David's Finest Hour

No, it wasn't when he slew Goliath of Gath. His finest hour came when he was King of Israel.

One evening as he walked on the roof of his palace, King David saw a beautiful woman bathing. After being told that Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, an army officer, he summoned her to the palace and they committed adultery together.

She became pregnant so David ordered Uriah home from the war, hoping he would sleep with Bathsheba and hide the fact that David was the father. In times of war, however, soldiers of Israel abstained from sexual relations.

King David wrote to his general in the field and ordered him to place Uriah in the front line of battle and then withdraw so he would be killed. The plan worked.

When Bathsheba's period of mourning was over, David summoned her to the palace to be his wife. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

The LORD sent Nathan the Prophet to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!

This was a public confrontation. He could have ordered Nathan's execution or have him thrown out of the country. But in the greatest moment of his life, King David admitted in 2 Samuel 12:13, "I have sinned against the Lord." This is why Jesus said of David, he was a man after God's own heart.

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.

Val and Nancy are off to get a manicure this afternoon. The kids are going to a Children's Christmas Party at Genentech tomorrow.

Our next Chemo appointment is Thursday, 12/21 at USC. We are scrambling to fit into the CAT Scan schedule so we can review the results with Dr. Lenz next Thursday. So far, the only slot available is next Wednesday at 4:40 pm. This is very tough since Val has to fast after midnight. Please pray that another early morning slot opens up.

A stent replacement is scheduled for Jamuary 18th with Dr. Lo. Pray that our present (3) stents continue to function well and that Val is able to avoid any blood infections. They can be deadly.

Although the last set of blood numbers show improvement, albumen levels are too low. This indicates a lack of protein. Val needs to eat more to keep up her energy and avoid being undernourished. Pray for a good appetite. Also, low hemoglobin causes fatigue. Pray that this number climbs back to normal.

I did notice last night, however, that her stomach distension caused by fluid in the abdomen is reduced some. Pray that the diuretics continue to work. Also pray that the bile thinner is improving flow through the liver and biliary tree.

Finally, pain management is a continuing challenge. Pray for wisdom on drugs and other methods to deal with this demon.

Pray also for Julie. She is dealing with a corneal problem that has caused blurred vision. The doctor says it is caused by dry weather and has given her a prescription. I am going up to San Luis Obispo to install a humidifier on her furnace.

Godspeed Beloved