I absolutely love
the story of David. David, commits murder, adultery, is vicious, cruel, bloody,
and emotionally unstable, but God chooses him from the start in 1st Samuel 16:1, as King over Israel.
With all that David done in his life, he was
still considered a man after God’s own heart (1st Samuel 13:14). Why with the sin in his life and his lack of faith, was David considered a man after
God?
One reason I believe is because though he sinned,
he realized that he sinned. Take Saul (king before David). When Saul sinned and God placed His finger on Saul’s life, pointing the sin out; what did Saul do? He would justify himself. He wouldn’t
admit the sin and he would go around looking for a way out of what he done wrong. David
on the other hand openly admitted his sin when it was pointed out. When Nathan
went to David after Bathsheba and Uriah, for example, and said, "You are the man," David said, "You're right, I am. I have
sinned." No more argument. That was it. What was God's very next word? Now David had sinned in violation of the law against
adultery which meant he should have been stoned. He committed premeditated murder which meant he should have been stoned.
He practiced hypocrisy for a good year and a half which meant he should have been stoned, but what did God say the moment
David said, "You're right. I have sinned." And then God said – you won’t
die, your sin is forgiven. David didn’t look for a way to justify what
he done wrong, he just asked for forgiveness.
Another thing we can see through David is his
courage and faith in God. I know in the last point I mentioned that David had
a lack of faith in some instances. And he did. 1 Samuel 21:12-13 tells us of
a time that David lacked faith. But David’s faith in God shows through
in many other times throughout scripture. What about when David got up before
the Israelite army and fought Goliath, killing him with only a sling and stone? David
gets up and yells at the giant giving the battle over to the Lord. It’s
amazing the faith that David has, knowing that God can do all things! David picked
up five stones and only had to use one to defeat the giant.
One other thing that I absolutely love about
David’s life is when he was anointed as king. The first thing we learn
about David in chapter 16 verse one, is that David was chosen by God as King over Israel. David was not included by his father or brothers, and is the youngest. He is only a shepherd boy, probably around the age of 13. But
God has great plans for him. The thing is though, once David is anointed, there
is a time that he is not king. He is chosen by God, but then he goes back out
as Shepherd boy, and then eventually he is taken by Saul and David is asked to play his harp for Saul. David, who is anointed as King, is playing harp for the king. C’mon
now. How would you feel? You’re
told you are going to be this big somebody, but nothing comes out of it. You
sit around for years thinking, “maybe tomorrow,” but tomorrow comes and goes and nothing happens. David must’ve been drove nuts knowing that there was something more out there for him, that he was
called by God to be someone great.
These are just three aspects of this teenager
that I absolutely love. Now that we’ve looked at it – what can we
learn from it?
One thing I believe is that God is holy and he
cannot excuse sin. His holiness cannot excuse our lack thereof. Therefore, when we sin we should come before God and openly and honestly confess our sins. We shouldn’t make up excuses for our sins but we should openly admit them and ask for forgiveness.
Secondly, we have to have unshakeable faith in
God. I know sometimes our faith fails as did David’s, but we have to know
beyond the shadow of a doubt that God wants us to defeat our giants. When we
come up against something in our lives that seems so tall, so big, so GIANT; yell at it, give it over to God, and then fight. The battle is the Lords! Have an unshakeable
faith in God, knowing that He CAN do something about what’s going on in your life.
And lastly, I know there are those who will read
this who are thinking to yourself, “God has called me to do something amazing but when will it happen?!”
God knows what
He is up to – believe it or not. If you feel like David, anxious to see
what God has spoken into your life – fulfilled. Just wait upon Him. His time is not our time and it will come to pass.
Seek His face, not His hand and He’ll show you which steps to make for what He has chosen for your life to be
fulfilled.
Well that’s it for David. He’s an amazing, amazing person. Read about him, and
ask God to show you how to become a man or woman after God’s own heart.
