Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”- Acts 13:22
Insight- As we continue on our journey of what it means to live victoriously, today let’s consider a hero of the Bible in King David. David is the only person in the Bible called “a man after my own heart” by God, so we should try to learn as much as we can about David and incorporate those traits into our own lives. In anything we do, we can find those who are most successful in a given endeavor and try to find out what makes them so successful and emulate those who are already doing it well. David had many character traits that I think led him to be a successful leader and to be called “ a man after God’s own heart.” For our purposes, let’s just examine 3 of those. He was courageous, he was fully committed to God and he had a repentant heart. David’s courage was shown when he was the only one of the Israelite Army who ran out to take on Goliath. Everyone else was cowering and was terrified of Goliath, but David saw it as a battle that belonged to God and he was furious at how the Philistine Giant was mocking the God of Israel. David took that insult personally and scripture says in 1 Samuel 17:48 “As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.” David’s courage and confidence in God wasn’t just produced at that moment, it had been cultivated for a number of years while he was alone in the wilderness, tending to his father’s herd of Sheep. He had seen God move mightily to protect him before, and that infused him with great confidence in the Lord, as 1 Samuel 17:37 says “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” Character and courage are not born in a time of great conflict or persecution, they are revealed at those times. They are already deep inside of a person, and then they are unleashed at the appropriate time.
So where did that courage come from? As we said, David sought the Lord always. He was fervent about his relationship with God, and that proximity allowed him to be ready for whatever challenges he faced. Jeremiah 29:12-13 says “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” When you read scripture, there is no doubt that David sought God with all his heart. He was close to God, he depended on God, he waited on God and he knew that God would deliver him and provide security for him. Sometimes, our fears can overwhelm us and cause us to be paralyzed. But David models throughout the Psalms what it looks like to turn to God and to trust in God to handle all of his problems and to shield him from harm. We can do the same. This life certainly has a lot of things to worry about. But we can choose not to worry by relying on the Creator of the Universe through deep prayer and intimacy with Him.
Finally, David had a repentant heart. David realized he was a sinner, and he was thankful that when he suffered some moral failings, he could approach God in honest and humble repentance, and he trusted that God would not only forgive him but restore him. When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and was confronted by Nathan about in 2 Samuel 12:13, he didn’t run to a counselor, or seek therapy, but rather he took it right to the Lord: “Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” David knew the depth of his sin, and that is what allowed him to find the depth of God’s love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. The same can be true for us. We are all sinners, but yet God still loves us. In fact He doesn’t wait for us to get our act together, or turn over a new leaf, but rather He proved His love for us completely in Romans 5:8 which says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is amazing grace indeed that God paid it all while we were still mired in our sinfulness. Bring it all to the Lord, with a humble and repentant heart, for He knows it all already anyway, and let Him cleanse your heart of the guilt and shame our sin brings upon us.
David showed us 3 things we can emulate in order to live victoriously for Christ: We can be courageous, intimate with God, seeking Him above all else, and have a repentant heart when we sin. Then we will be set free and ready to live victoriously for Christ.,Prayer: Father God, we all need you more than ever before. “We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God,” according to Romans 3:23, but you never give up on us, and in fact you shower us with your love and grace, mercy and forgiveness, when we need it most. What a great and loving God you are. Help us to live victoriously in Christ. Amen!
0 Comments