Once in Atlanta the relief organization CARE sponsored a No-Show Marathon. For a ten-dollar donation, participants got a race number and a Marathon T-shirt, every runner's status symbol.  But the good part is, they didn't have to run the grueling 26-mile course.  In fact, in the No-Show Marathon, no one ran at all; they just gathered at a local nightclub and talked about it.

Sometimes we wish life were a No-Show Marathon, and we didn't have to run the race.  But even when illness, disappointment, and problems overwhelm us, the race is still on.  And we have to run the course, like it or not.  How can we be victorious in life even when we feel like everything that's been holding us up has let us down?

Our text describes just such a time in the life of David.  You remember the story.  Absa…