For the past few months, I have been following the Israelites journey from Abraham’s loins to becoming an independent nation in my bible studies. And a few days ago, something caught my attention in Joseph’s story.

Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers because they were jealous of him. While in slavery, his master’s wife tried to force herself on him which landed him in jail. Through all his woes, the favour of God continued to rest on him and distinguished him even in the jail cell. One night, two people in the jail had dreams and woke up quite disturbed because they did not understand what their dreams meant. And Joseph through God’s power, interpreted their dreams. Lets read together:

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. [Genesis 40:9-13 NASB]

This is a long passage so lets pause for a second and pay attention to the bolded words: Pharoah will lift up your head. Got it? Ok let’s continue:

When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.” [Genesis 40 :16- 19]

This time, pay attention to the bolded statement: Pharoah will lift up your head from you. Same guy, Pharoah; same kind of dream for the butler and the baker; but very different outcomes. One’s head was lifted up and the other’s head was lifted up from his body. This is what God was drawing my attention to this week.

There is a psalm that I pray over myself every time I need to experience God’s supernatural favour in my dealings with people. And it is this:

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Psalm 3:3 ESV

And although I pray this prayer very often, I sometimes find myself seeking personal recognition and honour from people or find myself trying to curry favour with people using my own efforts. This week, I found myself in such a position and as I was walking away from that situation, I heard God’s rebuke as the scripture Psalm 3:3 came to mind. God was reminding me from His word that He alone is and should be the lifter of my head.

The baker thought that because the butler had received favorable news about Pharoah lifting the butler’s head, that he would receive the same news. However, his interpretation was rather grave (no pun intended): Pharaoh would lift up his head right off his body! You see, human beings are fickle. The bible tells us that the arm of flesh (human beings) will fail us but the One who created the arm is mighty to save (2 Chronicles 32:8). We are encouraged to not put our hope in any human being.

Looking to people to bestow honour on us, that is not God-sanctioned, can only lead to trouble. When we look to mere humans for our elevation and promotion, you never know what you will get: either your head will be lifted up or it will be lifted up from your body! But God’s promises are yes and amen: to be the lifter of your head.

This week, God reminded me that instead of praying this psalm as a request of Him, that I confess it as my positionality. GOD is my Shield. GOD is my Glory. GOD is the Lifter of my head. This confession delimits my tendencies and desires to chase after promotions and recognition. If God wants honour and elevation for me, it will happen. I do not need to chase after them. After all, God’s goodness and His mercies have been designed to follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23: 6) and not the other way around.

Today’s post is a message for me. It is deeply personal. However, it might be a word of caution or a sweet reminder of God’s tender love for you. Which ever the case, God is always and forever for us, guarding jealously and fiercely our inheritance in Christ Jesus. He is a shield about us, our glory, and the lifter up of our heads. Amen.

Yours Truly