A man after God’s own heart
- The Bible is about reality and tell us in many places exactly what happened in men’s lives – one of them being David, as a lesson to us; that we should take heed. It does not try to hide sin. David is known for the sins that he committed but, there was a good side to him. He started as a shepherd boy, he was a poet and a musician, a giant killer and went on to become a powerful king. He is called an ‘ancestor of Christ’ and is listed in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Acts 13:22 testifies the same.David had a heart to follow God. 1) He was not a religious person but had an intimate relationship with God. He was a worshipper; he wrote most of the psalms. Especially, psalm 139 which many of us read when in despair. David may also have gone through rejection. When Samuel, the prophet came to his house, David was tending sheep. David knew of God’s hand upon his life and whether he was called to meet Samuel or not, it didn’t matter. We need to build our identity in Christ Jesus – half of the church is wounded because of a lack of this.People were upset with Jesus for ignoring religious ceremonies indicating that people were more important than these ceremonies. David did not bother to be ‘technically right’ – Matt 12:4 records that David and his men ate the showbread that was only for priest and not lawful for him to eat. Hired servants keep two sets of rules, but sons and daughters of the house keep the rules out of love. We do it because we love Him. Love relationships enjoy certain amount of freedom and don’t understand technicality of rules.
2) David was an amazingly obedient person – not because he did everything right but, he had a desire to do everything right (Psalm 119:34).
3) He was very humble. Humility in today’s world is a foreign concept, but God still chooses the foolish to shame the wise. Even when he became the king, David was humble unlike his predecessor, Saul who wanted to erect his own statues. He loved God so much that he being the king, danced unashamedly before the Ark of the Covenant. His cry to God was “Who am I that you made me king? …Is this the usual way you handle people?” (2 Samuel 7:18-19).
4) David owned up his faults. David may have done worse things than Saul who gave excuses for doing wrong, but not David. He was not interested in the consequences of sin; he wanted to get right with God. When confronted by Nathan, the prophet, David admits sin (1 Samuel 12:13). He comes before God with a broken heart. David did sin but was quick to own up and repent (Psalm 51).Where God was concerned, David’s restoration was complete. After restoration, he never again wavered in his faith and his Seed was established forever (Psalm 89:4).David had to face some consequences of his sin but God’s forgiveness was complete.
Most of the churches are a product of their past rather than being a product of the cross. 1 John 1:9 – God gives you a brand new start. We do not want to live our lives gratifying sinful desires but walking in fellowship with God with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are made whole again in Christ Jesus.
This message was preached by Wellington Gomes on 5th March 2017
