DAILY?READINGS: Exodus 32; Psalms 81-82; Acts 19:21-41
Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Psalm 3:2-3
David’s foes were saying there was no hope for him, but he confronted this notion by declaring that God was his “shield” and the “lifter” of his head. It is our natural tendency to hang our heads in discouragement during difficult trials. But David chose to peer heavenward and to wait for deliverance. The Lord uses pain so that believers may better identify with Him in His sorrow. Exercising deliberate confidence in the character of God when it seems unreasonable to do so, delivers our minds from the grip of depression. —W. A. H.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. —John Wade