NACR Daily Meditation for Friday, May 21, 2004

21 May 2004 07:00:03 -0000

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NACR Daily Meditation for Friday, May 21, 2004

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Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." But you are
a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.Psalm 3:2-3

We receive messages about ourselves from the important people in our lives.
We internalize these messages and carry them with us, repeating them to
ourselves as if they were gospel truth. When the messages are shaming messages
then the internal chorus chants "You are not lovable. You are beyond
repair. Even God cannot help you."

This chorus is a chorus of lies. The psalmist rejects these lies. And we
need to begin to reject these lies as well.

The Lord is a "shield around me", the psalmist says. A shield
protects. It comes between the blows of an enemy and a person's vulnerable
places. Most shields are small and can only protect a limited area from
attack. But the shield which the Lord provides completely surrounds us.
We can let this shield protect us from these attacking messages.

The psalmist also says that the Lord "bestows glory on me and lifts
up my head". Heavy burdens of shame, neglect and abuse have bowed our
heads. The Lord listens, pays attention and cares about us. God's love counters
the voices of our internal shame-chorus so that we can lift our heads. God
replaces our shame with glory. It is a picture of a ragged, neglected child
whose head is bowed and shoulders are bent. A king sees the child and goes
to him. The king gently lifts the child's chin until his eyes meet his own
smiling eyes. He asks the child to come home and live as royalty with him.
The child is loved, honored, protected. You are the child. God lifts your
head and bestows glory.

God help me to stop listening to lies about you.
Help me to stop listening to lies about me.
Be a shield around me.
Bestow glory.
Lift up my head.
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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