Dear Amy,

Knowing what we do about ourselves, how can we possibly hold our head high?

David had a similar problem.

David was chosen by the Lord because he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He earnestly sought the Lord and wrote many of the psalms which have blessed the generations. But let us not make the mistake of thinking that he was a righteous man. His later life was in fact a catalogue of failure and shame, culminating in his most shabby and shameful moral failure, committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11).

Previously, David wrote Psalm 3 when he was being pursued by his son Absalom, who was trying to kill him and seize control of the kingdom. What greater failure as a father could there be than that? How utterly shameful.

And yet we read this.

But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

― Psalm 3:3

David was so aware that he had no glory of his own. He had only shame. But the Lord himself was his glory, and not only the reason that he could hold his head high, but the one who actually lifted his head.

(Of course, this in no way diminishes the Lord’s condemnation of sin in one’s life. David was severely rebuked by the Lord after his wretched doings with Bathsheba. Repentance was very necessary. Forgiveness followed.)

And so it is for us. The nearer we draw to God and the more we focus on personal holiness, the more aware we become of our own failure and shame, all those reasons Christ died on the cross. We own those reasons. And yet, the Lord is my glory, the lifter of my head. Yours too, Amy! He chose us in him to be holy and blameless in his sight, and he will achieve his purposes. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Cast off the shame. He alone is my glory. Praise him!

Hold your head high, Amy, and know that the Lord himself is your glory! 🙏