"But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and THE LIFTER UP of mine head." (Psalm 3:3).

        A shield-- my glory-- and the up lifter-- the list could go on unending, but suffice it for now that we acknowledge that it is all found in our "LORD." Or, as it says in Psalm 87:7, "All my springs are in Thee." For HE IS THE SOURCE of all that we need. Furthermore, these descriptive terms are not so much placing the emphasis on what He does, but on what HE IS-- HE IS MY SHIELD. In state of being HE IS my Shield/Protector. As my Protector He is between me, and the enemy, whatever that contrary force might be.
         The first time the word "shield" is used in the Scripture in Genesis 15:1, when "The Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not  Abram: I AM thy shield..." Abram had been subject to the cosmic forces, according to the natural degeneration. He had no heir, and his body was as good as dead-- no longer functioning as it once did. Then the Lord appears unto him, with the statement that "HE" would be Abram's shield. God alone knows what happened to Abram when this shield was activated-- there was a rejuvenation-- not only did he produce an Isaac, but after Sarah died, we read that "Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah," (Gen. 25:1), and in due process of time she bare him six sons. Obviously God had to withdraw some of His protective covering, for the natural realm to run its course. But this certainly illustrates in the natural the awesomeness of His being our shield. And it also bears out the fact that God needs to choose in what areas He will currently be our Shield, governing the interplay of good and evil, while He fulfills His purpose in us. What a LIFE-FORCE He is!
         How prone we are to select those areas wherein we would have God as our Protector, and ever more we see the need for the prayer, "Not my will, but, Thine, be done." Especially in those times that He would use negatives in our processing. We see His working in Isaiah 54:7-8, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee-- In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment." Ever watchful of His own, though He holds the shield away from us for a moment, and yet the promise remains, "But with great mercies will I gather thee-- But with everlasting kindness will have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." With joy we can say, "The Lord is my Shield." He will protect us at all times, so only what He purposes to use in our many disciplines will be allowed to touch us. "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever." (Psalm 125:2). What a wall of protection HE IS for His people!
         And "my glory." Of a surety we are nothing in ourselves-- nothing wherein to boast, but we can rightly say, THE LORD IS MY GLORY, and in Him we shall boast. For "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that He understandeth and knoweth Me." (Jer. 9:23-24). Yes, truly IN HIM WE GLORY, and He is our glory. Only in the measure that He shares of His glory with us do we have any glory/honour. For, "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). Being totally of and by the grace of God, we can say "The Lord is my glory," and all praise is given unto Him.
         And then, wonder of wonders, Jesus goes on to include us-- "And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17 :22). Sharing in His glory brings us into oneness with Him. What we have in common is what He shares with us, for we have nought of our own to bring into this ONENESS RELATIONSHIP. All the more this emphasizes the grace and mercy-- the goodness of God-- that He shares His glory with us .
                   Thus by His grace a resting place at last my heart has found,
                   A settled case to now embrace by falling to the ground.
                   And in the womb of nothing's tomb my searching has an end,
                   For love's rare bloom God doth illume, His all-- my nothing-- blend.
        As our LORD He is our Shield, and He is our glory, and HE IS THE LIFTER UP OF MINE HEAD! The Knox translation gives, "Thou art the pride that keeps my head erect." In sin and shame our heads have hung low-- bowed down with guilt. But when He covers us with His Shield, working a transformation, to become a new creature in Christ, then shares His glory with us, it rightly follows that our head is lifted up-- with new attitudes, new thinking, new expressions to magnify our Lord.
         Paul writes-- "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2). Obviously this makes the RENEWING OF THE MIND an essential working in the child of God. However, "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" (Matt. 6:27). It is "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." (Zech. 4:6). Positive thinking is far better than negative thinking-- we have no argument there. Negative thinking lowers our head, to hang down with a defeatist attitude. So yes, we are advocates for having a positive mind. However, all self-effort in this regard is limited. With a diligent concentrated effort we might set some new thought patterns, but all of our "taking thought" cannot add a cubit to our stature. Yet the Lord, by the power of His Spirit, can LIFT UP OUR HEAD and change us in the process. We definitely need His help all the way. And while betimes we use a form of speech concerning what we are to do-- let it be clear that "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13). "I can of mine own self do nothing." (John 5:30). That is a fact!
