Day 140: David's Prayer of Thanksgiving

2 Samuel 22:1-51 David prayed an extended psalm of praise similar to the working of Psalm 18 and parts of Psalm 144. It functioned as both a summary of David’s life and, at the same time, reiterated some key themes, namely that blessing and salvation come through fidelity to God’s covenant and the Mosaic Law. (CCC 2585-2589, 2596-2597)

Psalm 41 This psalm is somewhat reminiscent of Job, whose misfortune and illness motivated his friends to come visit him not so much to comfort him as to pass a negative judgement on him. At that time, sickness was closely linked with sin: if a person was sick, the conclusion was that he or she must have sinned. Thus, the sickness served not only as a chastisement but also as a call to repentance. The cry of the sick for healing in the first stanza expresses the sentiment of contrition and desire for forgiveness. Although we know that there is no necessary connection between sin and physical or mental illness, every mode of suffering can be a means of great spiritual benefit. Suffering “can conceal a secret value and become a path of purification, interior liberation and enrichment of the soul,” said St. John Paul II. “It is an invitation to overcome superficiality, vanity, selfishness and sin, and to trust more intensely in God and his saving will.” (St. John Paul II, General Audience, June 2, 2004)

Even my bosom friend...against me: Christian tradition often interprets this psalm with respect to Judas’ betrayal of Christ, the perfect friend.

Raise me up, that I might pay them: In a Christological context, this is seen as a reference to the Resurrection by which Christ would requite some of his doubters, moving them to believe in his divinity. St. Ambrose wrote that it was fitting to interpret this psalm in terms of Christ’s Passion because the next group of psalms concern new life, suggesting the Resurrection. (cf. Enarrationes in XII Psalmos, 40, 37) (CCC 1002, 1526)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• So we are getting to the end of David’s story not only in 2 Samuel but also 1 Chronicles

• We will soon transition from David to Solomon in both books

• So we are getting these “wrap-ups” to the story

• In 2 Samuel Ch 22, it is very similar to Psalm 18

• It’s almost like Psalm 18 REDUX (for our international brothers and sisters, REDUX means “brought back” or “revived” 🤓)

• It is really remarkable for a couple of reason

• IT’S THE WORD OF GOD and that’s pretty REMARKABLE

• Psalm 18 is a psalm of David after he is delivered from his enemies and from Saul

• This is early on in David’s kingship, essentially, where he gives God PRAISE for how he has delivered him from his enemies

• So 2 Samuel Ch 22 is a very similar psalm 

• That’s not a bad thing

• It’s SUCH A GOOD THING

• It reveals David at the end of his life

• What is David doing at the end of his life?

• HE IS GIVING GOD PRAISE AGAIN

• It is such a temptation for a lot of us to recognize:

• Here is the DEFEAT OF THE OBSTACLE in front of us

• Here is the ACHIEVEMENT

• Here is the VICTORY

• Here is the beginning of a NEW PAGE

• Here is the beginning of a NEW STORY

• Here is the beginning of a NEW CHAPTER

• That’s what David had when he wrote Psalm 18

• “All the people who opposed me, including King Saul, they have now been defeated and now I am beginning this new life.”

• The Reign of King David

• It is one thing to give out praise for the defeat of his and the beginning of a new chapter

• It is an entirely different thing to to give God praise at the end of his life

• Because THERE IS NO NEXT CHAPTER

• This is the LAST CHAPTER for David’s life on earth

• He could look back on his life and say, “It’s done. I’m sick. I’m getting old. The Lord has abandoned me because I’m dying.”

• But what does David say instead?

• “The Lord lifted me up.”

• “He saved me because He loves me.”

• “He delights in me.”

• “He makes me holy.”

• Here is David at the end of his life where not only ALL OF HIS HISTORY is laid out

• ALL OF HIS VICTORIES

• ALL OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS KING

• BUT…

• ALSO ALL OF DAVID’S FAILURES

• Of course we will hear of a couple more failures soon

• So David can still look back on his life and still REJOICE

• This is REMARKABLE

• This is SO BIG

• This is SO IMPORTANT

• Many times we can look back and see the victory and then move on to the next part of our lives

• But at a certain part of our lives, we have to look back and see not only the VICTORIES

• But we also must look back and see our FAILURES

• Here is where I massively FAILED

• Here is where I SCREWED UP MY LIFE

• Here is where I said NO to the Lord

• Here is where He had to REDEEM ME once again because of the EVILNESS of my heart, because of the WICKEDNESS of my choices

• David KNOWS SO CLEARLY of the WICKEDNESS that has been in his life

• One of the lines in 2 Samuel Ch 22 says “Your help made me great.”

