Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Psalm 24:7

God spoke to His people and commanded them to lift their heads. He went out to battle on their behalf and assured them that He would come back victorious.  Raising a hopeful countenance to their Deliverer took faith and the waiting was difficult no matter how beautiful the promise.

I recall when Joseph told the Pharaoh’s cupbearer, who was falsely accused, that Pharaoh would lift up his head in three days. The Hebrew idiom paints a beautiful picture. It is when the one shrunken in shame is restored to his position of honor. It’s also used other places in scripture that expand its beauty.  King David, on the run from Absalom with just the clothes on his back, turned to God for vindication. He climbed the Mount of Olives, covered his head, wept, and said, “You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” Psalm 3:3  As king, David could have formed an army to get back his throne but he abandoned such ideas. He recognized that God was his rescuer.

Who has stripped you of your honor?  No matter what the context, the experience is gut wrenching. Your mind runs tapes of the accusations made against you as your body language turns inward.  Perhaps you have accepted this as your fate.  I hope you are not a fighter who has vowed to take revenge, to get back what you’ve lost no matter who has to pay. It’s easy to turn against your Redeemer to take up your own cause.

The hardest thing for any of us to do when betrayed is to wait on God to move. He always will; we just don’t know when. In the meantime, the waiting is never wasted. God draws near, comforts us with just the right words framed with compassion, and then shares with us what He suffered under the same circumstances.  Each disclosure is a treasure upon treasure, the kind only found in the darkness. He is our King, the One who rules righteously, and He is the lifter of our heads.

Satan offered you a way out of waiting when he offered you the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship. Thank you for not caving. Everything would have been lost. So teach me to wait! Amen

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