“O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” (Ps 30:2-3 AV)
David praises God for a near fatal physical condition. Either from warfare or illness, David’s life was spared. There is no record of such an event. There are records of many near misses. Running from Saul saw a number of them. When he was older, and his life was in jeopardy, the men of Israel would not let David physically fight anymore. But there is no record of his suffering from a wound. There is no record of David suffering from an illness. When one considers the fact there is no record of such an event, that tells us something. David, being like all of us, suffered from wounds and illness. Other than the decline of his health resulting in death from old age, the LORD chose not to mention any setbacks David might have suffered. In the narrative of his life, they didn’t matter. They played their part. As they do for all of us. But his illnesses or wounds never defined him. The LORD would not allow it. This did not prevent David from praise to God for deliverance from such events. They were a part of his life. Just not the main point of his life.
We know David prayed about whatever it was from which he was healed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have praised God for deliverance. It is certainly appropriate to pray for that which ails us. Otherwise, we suffer needless at the hands of life’s course. At the very least, the LORD can comfort us through such a time. David certainly didn’t ignore his trouble. He went to the throne of God to seek relief. Whatever form that would take, he would praise the LORD for it. Whether it was healing as stated above, or strength to endure, or comfort in the midst; David was grateful because he prayed. The depth of how David felt about his trouble is not in dispute. His soul was tormented over this ailment. Whatever it was, he felt hopeless and in despair. He equated his experience as going down into a pit. A pit is often used as an illustration of a hopeless cause for which there is only one way of escape. Yet, the way of escape is far beyond reach. This is how David felt. Again, let us remember that outside of David’s deathbed at a very old age, there is no record of his health being compromised to this level of feeling. These things were not part of God’s narrative for David’s life. They came and went. They were there, and they went away. David plugged on. He fought on. Whatever this was did not define what he was.
Trouble is part of life. There is no harm in pouring out to the LORD how we feel about it. There is nothing wrong with feeling as though life is as low as it could get. However, when all is said and done, for those living for the glory of God, these things are not the definition of our lives. Perhaps overcoming them is. History of mankind is filled with saints who endured and overcame obstacles for the glory of God. This is certainly the case of David. Whatever it was, we do not know. What we do know is that by the grace of God, he overcame it and served God faithfully. We may not know the wound or illness that struck him, but we do know he made it to well into his eighties with strength and fortitude of mind and heart. In a generation that worships victimhood, this is rare. To find overcomers is not easy. We all want to be defined by our struggle and not our victory. This must end. If we are to do anything for the pleasure and glory of God, pray it through, but them fight through it. Don’t let the hurdles define you. Rather, the broken tape at the end of the race is what matters.
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