Psalm 3:1-3 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.  ²Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. ³But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

When he was 7 years old his family was forced out of their home, and he had to go to work to support them. At the age of 9 his mother died. At the age of 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school, but his education was not good enough. At the age of 23, he went into debt to become a part owner of a small store. His business partner died and he was left to pay the debt off for many years following.  
At the age of 28, after four years of courtship, he asked the young lady whom he was romantically involved with to marry him, she said no. Just years earlier he had a romantic relationship that ended at the girl’s death. At 37, after three times of trying, he was elected to congress, only to lose his seat two years later when he ran for reelection. 
At 41 his four year old son died. The next year he was rejected as land officer. At 45 he ran for the U.S. Senate and lost. Two years later he was defeated for the nomination of Vice President. At 49 he ran for the Senate again, and lost again. At 51 he was elected to President of the United States, but on his second term he was assassinated.  
Who am I referring too? I am referring to Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was a man who knew failure. He knew what it was like to be hit with the fiery arrows of life. He knew loneliness and loss, humiliating failures, debilitating disappointments, and agony upon agony. He experienced hopeless circumstances. 
The experiences of Abraham Lincoln are universal. We could all draw a map of our life and it would reveal failures, loneliness, loss , disappointments, and agony. We can all look to times in our life where everything seemed hopeless. That is where we find King David. We find him reaping the consequences of bad choices. We find him facing a seemingly hopeless situation. Adversity is evidently very real to him in this psalm.  
 
The occasion is not a happy occasion; therefore the prayer he records is a cry for help. Most see Absolam’s revolt as the occasion for this prayer. Absalom was David’s son who desired the throne of his father, so he plotted to overthrow it. The revolt was so powerful that David had to flee Jerusalem. David did not pen the psalm in the palace, but he penned it while under the starry sky running for his life.  
David could have let the hopeless adversity make his heart sick. He could have let the hopeless adversity discourage him. He could have believed the majority who said that God had abandoned him but he didn’t. He knew that this is one time that the majority was wrong.  
 
He knew that even though the situation seems hopeless, he could still be hopeful. For he knew he had a sure foundation of hope. *He could have let what he was down under determine his outlook, but instead he let his outlook be determined by his up-look. David was in a situation of desperation, but he seems to have caught a glimpse of deliverance. 
 
"But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the one who lifts my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill."  
 
So David looks up and is hopeful. And as David looks up, there are two things he declares about his hope. 
 
1. He declares the hope of God’s protection: He says, "But you, O Lord are a shield for me." When we think of a shield we usually thing of something that protects us or defends us. It is something that we can put in front of us so that we can protect and defend ourselves from the enemy. But the idea that David has in mind here for shield is the type that brings not one-sided protection, but all-sided protection. The Message Bible translates this verse “But you, God, shield me on all sides…“ This protection is from above, beneath, around, without, and within. What a shield God is for his people!

2. He declared the hope of God’s personal touch: He says here that He knows God will be "the one who lifts my head." Hopeless situations can breed discouragement, disappointment, and depression. But David did not let the situation determine his outlook. He knew the hope of God’s comfort, of God‘s personal touch.  
He knew that God was "the one who lifts my head." He knew that God could deliver a man from all that discourages, all that disappoints, and all that depresses. God is the one who lifts heads. He is the comforter of his people. *And notice that it is not the situation that David is concerned with God touching. David knows that it is HE who needs God’s personal touch.

Let me ask you: Can your God do anything? Is there anything too hard for God? Is there any situation you can present Him, where it causes Him to become incapable or unable to guide you through it? The answer is a resounding NO! There is absolutely no hopeless situation for the believer. No family situation. No health situation. No financial situation. No job situation. No emotional situation. No national situation. There is no hopeless situation for those who put their faith and trust in God.