The correct answer will be the scripture passage we will be looking at for today. With that in mind, let's begin with a guessing game called "what do we have in common"?
Okay, King David and me? Here are the choices. Think it through.
1. I like David, once slew a giant, 1 Samuel 17. However, mine wasn't named Goliath.
2. I once hid in a cave to get away from an enemy, as David did, 1 Samuel 22:1. No, it wasn't Wind Cave.
3. I once had a boss named Saul.
4. I once prayed a David-like prayer that was answered differently than I had hoped, 2 Samuel 12:15-25.
If you chose #4, you're correct. Picture in your mind wild applause coming your way. Oh, did I forget to tell you that you will receive no prize or public recognition for having guessed the correct answer? Sorry, but here is the story that illustrates the only thing I have in common with the one who is called "a man after God's heart.", Acts 13:22.
I was pulling weeds in the garden this morning when I remembered that day. It was spring. Almost Easter, and I was in the kitchen talking to a friend on the phone. I was walking and spinning as I talked. Well, they always say how good it is to keep moving. All went well until I spun on my heel and rather than landing on my feet I struck the floor. Falling hard on my wrist. Meanwhile, in the garden, my husband heard a loud crash, and when he heard nothing else that indicated that something bad had occurred, he assumed that I had simply dropped something heavy on to the floor.
Here is where the David-like prayer comes into the story. After having stood up while talking with my friend for just a bit longer, I hung up not having admitted my folly. It was time for prayer and action. So, I ran cold water over my swelling wrist and prayed to the Lord for healing. I did this more than once, sitting in my rocking chair between each immersion under the cold water. Praying that God might heal the broken bone that felt like a wishbone disconnected from its original place of closure. When my husband came in, I told him the story. He wondered why I didn't call out to him right after having fallen. My answer? I needed to pray. After all, God is big, and touching my wrist and bringing healing was surely something He surely could do. There was no reason in my mind not to ask Him. No, He didn't heal me in the fashion I had hoped. The swelling and pain didn't go away, and surgery was needed. More about the story later, but for now, let's be encouraged by David's prayer and what we learn about him and God through the account that is found in 2 Samuel 12:15-25.
The first part of 2 Samuel 12 is the story of David's repentance after having been confronted by Nathan concerning his having committed adultery and murder. It is here that we see God's forgiveness and also the consequences of David's sins. One of these consequences would be the death of David and Bathsheba's baby. Here is where David's prayer comes in. When the baby became ill, David cried out to God for the little one's healing. Yes, God has told him that the child would die, but while the baby lived, David asked for God's intervention. I love his words, after the baby finally died, that tell us the reason for his prayer. He thought just maybe. Maybe God's mercy would be poured out, and the baby would live. No, it didn't end the way the king had wanted things to turn out. However, what he knew about the Lord gave him the desire to ask. Because who knew what David's God would do. When God said no to His request, David honored Him, knowing that someday, he and the child would, once again, be reunited, 2 Samuel 12:23. In 2 Samuel 12:24-25, we see God's grace being poured out on David. They have another child. No, not a replacement for the precious one that was now with the Lord, but another child. His name Jedidiah means beloved of the lord, 2 Samuel 12:25. This son who we know as Solomon is a reminder that even when God says no to a bold prayer, that isn't a sign that He has stopped caring for us. By God's grace, Solomon is in Jesus' lineage, Matthew 1:6.
Back to weed pulling. Why did my mind go back to that day ten years ago? Because as I yanked up weeds, I was thankful for the strength in my wrist to do the chore. A reminder of God's answer to my prayers that day. Even though the healing was different than I had hoped, thinking of those moments when I knew I could ask my Abba for something big brought me joy. Just knowing that He cared enough to listen to me and that there was a reason He answered as He did was a good thing. After all, He is the One Who invites His children to ask Him, Matthew 7:7-11; James 4:2.
Even when God's answers like David's and my own, look different than we had hoped, God's care and love sustains us, Psalm 55:22, and our prayers are a delight to Him, Proverbs 15:8.
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