David and God's Heart

A few years ago I spent the summer working with a man through a local temp service. He was pretty much a part of every job that I did. He attended church once in a blue moon, and he knew of God and some of the Bible. However, this man wasn’t saved and struggled with much sin in his life. We spent a lot of time talking about God, theology, church, and the Bible. This fellow told me many times over that his favorite character in the Bible was David. Because David was a lot like him. He struggled with sin and wasn’t perfect just like my friend was. However, through all of his imperfections, David was “a man after God’s heart”. He was this man’s “role model”.

One thing that we need to remember is that Biblical characters (especially those of the Old Testament) shouldn’t be looked at as role models, but as examples of God’s work and will. “God has not given us the Bible with the intention that we put the heroes of the faith up on pedestals at awe and reverence…the stories of the heroes of the Bible…are part of God’s story. People are the bit players, God is the focus.” (Walton and Hill 2004, 200-201). If we focus on David and his life as our example, then we may become too tied up in his weaknesses and excuse our own weaknesses. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means…” (Romans 6:1-2a). From talking with this fellow, it seemed almost like he could relate to David’s sin as an excuse for his own sinning, yet all the while still being after God’s heart. But the question is “How could David sin so much, yet still be considered a man after God’s heart?”

If the word “after” translates to “like”, then how can David be like God’s heart? David had made many mistakes, however, his most infamous sin was his adultery with Bathsheba and the “set up” of having her husband Uriah killed in battle to cover up the affair and pregnancy. As a matter of fact, it was this act that set the sword against David’s house. “David’s tragic punishment was a lingering one… the house of David would be continually plagued by violence. David had done evil to another man’s family. Therefore, he would receive evil in his own family.” (MacArthur, 439). This evil includes his son Amnon raping his sister Tamar, his other son Absalom murdering Amnon, Absalom rebelling against David and then eventually being killed. Not to mention the child that David fathered with Bathsheba in this affair died.

So the question remains: How can David be a man after (like, in the midst of) God’s heart? “David’s life was a portrait of success and failure, and it highlights the fact that he was far from perfect. But what made David a cut above the rest was that his heart was pointed toward God.” (http://www.gotquestions.org/man-after-God-heart.html). After the prophet Nathan rebuked David for his affair with Bathsheba, David penned these words in Psalm 51:

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart (vv. 1-6).

David’s faith in God saw him defeating Goliath. It saw him defeating many of Israel’s enemies. It saw him being protected by the jealous King Saul. It saw him through pursuits by other kings and even his own son, Absalom. However, his flesh saw him lying to a priest over bread for himself and his men, working for the Philistines, and killing Uriah over his affair with Uriah’s wife. When he sinned, his heart was grieved as he repented and sought forgiveness and restoration from God. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

David had faith in God throughout his life. David loved God’s laws and commandments and sought to honor them. David was thankful (as we can see in the Psalms). Above all, David was repentant. He recognized his sins and cried out to God for forgiveness every time. He kept his eyes on God, no matter that ups and downs in his life. Even when his enemies pursued him, he kept his faith in God and cried out. “David demonstrated his faith seemingly on a daily basis which pleased the Lord. Throughout his life his faith would be tested on a grand scale and in the final analysis he passed most of the tests.” (http://www.gotquestions.org/man-after-God-heart.html). The point isn’t how David could be a man after God’s heart if he sinned so much and made so many mistakes, but that David recognized his sins and bowed before a holy God in repentance.

Should we try to be like David, like my friend believed? No. But David is our example in the Christian walk. When we sin, we should repent. We should follow Christ’s commandments. We should thank God and keep the faith no matter what blessing, or trial, that we face. David isn’t perfect and neither are we. David was a man who sought to have a heart like God and repented before Him when sin grieved his own heart. We too should seek to have a heart like this.

Love In Christ!

 

References:

John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill, Old Testament Today (Zondervan, 2004), 200-201.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible, English Standard Version (Commentaries). Crossway, 2010. Pg. 439.

Houdmann, S. Michael. “How could David be considered a man after God's own heart?"
Last accessed February 26th, 2014. http://www.gotquestions.org/man-after-God-heart.html.