• But in the Great Adventure Bible there is a little “t” next to the word “help”

• That references that another translation of the HEBREW word is “GENTLENESS”

• “Your GENTLENESS made me great”

• Here is David talking to God 

• KNOWING HIS BROKENNESS

• KNOWING HIS PAST 

• KNOWING HIS OWN PERSONAL WICKEDNESS

• BUT…

• YOUR GENTLENESS MADE ME GREAT

• YOUR GOODNESS MADE ME GREAT

• YOUR HELP MADE ME GREAT

• Part of that is GOD’S GRACE

• David KNOWS his brokenness and it has been on full display 

• We could have been UNAWARE of David’s sins because they didn’t HAVE to record them all in 2 Samuel

• BUT THEY WERE RECORDED

• THEY WERE TRANSCRIBED

• THEY WERE PASSED DOWN

• THEY WERE KNOWN BY THE PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOM

• Imagine here is David who KNOWS ALL HIS SINS

• And David KNOWS THAT EVERYONE ELSE KNOWS HIS SINS

• AND YET…

• BUT GOD’S GRACE CAME TO HELP ME

• YOUR HELP MADE ME GREAT

• YOUR GENTLENESS MADE ME GREAT

• So David looks back over his life and he can acknowledge the BROKENNESS as well as the VICTORIES

• But David also realizes this is the last chapter of his life

• HE IS NOT BITTER ABOUT THAT

• HE IS NOT CORRUPTED BY THAT

• HE IS NOT RESENTFUL OF THAT

• This is the BIG CHALLENGE for so many of us

• To be able to look back and TELL THE TRUTH

• TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE GOOD AND THE BAD

• To recognize the EVIL I have done

• Here is the way I needed GOD’S GRACE

• Here are the VICTORIES God has won for me

• To live through an ENTIRE LIFE and not become RESENTFUL

• That is quite an ACCOMPLISHMENT

• To get to the end of one’s life and look back and GIVE GOD PRAISE is quite an accomplishment

• Tomorrow we will see not only David praise God for what He has done, but he also praises the PEOPLE AROUND HIM for what they have done for him and Israel

• To get to the end of one’s life…

• And even to get to the end of a day or week or chapter in one’s life and then CHOOSE GRATITUDE, to CHOOSE PRAISE there

• When so many of us after battles could CHOOSE RESENTMENT

• When so many of us after battles could CHOOSE CORRUPTION

• To live through life and not be corrupted by it, THAT IS A MIRACLE

• To get through this world and not be corrupted by it, THAT IS A MIRACLE

• After all the BATTLES

• After all the STRUGGLES

• After all the HEARTACHE

• After all the FAILURES

• And David is NOT CORRUPTED by that, it is a MIRACLE

• It is INCREDIBLE

• So we pray for that

• We can acknowledge the good and the bad of our past

• We can acknowledge the good and the bad IN OUR HEARTS RIGHT NOW

• That we can get to the end of this day, this week, this season, and TELL THE TRUTH and NOT BE CORRUPTED BY THAT

• THAT IS A GIFT OF GOD

• THAT IS A GRACE

• We can’t do it on our own

• We need PRAYERS

• We need GRACE

• We need to PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• That’s what we do EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

• You are NOT ALONE in this

• This is not our SOLO JOURNEY through The Bible in 365 days

• This is OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER through The Bible in 365 days

• We have a community of people who you might not even know but they are praying for YOU

• They are praying that you are able to look back on your past and acknowledge the GOOD and the BAD and GIVE GOD PRAISE

• GIVE GOD THANKS

• To be able to LIVE THROUGH STORMS and NOT BE CORRUPTED BY THEM

• To know of the BROKENNESS IN YOUR OWN HEART and even in the hearts of the people around you and NOT BE RESENTFUL OF THAT

• That is a MIRACLE

• So we are praying for a MIRACLE

• To be alive in EVERY ONE OF OUR HEARTS

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we do give you praise and we do give you glory. We bless your name. We praise your name. Holiness and all glory is yours. All praise and thanksgiving belongs to you for who you are and for what you have done in our lives. So, Lord, preserve us from resentment. Preserve us from corruption. And preserve us from despair and discouragement. Help us to be filled with your courage, to be filled with your grace, and therefore to be able to let our lives be signs of praise and signs of thanksgiving. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”