You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
4 He asked
[sha'al] life [chay] of thee, and
thou gavest [nathan] it him, even length ['orek] of days [yowm] for ever [`owlam] and ever. [`ad] KJV-Interlinear
4 He asked
life of Thee, Thou didst give it to him, Length of days forever and ever. NASB
When a persons life is in peril, then the natural thing to pray for is deliverance from that peril and the continuation of ones life.
David found himself in peril many times, as in much of his adult life, he was in one war after another, one battle after another, and could easily have lost his health or life in any of those conflicts.
Many a person will face death in some way. Even if you get the flu and believe that you are knocking on deaths door because you feel so bad, but really aren't. Still when you hurt or are in pain, either physical or emotional as so many folks face anxieties throughout their life, then it is only natural to pray for the pain to stop, for the stress to stop, for that suffering whatever it is, to go away.
And sometimes it goes away by some natural course like getting over some illness, or it goes away after a certain amount of time for a healing process to complete, or in some cases, there is no apparent way out of the problem and you just have to rely on faith and wait for your solution to come along.
But in every situation, there is a solution. Sometimes it is obvious, and other times it is not so apparent.
More often than not, your suffering is a test of some sort. It is either there to get you back on track in your spiritual life, or to get your attention and remind you that you are not invincible and you really are dependent on God. Far too many folks need a good hammering from time to time, in order to place their boasting or arrogance or their indifferent or belligerent attitude in check.
And then there is the suffering for blessing concept wherein a spiritually positive person is given the opportunity to exercise and strengthen their faith by getting through their ordeal with poise. This of course does not mean that you do nothing. God did give you a brain and you need to use it. You think through your problem, you look for solutions, and more often than not, they will present themselves sooner or later. But what you do not do is sit down and do nothing.
David did not stand out in the open on the battlefield and believe that God would make him invisible. He held his shield, he used his sword, he ducked and dodged and ran and darted and took cover and did what his training taught him to do.
Athletes and entertainers practice and practice, and practice some more in order to be at their best. Whatever it is that you do, you must do over and over, in order to know your trade or talent or ability.
And if your problem is not social or economic, but some form of terminal illness, then you have doctrine.
And doctrine is what we all have. It prepares us of the ultimate test, which is our departure into eternity. And that happens to us all sooner or later. Ignoring the inevitable gets you nowhere. Preparing for it, gains you confidence and a greater outcome.
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