A man after God’s own heart
Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah — all died young. Amnon was killed by Absalom in vengeance for his rape of his half-sister (and sister of Absalom) Tamar. Absalom was killed by Joab and his men for overthrowing David and taking his throne. Adonijah was killed for disloyalty to Solomon following Solomon’s mercy to him after a failed coup against David.
The overwhelming impression is that David, a great man in many ways, was a terrible father. Over and over, he is blind to the sins of his sons. He took no action in response to Amnon’s crime. He forgave Absalom for killing Amnon, with no punishment other than a temporary exile. When Absalom rebelled, David gave orders that he not be killed — even though he’d driven David from the palace, cuckolded his father with David’s concubines, and led an army to kill David. When Adonijah rebelled against David, David had Solomon anointed king but took no action against Adonijah.
We began the quarter with this question: How is David a man after God’s own heart?
(Act 13:22 ESV) 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Consider these attributes of Lord’s anointed —
* A man of great faith. Think of Goliath and David’s refusal to kill Saul, patiently trusting God to make things right in due course.
* A man who keeps his covenants.
* A poet and composer of songs, a great musician.
* A man of great mercy. Consider Shimei.
* A man who loves his sons so much that he is blind to their sins.
Frankly, I can’t respect David as a rearer of children. He did a terrible job with his three oldest sons. But I’m thrilled that God — like David — is blind to my sins! The difference is that God disciplines me. He lets me suffer the earthly consequences of my mistakes — but he forgives me. And that’s a greater blessing.
To me, these three deaths and the death of the unborn child in Bathsheba's womb were in response to David's own words. When Nathan related the story to him about the rich man taking the single ewe from the poor man (2 Sam. 12), David became angry and said that this man would be required to pay for that lamb four times over, and so it was that four of his own lost their lives for the life of Uriah.
Just my $0.02.
Many Christians, especially those we might consider conservative, do not like the word HUMAN when asked to describe self. HUMANISM, a word many of them do not understand in the first place, has frightened them to a position of putting up a front that deep down inside they know they really do not live. Whether in mind or action, they know they do not live the standard they demand from others.
That is what is so wonderful about the stories in the Bible regarding its heroes. When we look at David, Moses, the prophets, and, yes, even Paul, who admitted he does not do what he knows he should do, and does what he knows he should not do, we see human beings. No, not individuals who reserved the right to be human for those "special occasions" of being found out; but children of God who could not think of God without thinking of their neighbor, their sister and brother; for when they looked around they saw themselves.
There is the challenge; to know we are as imperfect as David without likening ourselves to David when convenient. Being God's child is facing the uncomfortable truth of, as an old proverb states, "As one face is different from another, so is one human heart from another". Those differences are in beauty marks and scars, a multitude of them; each person's scars, often the same, yet, different from anothers, but still a multitude. It is love that covers a multitude of sins; and, as yet, no one has come up with an exact number as to what the total of a multitude is.
Acts 13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king;
to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse,
a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
When the elders "fired' God and demanded a national king God knew that they wanted to worship like the nations. The kings had the task of carrying out the captivity and death sentence:
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:
for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 1 Samuel 8:7
1 Sam 10:19 And ye have this day rejected your God,
who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations;
and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us.
Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands.
God would never again save the nation from the slavery of Civil-Military-Priestly elite
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you;
and the Lord will not hear you in that day. 1 Samuel 8:18
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 1 Samuel 8:19
First: That we also may be like all the nations;
and that our king may judge us,
Second: and go out before us,
and fight our battles. 1 Samuel 8:20
The opinion of the Spirit of Christ through the prophets.
The Hebrew, lebab or heart, simply means that God choose David to be king. Remember, that the Israelites defined the nature of the first king and he failed to carry out God's commands to be a king. Remember also that the king was not to be the religious leader but the civil, military leader. Furthermore, God selected David when he was an innocent shepherd.
"The quotation from Acts refers to David early in life, before he had fallen into those great sins which cast such a shadow upon his administration…This commendation is not absolute, but describes the character of David in comparison with that of Saul…It merely indicates a man whom God will approve, in distinction from Saul, who was rejected" (Haley's Bible Handbook, p. 222).
When people are compared to David it is during his first ways and not his last ways:
And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; 2Chr.17:3
God can interfere, change His mind, change the order of things and like or dislike whoever He wants.
We can appeal through prayer to have it our way, but ever how He wants it is just fine with me.
I'll not be one of the ones that will quote the Bible to Him and attempt to straighten Him out on a point or two on judgement day!
Thanks, John.
One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is the brutal honesty with which the heroes of scripture are presented. The flaws of Abraham, Moses, David, and Peter, for example, aren’t hidden but laid out plainly.
And this the beauty of God’s grace: we can be as messed up as this men and yet remain in God’s grace. But these are also men of incredible faith — and that makes all the difference.
God doesn’t judge as we judge. And although we know the truth of the matter, it’s awfully hard to live by faith, and even harder to accept that God forgives and loves us when we mess up.
I guess that’s why the most common command in all of scripture is “Be not afraid”!
Thanks, John.
One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is the brutal honesty with which the heroes of scripture are presented. The flaws of Abraham, Moses, David, and Peter, for example, aren't hidden but laid out plainly.
And this the beauty of God's grace: we can be as messed up as this men and yet remain in God's grace. But these are also men of incredible faith — and that makes all the difference.
God doesn't judge as we judge. And although we know the truth of the matter, it's awfully hard to live by faith, and even harder to accept that God forgives and loves us when we mess up.
I guess that's why the most common command in all of scripture is "Be not afraid"!
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