MAY 27 "UNSHAKEN"

       DAVID is unshaken in his faith, he has always been unshaken in his faith.  When running for his life from Saul, he was unshaken in his faith, and encouraged himself in the Lord at Ziklag. When faced with a grueling miserable tortuous death, facing Goliath, he was unshaken in his faith and here, suffering in the consequences of his sin, after much fasting and contending to the mercies of God to spare the life of his son, he yet, once again, even when his son dies, is unshaken in his faith. What does David do when he finds out his son dies; that he has just fasted for; our text today says, "he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house....and ate".  You may say, "well what else was he supposed to do?"  Well, certainly not go worship the God who ignored his prayer! Instead he could be angry at God, begin to waiver in his faith and wonder..."is God real, maybe this is all just a joke, maybe there is no God and if there is a God; then he is unjust and cruel to let a little, innocent boy die!"  There are many paths David could have taken, but David is unwavering and unshaken in his faith no matter what life throws at him, no matter what sins David commits, he always finds himself back at the feet of God.  David cries out to God to spare his son, he has all the confidence that God hears him, he is not sure if he is going to change God's mind, but he sure is going to petition God's good nature, as if he were dealing with anybody else.

     What you see in David is a man who truly knows Jehovah is real. David understands that Yahweh
is personnel God and that He hears the prayers of his people.  And even more so, David respects the fact, that in the end God has the final say and is just in whatever that is. David doesn't question if God is real just because his son died. David has long resolved the issue of whether or not God is real. Have you decided once and for all that God is real, that God is just and all his ways are blameless? Can you worship God in unanswered prayer, can you worship God in losses, can you worship God when you don't get your way? I remember being deployed, while serving in The United States Marine Corps; we were out at sea, just 50 miles off the shores of Somalia on the USS Pelileau; and on that ship we had a thriving little church of 25 or so men. In one particular study I asked the question, "what circumstance or event in life, should God forbid it ever happen, do you think would deter you away from your faith in God?".  I did not ask for a verbal response, but just for each person to deal with that in their heart and commit to say, "Lord, no mater what circumstance may come my way in life, I do resolve today to be unshaken in my faith".  A few days after, one of the Marines in the bible study, Sergio Cammacho,  was notified, on ship, that his 4 month old son, that was born just a few weeks before we deployed, had suffocated in his sleep.  He cried and wept before me and I did not know what to do. So I said, "God is still God, God is still good, though we don't understand his ways and there is certainly no benefit at this point to turn from him, we need him more now than ever, He is still worthy to be praised and so we set a time for the following night to meet together and worship God. To my surprise, Sergio, who had lost his son, showed up and we began to just lift up our arms and voices to God and began to praise and worship our Lord. I remember pausing for a moment to look at the Sergio, who hours ago had just lost his son; and what an amazing sight it was to see, this man, just a day after losing his only son, sitting there, with his hands lifted to his God, worshipping and praising him, "WOW!", I thought, "this is amazing! and I myself was greatly encouraged by this man's unshakable faith in the midst of great suffering. This Marine's story and King David's story will always remind me of each other. Two men, with resolute faith, loss of a son, find themselves worshipping God and then eating and unshaken in their faith. This is no indication that David nor the Marine did not love their son in anyway, it is simply a stance, a posture in life, that God is good, God is just and he is worthy to be praised and worshipped in all circumstances and events of life and when we respond in this manner, God is able to bring a supernatural healing of the heart and is able to recompense his children beyond our wildest dreams, of any loss suffered, if we don't lose faith.  We know in our story that after David's son dies, the Great King Solomon is born to David.  What kind of faith do you have? Is there any circumstances of life, that God forbid, they happen that would throw you in a tumble of disarray and unbelief or have you resolved once and for all, that God is real no matter what life indicates, and that God is good no matter what life throws at us.  Job said, "though he slay me, yet will I praise him, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed by your name!"