As you might know, I am reading in the books of Samuel right now during my devotion. I’ve actually gone through the first book and am into the second book. Great stuff! The relationship between David and God is like nothing I’ve ever seen in the Bible, except maybe in the Book of Exodus.

Anyway, let me get to it…

2 Samuel 12:5-23

After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, "While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate." David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead." Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!" He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

Here is a little pre-story…The reason all of this was happening in the first place is because David killed a man to take his wife. The punishment was harsh. David understood the consequences of his action but the evil he had sown had caused this great calamity upon his “new” family.

So here is his predicament. His child is dying. He understands that it’s his fault. He understands that there is most likely nothing he can do…except pray and fast. It might have seemed hopeless but David was determined to give his best in the form of pleading and interceding. While His child lived David was the greatest prayer warrior under the sun. He fasted during the day and spent all night prostrate in prayer. He gave every minute, hour, and day to wrestling with God on the matter. However, on the seventh day the child was dead.

David could’ve gotten angry. He could’ve held on to bitterness of soul…but he didn’t. The scripture says that he got up, cleaned himself, and ate. His friends were astonished. How could he get over such a terrible incident? How can he just go back to living life as normal so soon?

The truth is…David learned what needed to be learned from the lesson, so going back to normal did not mean going back to killing off men to have their wives. He also had peace in his heart because he did everything that was within his power to heal his child. He prayed and fasted intensely for over 6 days straight. Most of us can’t pray past 20 minutes, not to mention most Americans have never heard of a “fast”. In the end David was able to move on in life…remembering what he had learned through the suffering of a great loss.

And here is my thought of application…

Maybe the reason we struggle to move past our difficult memories is because we failed to do all that we could to remedy them. Thus we live with regrets…you know, the “should have”, “could have”, and “would have’s” in life. We all have them. There are moments in life that call for our best and what we gave it was fear and laziness. We struggle to move on because we feel like a failure to the situation.

You can’t bring back the past, it’s already behind you…but you can change the future. And change starts with worship. David's last act before moving on was making sure his relationship with God was on track...and he did it by worshiping.