         "Now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me." (Psalm 27:6). Already we have mentioned the Lord BEING A PROTECTION ROUND ABOUT US-- for He is our Shield. Therefore, when the enemy is round about us, HE, being between us and our adversary, can also be the LIFTER UP OF MINE HEAD. No longer to think the same negative thoughts that the enemy thinks-- for our mind is being renewed into a higher realm, and no longer to be conscious of the gloom and doom. Nor are we ever devil-conscious any more, for our eyes are becoming single to the Lord. "If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). When our head is lifted up we no longer see the secondary causes, for we see the Lord as the FIRST CAUSE of all that now touches our life. Luke 21:26 tells us of "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Fear hath torment-- literally, a restraint-- like shackles on the soul-- we cannot move, cannot act, bound in chains more real than those of iron. But when God lifts our head we no longer look only upon the things coming on the earth, for our eyes are "Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 21). God-conscious, mercy conscious, because He lifts our head above the carnal earth realm.
         Without a doubt some of the greatest battles being fought today are in, and for the mind. Hence the need to constantly LOOK UP, LIFT UP, "GIRD UP the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:13).
         The forces of evil in the world today are in a struggle for power-control, and in order to gain their goal they know they must have control of the minds of men. But in Divine counter-balance, the holy Spirit is moving in the hearts of men to bring every thought and imagination into the obedience of the truth. All the constant bombardment of the news in its repetition, to tell it over and over again, as if there was no other news to report, as they emphasize the crisis, the cover up of corruption, wars, calamities, etc. It wearies the mind of man, being channeled into thought-patterns of negativity. But the Spirit of God would lift our thoughts and center our minds upon Christ, and the hope of His kingdom set before us.
         We have already noted that Abram experienced having the Lord as his shield. And now, while it doesn't specifically state it so, we find that one of the greatest examples of having one's head lifted up, to see with clarity a deeper revelation of God, is also found in the life of Abram. He knew what a low earth vision was, and it caused him to mislead Pharaoh as to Sarah, his wife. He thought to use deception to save his own life. (read Genesis 12:10-20). But the longer he walked with God, the more God lifted up his head, and he could see from a much more elevated view." The Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward." (Gen. 13:14). It was an expanded vision with even greater things to come, going from the natural to the spiritual.
         Out of the deepest trial of his life God gave a revelation that was awesome and far-reaching. In testing him, God asked him to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. In obedience Abram gathered some wood, some fire, a knife, his son, and he started for "the place of which God had told him." "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.  And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF A LAMB for a burnt offering..." (Gen. 22:3, 7-8). Herein is a depth of truth that almost defies expression. Jesus said, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad." (John 8:56). It is far more than a play on words-- that God will provide HIMSELF-- "To wit, that GOD WAS IN CHRIST, reconciling the world unto Himself." (2 Cor. 5:19). Abram, seeing afar off, caught a glimpse of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Yes, God provided "a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." (verse 13). All of this was but a figure of the true. Limited vision would but see a natural ram-sheep, but if your head is truly lifted up, you will see the greater LAMB, and how God provided HIMSELF-- He gloriously involved Himself-- gave Himself a ransom for all.
         Isaac carried the wood. Jesus carried the cross. Abraham "accounted that God was able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." (Hebrews 11:19). Thus he saw the RESURRECTION! It is no wonder Abraham rejoiced to see HIS day-- "and he saw it, and was glad."
       God revealed to Abraham a vision so staggering that the vast majority of Christendom still cannot begin to comprehend it. Namely, that THROUGH CHRIST "shall all nations be blessed." Total blessing, total reconciliation for all nations, because it would be, indeed, IT IS AN ACT OF GOD providing Himself to be that Lamb. What mercy and grace are revealed when our heads are lifted up. What low-level vision we have endured. Our sight has been so focused on the carnal realm around us.
