King David is, without a doubt, one of the most prolific characters in the entire Bible. Just about everybody has heard of his story, regardless of their religious background. Who hasn’t heard of David and Goliath? Or David and Bathsheba?
This brings up one of the great things about the Bible: It refuses to gloss over the failures of its heroes. The Bible doesn’t place them on a pedestal or portray them as two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. These are real people. David most certainly was. He experienced tremendous victories and humiliating defeats (many of which he brought on himself). He was deeply troubled and dysfunctional, a disaster as a husband and father. He had 8 wives and 11 concubines. He was guilty of adultery, deception and murder.
King David was guilty of the kinds of things we want people thrown out of office for today, yet this is the guy the Bible calls “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). How is that possible?
This one reason stands out: While David may have had 8 wives, 11 concubines, uncontrollable children and fractured relationships all over the place, he only had one God. For all the other commandments he ended up breaking (4 of the top 10 in the episode with Bathsheba), he never broke the first one: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
Unlike most of the other kings in Israel’s history, David never bent his knee to a false god. He never went over to Baal or Asherah or Dagon. When he failed (which he did often), he took his regret and his brokenness to one Source: YHWH. When he was confused or afraid, he did not seek refuge in the gods of the Philistines or the Moabites. He went to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
At the end of his most famous poem, David wrote, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). Usually we think of this line as if it refers to heaven and eternity. That may not be what David had in mind when he wrote it, however.
Maybe David was an old man when he said those words, with a long, grey beard and a wrinkled face. Maybe he remembered when he was young and handsome and Samuel poured oil all over him and said the mysterious words that started it all. Maybe he remembered how, on that day, so many years ago, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Maybe he remembered how he decided when he was a young man, the way young men do, that when he was king things would be different. He’d get things right.
Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn’t. But he stayed in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.
He did not write, “I hope I will stay there” or “Maybe I’ll stay there.” He said, “I’m staying in the house. I’ll make a mess of it. I’ll spill stuff on the carpet and knock over lamps and break expensive things. It will be a pain having me in the house, but you’ll have to drag me out kicking and screaming. I will dwell here, in the house of the Lord, forever.”
In the end, that’s what God is looking for from all of us. God can handle our failures and our messes. God can handle our most embarrassing episodes. What He cannot abide and will not tolerate is duplicity. David asked God to give him an undivided heart, and it appears God granted that request.
Are we willing to ask the same thing?
Dear Lord, You alone are the fountainhead of all that is good, true and beautiful. I know that if I want life, I must pursue You above all else. May I say with David, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42). I have nowhere else to turn, for You alone are the source of all that I want in my heart of hearts. By Your grace I will not succumb to the idolatry of having any other god before You. I will put You first and foremost in my affection and choices, because I know that You alone are worthy of all honour, glory and praise. May I fear to displease You and long to lay hold of that which You want for me. You are my shepherd and I am one of your flock. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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