Shoulders Up, Back and Down

Psalm 43

 ¹Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation;
         O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
    ²For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me?
         Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
    ³O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
         Let them bring me to Your holy hill
         And to Your dwelling places.
    ⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
         To God my exceeding joy;
         And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
    ⁵Why are you in despair, O my soul?
         And why are you disturbed within me?
         Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
         The help of my countenance and my God. 

This is such a short chapter, but the last three verses say so much!  I love the thought that God will send out his light and truth to lead us to a place of holiness.  That going to this place will cause me to sing and be joyful and that I can hope in God. 

I was walking in to the building I work in this morning with my purse on my shoulder and it kept slipping off.  Now, I am not usually one to complain about my body.  I love my shoulders, except for this.  They are not wide enough.  No matter what I hang on them, it slips off.  It may sound strange (especially to the men reading this), but I feel that my shoulders do not handle straps very well.  It made me think is my shoulders big enough to handle burdens of other kinds? 

The Marching Band has a little routine that they go through to make sure they are standing as straight as they can.  One of them is Shoulders!  Up, Back, Down!  Are my shoulders up?  Are they set back or down?  Can I be depended on to listen and be there when my friend needs a should to cry on?  Do I carry my load around on my shoulders or do they droop down from the weight?  Is there a chip that I can't seem to get off?  O Lord, please help me be the person that has the big shoulders. That doesn't feel the sorrow and sadness in a way that everyone knows it.  Help me be the one my family and friends can depend on.  Help me hold them up and help them to praise you on your holy hill.