David, the sweet Psalmist knew how to count his blessings. When faced with any challenge, he always remembered what God had done for him in the past, and thanked Him for it. The children of Israel in the wilderness always forgot their great deliverance from Egyptian bondage and captivity, whenever they encountered a little problem. David praised God and was victorious but the children of Israel perished in the wilderness because of murmuring and complaining. 

There was a time David found himself in a seemingly hopeless and helpless situation. Being a man after God's heart he quickly realised that the only way out was to encourage himself in the Lord his God. The Devil had employed his deadly weapon of discouragement to bring David down, but the Lord delivered him. Many have been destroyed and are still being destroyed by discouragement because of the lack of knowledge - Hosea 4:6.

The journey that leads to heaven is painful but gainful in the end. It is the way of self denial and cross-bearing. Jesus, our example endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. The Lord of glory went through a painful ordeal on earth to gain His place at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven. He was despised, beaten, wounded, bruised and finally crucified to die a painful death on the cross.

As professing believers we are daily exposed to the temptation to behave differently from what we have learnt from the word of God. But according to the Lord, His true disciples are those who continue in the word of God, come what may. As His sheep they hear His voice and follow Him. We must therefore strive to live our lives as His children, wherever we go.

The man in our key text was in the same unpleasant situation for a long time - thirty-eight years. He believed that one day someone would be kind enough to help get him into the healing waters at the right time. However, when Jesus came by and asked if he would like to be healed, he failed to see that the Doctor of doctors had come to his help. His trust was not in God but in man.