         Syria came warring against Israel, and when the servant of Elisha saw that an host compassed the city both with horses and with chariots, he said unto Elisha, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" His head was down in the dumps of gloom and despair. But Elisha was one whose head was lifted up, "And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more then they that be
with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes (Allow us to insert, lift his head) that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (2 Kings 6:15-17).
         Again we see how THE SHIELD was round about the man of God, and then his head was lifted up to see spiritual dimensions that are hidden from those who see only from the carnal side. If our eyes are open to see the Shield, and we know that the LORD is our glory, our salvation, our Life-Force, then we are in good position to have our head lifted up as well. The higher our head is lifted the less we'll see the negatives.
         As goes the verses from a couple of hymns by Johnson Oatman, Jr.
                          "My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay.
                          Tho' some may dwell where these abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.
                           Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's tableland,
                          A higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."
        And, "Tho' the world may sweep around me with her dazzle and her dreams,
                          Yet I envy not her vanities and pride,
                          For my soul looks up to heaven, where the golden sunlight gleams,
                          And I'm living on the hallelujah side."
       In regards to the signs of the time for His coming, Jesus said, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28). Certainly this means a lot more than what we have heard in the past-- to stand outdoors and look up at the white clouds to see if the Lord is coming on one of them. Such dreamy wishful ideas have nothing to do with a Spirit-imparted revelation of His COMING TO US, lifting up our head, and transforming us into His image.
         "When these things begin to come to pass..." that is, all the pressures, wars, rumours of  wars, crisis upon crisis, earthquakes, famine, drought, floods, tornado-hurricane winds, and whatever else comes along to distress the nations-- then,  just when our minds become taken up with all these, He says, "LOOK UP -lift up your head," and elevate your attitude, raise your  position; both as to its vision, and to your view of these things.
         The words "look up" come from the Greek word "ana" meaning-- again, and "kupto" meaning-- to bend. The oppressing, depressing spirit of the world constantly causes a bending, lowering our vision to see the muck and mire of the world, hence we need TO BEND AGAIN, reversing the downward trend, so that we are restored back to aright posture and vision-- returned to the higher attitude of Divine understanding. Little by little, bend some here, and bend some there, pressure upon pressure causing us to yield to the many influences of the world-- accepting the rationale of this world's system. So it will take a supernatural act of God to lift our head upward again, until our mind is in full harmony with His truth and righteousness. "Be not conformed to this world," do not take on the negative form of the world around you, do not allow the world to bend you to fit its mold, but be ye "transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom. 12:2).
         There is a form, an image that we would bear, it is HIS IMAGE, the image of the Son. Into that image we are being changed, "from glory to glory." The Arthur S. Way translation reads-- "All of us, with face unveiled gazing on the mirrored glory of our Lord, are hourly being transformed into the same likeness, from a mere reflected glory into an inherent glory, as may well be, since it proceeds from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Cor. 3:18). Truly, He is our Shield, our Glory, and the Lifter of our head. HE DWELLS WITHIN, so it becomes far more than a reflected glory, or just an outward sheen, but it is an INHERENT GLORY, WORKING FROM THE INSIDE OUT-- to become a true manifestation of His life.
         "And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift UP (Greek, LOOK UP)." (Luke 13:11). The Amplified reads-- "She was bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself or to look upward." Her vision was totally earth oriented. She was bent into a mold/shape that limited her to the world around her. She was in desperate need for the SOVEREIGN HAND OF GOD to lift up her head. Jesus "laid His hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God." (verse 13). Here is love and grace in action, and do note-- she did not credit man, nor lay past blame on the devil, even though it was a spirit of infirmity that had bowed her down. But once she was loosed and lifted up, SHE GLORIFIED GOD and none other.
