Psalm 3: Save Me

Save Me, O My God A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I relate to this psalm of David more than I do to many others. To put an interesting twist on how this might be interpreted I offer the following: For me, the foes that David describes are often not physical people in my life but instead they are my own personal demons that I struggle with every day. So often I find myself thinking about how very undeserving I am of God's grace and love. While I know that Satan is the instigator of negativity, being a fragile human woman I tend to crumble immediately when I hear them replayed in my mind. "I'm not good enough." "Nobody will ever truly love me the way I desire to be loved." "Who would want to be with someone as awful as I am?" "What do I have to offer anyone?" These poisonous internal jabs cross my mind almost daily and can cripple me from being able to reach to God for help. Sometimes, I struggle with these for days before realizing exactly what has been tormenting me and making me sad. After struggling to handle these feelings on my own that I eventually realize how good God really is. He is my shield; a strong shield, yet one that does not deflect everything (or life would be perfect--without struggle or consequences of sin). I've woken up every morning; even if I feel bad, and God has taken care of me, my family and my friends. The struggle for me is learning that I do not need to fear these 'thousands of people' (struggles) that surround me at all times. I don't need to wake in the morning afraid that I won't be loved. I don't need to curl up and cry because I am afraid I have nothing to offer those around me. This is a great psalm that has spoken to me more lately. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have! Any thoughts? Love, Rachel Catheryn