Worshipping God when things go badly

‘When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God . . . ‘ 2 Samuel 15.32

David may well have been chosen by God and appointed by him to lead the people of Israel, but this certainly didn’t mean that life was easy for him.  At this point in his reign his own son, Absalom, rebelled against him and tried to set himself up as king instead of David.  Such was the extent of Absalom’s rebellion that David was forced to flee from his home and city in order to escape from the revolt that was gaining ground.

A natural reaction is to ask why?  Why was David’s family turning against him?  Why was the kingdom that God had given him being taken away?  No doubt David was confused, but even in these dire situations we read that David went to the place of worship.

All too often we worship God for things that have gone well for us. We worship him because he has been kind to us or because we have been aware of his mercy in some particular way. David worshipped simply because of who God was, regardless of his own difficult personal circumstances.

This is true worship – worshipping God despite the circumstances around us and not because of them.

www.healingmission.org