       We would make it clear-- an uplifted head is not a do-it-your-self project, nor an ego-building self-realization work. The carnal mind cannot deliver itself from its carnality.  But when He touches there is a life-flow that looses and lifts us. His anointed Word-- THE TRUTH-- "shall make you free." Once you have been lifted, then LOOK UP, don't continue to look down on the mire from whence you were raised-- don't wallow any longer in thoughts of doubt and self-pity, lest the shackles bind you again, and then your latter state becomes worse than the first. With the ability God gives you, refuse to look down, when He has set you free to look up. You can will to have God's will. The power to carry out that will is HIS, but the attitude towards that will is yours once He has lifted your head. Let the revealed truth become your new outlook. Then gird up the loins of your mind so that there are not any "little stray thoughts" wandering around to bend/turn your mind back to the courses of this world. When the Lord lifts our head by His Spirit, He will help us to set our affection (mind) on things above so that we keep focused on that which will glorify Him. Bless His name!
         One of the areas where we need to maintain an uplifted head/vision, is in regards to the travail, cross, processings which He has appointed for us. Paul wrote that "There was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
         His first attitude was such that Paul prayed three times for his testing to be removed. But God had elected for it to stay! The weakness from which he desired to be free was purposed by God for his growth in grace, and for the protection of the ministry, lest self would become exalted, and thus mar the handiwork of God within. It was a "messenger of Satan," but IT WAS GIVEN BY GOD! And when God showed Paul the reasonableness of HIS working, it lifted his head-- knowing that God was His shield, and his glory, and he quit praying for the "thing" to depart, and he began to glory and rejoice in his weakness. He chose to take pleasure in the things from which the mortal part of him would seriously like to be free. This change of attitude as his head was lifted, brought the supply of needed grace for day by day victory in Christ.
         To recognize that our various processings are OF GOD, and that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor.4:17-18). This is to see the things as God sees them-- and only HE can LIFT UP our heads to have this vision of truth. The view is, since God is for it, them I am for it! Let His grace/power be revealed, let Him be magnified.
         James 1:2-4, The Living Bible Paraphrased. "Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don't try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete." Wow! That certainly is an uplifted vision! And I dare say, you cannot "count it all joy" unless you KNOW-- know that it is in the plan of God to use this trial for an ever greater manifestation of His grace.
         When He becomes THE UP LIFTER of our head, we begin to survey the situation from an entirely new viewpoint-- and we "reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom. 8:18). As long as we are bowed together, face flat in the earth's dirt and negativity, we will resist the hand of God, and grovel in our misery. But the more He lifts our head, causing us to KNOW that HE IS OUR SHIELD, and HE IS OUR GLORY, then, as the song goes, we can
                          "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full is His wonderful face,
                          And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."
         How we need a HIGHER VISION in these days, especially in regards to all the events of our times. "So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time." (Matt. 6:34, L. B. Para.). This is not a foolish sticking your head in the sand, but a recognizing and knowing that GOD has everything in control, "working all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ." (Eph. 1:11-12). Truly, we would be among God's "first trusters."  Some will learn to trust Him in the days to come, but we would have our heads lifted NOW, and come to trust in Him NOW.
         There are those who are fully engrossed in looking after those things which are coming on the earth. But to look at all earth's negatives is sure to produce a fearful state of mind. The flesh cannot stand up under the pressure, hence men's hearts fail them. But when HE LIFTS OUR HEAD to the higher realm, we know that after the storm of the night, joy cometh in the morning, and HE becomes our peace.
                          Bowed low with attitudes deformed, we moved in spheres where sorrows
                          swarmed,  All jangled as emotions stormed. 'Twas God alone our soul transformed.
                          The sovereign working of His grace that turned our lives about-- to face
                          The trials of this present race with attitudes He did replace.
                          Lift up the head, and gird the mind, and take the path He hath refined.
                          The upward look has far outshined that earthy vision left behind.
                          Praise God- -HE IS Shield, my Glory, and the Lifter of my head. Amen!
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(1)Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

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