

It is important to confess our sins, no matter how many times we may need to do so.

“He Lord, Aaron here, again, I should be trusting you but I am not, please forgive me as I commit to move forward in the trust of your promises.”

like David, resolve after that prayer I will not give into fear even though I may be pursued by thousands,

or my electric may be cut off,

or my diagnosis doesn’t go my way,

or I this marriage seem irreversible.

While gritting your teeth teeth, you must resolve in your heart that God is greater than your problems! His promises are for you; not against you as long as I look up and cry out!

God is Faithful in Delivering Us verses 7-8

Psalm 3:7–8 HCSB

Rise up, Lord! Save me, my God! You strike all my enemies on the cheek; You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah

Explanation

I feel it important to stress the context once more of David’s situation. Absalom is David’s son whom he loves. Many time in 2 Sam David stresses he wants nothing to happen to Absalom.

Principle: We should not ask God to strike down people we may view as enemies.

Striking the jaw and breaking teeth are very strong metaphors.

I battle more with emotions than people. My flesh and my feelings want to run loose inside me. They wage war within on the man Im tempted to be want to be verse the man I am.

The image of breaking the jaw and the teeth of my enemies is a prayer to completely remove the bark and the bite of my enemies

Silence them Lord!

Make it where they cannot hurt me.

Break this power over my life.

That is what David is asking the Lord to do. Once and for all remove the enemy from my mind.

David knew God was not dependent on his feelings. the ability and power of God was never hindered or strengthen by David’s feeling.

Nor does our feelings about a circumstance hinder or empower God.

David could make a declaration about God regardless of how he feels.

so often we are held captive to our feelings so much so that when I feel scared nothing of faith comes out of my mouth.

we need to learn from David who spokes/preached these truths to gain proper perspective.

In verse 8 David reminds the choir deliverance belongs to the Lord and His power is on His people.

Say it with me! Deliverance comes from God.

Deliverance comes from God.

Why keep saying it?

Because you and I will leave this building, end up in a difficult position this week, and we will try to deliver ourselves.

We will create or design some plan or scheme to deliver ourselves.

David truly believe deliverance came from the Lord because he was tested twice

David was delivered by God as a young Shepherd

1 Samuel 17:37 HCSB

Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”

On two occasions he could have killed Saul. His friends were encouraging him. The lord has given Saul into your hands! Both times David refused to do so “I will not deliver myself, deliverance belongs to the Lord”

Application

Do you have fear and anxiety in your life?

1. David demonstrated what Jesus permeated.

Jesus was pursued by an army and he was tempted to fear. In fact, He battled a war inside so strong that drops of blood reached his brow, but He didn’t sin.

Hebrews 12:4 “In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

However, in the Garden, before His arrest, Jesus cried out to God. God lifted His head to heaven and Jesus said “never the less your will be done.” Jesus allowed God the Father to deliver Him.

Yes, He faced suffering on the cross but, God was with Him. That was enough for Jesus.

2. Stop trying to deliver yourself.

God has defeated your greatest enemy at the cross.

When you are tempted to fear or be anxious.

Cry out to God, confess that your eyes are on the world and not Him. He will draw near to you and give you peace, rest and deliverance.

Prayer

In Christ Alone

those who are hurting in the room come because you are beldiving and those of you are encouraging others

[Maybe application?]

Why should someone be silent at the Selahs? Because they give us the frame work in this Psalm that allows us to personalize the psalm to our own lives. 3 principles and a pause will allow God to help us see the same universal principles are for us too.