A man after God's own heart day1

 1 SAMUEL 16, 1 KINGS 2

The first king of Israel was the best-looking man in the land. The second king of Israel wasn’t even the best-looking man in his own family!

David was the youngest of eight brothers and frequently got the short end of the stick when it came time to divvy up family chores. Consequently, David spent more than his fair share of time outside watching sheep. It was dangerous work, and more than once David found himself face to face with a hungry mountain lion or a bear.

But he seemed to enjoy the solitude. He learned to play the harp and began writing little poems, and putting some of them to music. Mostly they were about this strange God of the Israelites who was always there but sometimes felt absent.

When David heard his father calling for him that day, how could he have known that the odd old man, Samuel, had been sent by that very same God? How could he have known that the crazy old man would pull out a jar of oil and pour it all over David’s head? And what would he have done if he could have seen it coming?

From tending sheep to being told he would be the next king of Israel, that’s quite a day for anyone, let alone a kid who didn’t even have the respect of his brothers or his father.

Turns out David would always struggle with family relationships.

David grew up to be a poet, a warrior, a musician and a statesman. He was a bold and charismatic leader, handsome, fierce, intense. He wrote the prayer book for the human race. He played the harp so skilfully that he was the only one who could calm Saul’s jangled nerves. He defeated a giant and gathered some of the greatest warriors of the day to become his “Mighty Men.” He lifted Israel to a level of economic wellbeing and political stability that has forever been regarded as Israel’s Golden Age, Israel’s Camelot.

But he couldn’t figure out how to be a family man. He had 8 wives, 11 concubines, rebellious children and adulterated family relationships all over the place.

King David lived large. He felt things passionately. He danced hard, played hard, fought hard, prayed hard and sang hard. Everything he did was done to the fullest extent, even when he sinned. (In one episode, he lusted, coveted his neighbour’s wife, committed adultery, deceived the woman’s husband and ultimately ordered the man’s murder.)

But the one thing that set him apart from Saul was that when he was confronted with his sin, he did not offer a single excuse. He took responsibility for his failures.

King David was not a perfect man, far from it. But it takes more than a perfect man to be called a man after God’s own heart, it took this passionate, contemplative, stubborn man to get the title.

Father, I desire to be a person after Your own heart. I want to be pleasing and obedient to You, and when I sin against You, I want to acknowledge it quickly with no excuses and waste no time returning back to Your embrace. I know that I will never attain perfection in this life, but I desire to progress in godly character and conduct. You look at the heart and not at the externals that impress people. Therefore I ask that I would guard my heart and walk in integrity before You. By Your grace I would desire what You desire, love what You love and hate what You hate. May I honour my commitments and relationships and not succumb to treachery, dishonesty or immorality. Let me allow You to define my understanding of myself and not the world with its pride and deception.

In Jesus’s name, Amen