TRUE LOVE – 

In this psalm David gives us an assessment of what he just went through with Bathsheba and their first child dying; and how he struggled with the consequences of his terrible sin and how others evaluated him during his fight with depression and physical deterioration. He saw people who supposedly were his best friends, like Ahithophel, even family members, such as his nephew Joab, turn against him when he needed them the most. But he had one friend he could always depend on, and that was His LORD.

“Count your blessings if you are wise enough to have compassion on those who suffer, for when things get hard for you the LORD Eternal will see to it that you through as well. Yes, the LORD Eternal takes special interest in such people, and helps them enjoy the life they’ve chosen; and ensures that their critics do not dampen their spirit. For the LORD Eternal Himself will tend to them when they are sick, especially when their illness causes them to become restless. That’s why I cried out, ‘O LORD Eternal, be merciful to me; restore me mentally and emotionally for I have done this terrible thing against You.’ My situation has prompted my critics to go around sarcastically joking about when I was going die, and ruined my family in the process. Now when people come to visit me, they aren’t sincere in their attempts to comfort me; as a matter of fact, in their minds they’re already imagining the worst that could happen, and once they leave they go around telling everybody they’re hoping it will happen. Not only that, but when they get together with others they gossip about me; they wish the worst for me by saying, ‘Well, he finally got caught; now look at him, he’ll never survive this mess.’ To top it off, the person I thought was my very best friend, the one I often spent time with eating and enjoying his company has double-crossed me. But I’m calling on You, O LORD Eternal, treat me with mercy so I can get up out of this bed and prove them all wrong. That way I’ll really know that You care for me, because these hypocrites will have no reason to be smug because of my situation. I’m sure You will stand by me because I’ve always been honest with You; all I want to do is follow Your will for my life from now on.” Psalm 41:1-12

Reflection: Twins Donnette and Dawn Liotta were born premature, and placed in incubators until they were three weeks old. Donnette grew up a beautiful young lady with normal vision, hearing and speech. But her twin Dawn was not so fortunate. While in the incubator, the doctor administered too much oxygen. She was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy.  She went through several unsuccessful surgeries to restore her sight which was completely gone in her left eye and only 68% detectable in her right eye. Along with all this she was legally deaf in her right ear. She had to wear braces on her legs and walk with crutches.  While growing up, Donnette became very distraught because her twin’s condition caused her to be picked on as well. So she began to loathe her sister, and did everything and anything to get her into trouble for being born mentally retarded and physically disabled. She was embarrassed to be seen with her, so she made fun of her right along with the other children.  By the time she turned twelve years old, Donnette’s mother was so disgusted with her behavior towards her twin, that one night she restricted her to the bedroom and gave her a thick yellow photo album to look at. There were numerous baby pictures of her and her twin sister dressed alike, the only difference: Dawn was hooked up to tubes and machines.  Her little hands and fingers were taped so that she would not pull off the patch covering her eye from surgery.  She looked like a mummy.  However, Donnette looked small and peaceful.  There were several pictures of the two of them in the hospital, and as Donnette looked closely, she could see the pain reflected in Dawn’s eyes.  But the picture that really caught her eye was a snapshot of the two of them in a crib hugging each other.  The caption below was a message from Dawn: “I am so happy to get a visit from my twin sister, Donnette.  The doctors make me cry; she makes me laugh.” Donnette realized then what her mother was trying to get her to understand.  Suddenly she felt ashamed of the way she had been treating Dawn, and cried herself to sleep. Later that evening, Dawn crawled over and woke Donnette up for dinner.  Donnette kissed her and hugged her and profusely apologized for her behavior.  Dawn looked at her with uncertainty in her eyes.  She wasn’t sure what Donnette was up to, but Donnette knew her whole mindset had been changed. From that moment on, Donnette was her sister’s best protector.  No one was going to hurt her for any reason.  If the children in the neighborhood did not want to play with them, so be it.  They would play with each other.  Over time they became inseparable. Donnette said, “As I look back, I realize that I never once took my sister’s feelings into consideration.  I did not want to know my own sister’s story of why.  I was so caught up in my own selfishness that I never saw her pain.  I never put myself in her shoes.  I never had to struggle to do normal, everyday activities.  I could run and jump all on my own, without crutches.  I never knew how blessed I truly was, or how special Dawn is. I know that I made it worse for her, because she longed to be ‘normal’ like me.  Strangers did not understand her because they didn’t know how to deal with her.  But I was her sister, her blood, and I should have been there for her straight from the beginning.  I am her other half, just as she is my other half.  When Dawn hurts, I hurt: that is the unbreakable bond Dawn and I share.”  Seems God felt the same way about David. So, no matter what others may think about you or why, one thing you can count on is that God will always be with you, and love you most of all.