“A hug is always the right size” – Winnie the Pooh.

Hugs can transform a moment and change a day. They can communicate all kinds of emotions: passion between lovers, gladness between friends, comfort in fear, and compassion in sorrow. When we are hugged, we become surrounded by a tenderness fitting for the situation at hand.

Hugs contain an uplifting quality. Someone has said, “One day, someone is going to hug you so tight that all of your broken pieces will stick together.” Hugs may not have the power to heal, but they can help.

Psalm 3, while not about hugs per se, speaks of the way God surrounds us with himself. He embraces us with the comfort of his presence, encasing us in his glory and revitalising us with his compassion. In him, every weakness, fear, sin and sadness dissipates.

But all these things only come to us through the mediating work of Jesus. Before Psalm 3 is about us, it is about Christ. As his enemies closed in, and as they strung him up on the cross, Christ’s confidence lay in God’s sustaining provision. He knew death could not hold him because God’s power would raise him.

In him, our head is lifted high, and we’re gifted with a worth like no other. The strength of his arms provides boundless confidence for our souls. His embrace gives vibrance to our life.