A little droopy

       Sitting on the recliner all day left little  time to engage in much worth writing about. It has been a long time since I have been so incapacitated. I am not a good sick person.  and so little was left to me but to read.
      Unfortunately, I was in 2 Chronicles in my daily Bible reading. While I believe all parts of the Bible are inspired by God and useful for life, 2 Chronicles is not the most exhilarating read. For those of you who never took the time to delve into this book, it is list after list of geneologies. It serves a good purpose of demonstrating that the Bible is an exact and careful recording of facts, down to an excruciating detail of who begat who (or is that whom?) but my every instinct is to flip through those pages, skimming for the rare action verb.
     And then I came to Chronicles 11. In this chapter, King David is trapped behind Philistine lines and is dying of thirst. Like me, he was apparently feeling a little droopy. He mentions this, and at extreme risk, three of his mighty men break through enemy lines and get him water. Next comes what I have always considered among the most puzzling passages in scripture. When the mighty men return with the water that they risked their lives to obtain, David says he cannot drink water that was procured at such risk. So he pours it out on the ground.
     Now if it were me watching that precious water dumped after I almost died getting it, I would leap forward with cupped hands, shouting, "Are you nuts? After all I went through and that is how you treat my offering?
     I suspect I am missing some major point. Sometimes I think perhaps he wanted to dissuade such foolish risks from the men in the future. Our pastor said he poured it out in sacrifice to God, but frankly, I don't get that from the text. I am convinced the mighty men were looking at each other incredulously and whispering among themselves, "That's the last time we risk life and limb for him." The text doesn't really support that either. But one thing I do get is: be careful what you say when you are feeling droopy. Someone might take it to heart and it may lead to unnecessary hardship. I know that when I am droopy, the world looks very bleak and hopeless. But it is a temporary conditon. David would not always be thirsty and one day, I will not be so wilted.

(NIV)1 Chronicles 11:17-19, 38
David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” [18] So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the Lord. [19] “God forbid that I should do this!” he said. “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?” Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors. [38] Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar son of Hagri,