Psalm 3 has always been so encouraging to me:
v. 3 “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. (…)
8 From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.”
Going through a divorce, I felt very vulnerable. The imagery of God being all around me as a shield was so comforting. Divorce is also very humiliating. I loved the gentle reminder that God is the one who lifts up my head.
Going through trials of any kind can leave a person lying awake at night, restless with worry and concern. God is the One who can give us sleep. We truly can leave our lives in His hands. He is our deliverer!
This old favorite hymn from childhood “says it all”:
“I look not back, God knows the fruitless efforts,
The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets.
I leave them all with Him who blots the record,
And graciously forgives, and then forgets.
I look not forward, God sees all the future,
The road that, short or long, will lead me home,
And He will face with me its every trial,
And bear for me the burdens that may come.
I look not round me; then would fears assail me.
So wild the tumult of earth’s restless seas,
So dark the world, so filled with woe and evil,
So vain the hope of comfort and of ease.
I look not inward, that would make me wretched,
for I have naught on which to stay my trust.
Nothing I see save failures and shortcomings,
And weak endeavors, crumbling into dust.
But I look up-into the face of Jesus,
for there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled.
And there is joy, and love, and light for darkness,
And perfect peace, and every hope fulfilled.”