A study of the life of David, looking particularly for hints as to why God referred to him as a man after his own heart.

1 Samuel 13:14

But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (See note at this verse for related verses and thoughts.) 

1 Kings 2:2-4

“I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

Good Morning God of David and Solomon, and my own.  This is, it appears, the last of our study of David, a man after your heart.  It feels like, were I writing for the sake of those who may be reading, I should finish this up by summarizing what you’ve told me, right?  But you remind me these morning notes are first and primarily an attempt to talk to you and to think through what I believe you are telling me.  Kind of like David’s poetry that he wrote, I suppose.  Many of them were a recording of his thoughts and prayers, conversations with you, that he also chose to share in the hope they might be helpful to others.

So perhaps we will summarize at some point, but this morning I need to acknowledge and talk to you about these past few days and how they seem to fit within David’s final message to his son.

I believe months ago you prompted me to share these daily notes with my family, and then recently to share a couple of them, along with my blog, with Pastor Rocky as a way to see if there might be a fit there.  I believe you gave me an enjoyment of writing and I felt you were telling me to share some with him to see if he felt I might be able to serve him and SouthPoint in some way.

Then the attacks came.  Pride, discouragement, fear, sin.  I felt like a fool and decided I should probably rescind my offer, admitting that I really have nothing to offer and it was all really just an volcanic explosion of pride.  I thought I should probably also stop sharing these daily conversations with my family.  ‘I just want to keep to myself Abba, and continue to try to quietly get to know you.’  

But then you brought me back to one of my favorite statements from Paul.  I suspect he is expressing a universal truth.  When your people seek you and you show them something of yourself, it is very often so amazing and wonderful that we in our flesh begin to naturally and commonly take some selfish credit for it.  We think, ‘My goodness!  I must be an amazing Christian and highly favored by God if I have been shown all this!’  And that’s how the slide begins.  

But I love the way Paul explains what is really happening and even why it is happening.  We are – I am – adopted and loved children of the Almighty.  When you show us something of yourself our sinful flesh can easily and quickly get all puffed up, and that is not good for us or those around us.  So in an act of love, always doing what is in our best long-term interest, you allow a messenger of Satan to come in and beat us up.  And I hate it and I feel bad about myself and feel like a failure and a hypocrite.  So I ask you to remove it, to rescue me from it.

But you remind me, ‘This is in your best interest, Rick.  You can’t have both personal selfish pride AND me in your life.  It’s very simple really – the more pride-of self you have, the less of me.’  And so, trusting you, I accept as reality the fact that Satan’s attacks, meant by him to side-track me (as they too often do), are actually being used by you to keep my sinful flesh in check, so that I will remain in full submission and dependency on you.  And that is SO much better.  

Before he understood what you were doing, Paul said that he asked you three times to block Satan’s attacks and all three times you said, ‘No Paul, my grace, my active presence in your life, is all you need.  For you are much stronger when you are fully dependent on me.’

Then after you explained it three times, Paul learned to accept and view Satan’s thorn in the flesh (attacks) as being good for him (I don’t think I am there yet, Lord), because 1) it was not really him who was initiating the bad things in his heart and life, but Satan’s messengers, and 2) he learned that when the flesh-me is weak, the Jesus-me is strong – and that always leads to a much more joyful and effective life.

On his deathbed David told his son Solomon, Be strong, stand up and be a man, son.  If you will walk the path God has chosen for you, doing as best you understand what is written in the Bible for you (when you need more, God will show you – just be sure you continue to live up to what you currently understand).  If you will do that Solomon, God will give you prudence/wisdom in all that you say and all that you do.

I believe you are telling your people here and now the same.  If we will hear and follow, as best we are able, the latest revelation God has given us in the New Testament and all of the Bible, our Papa-Father will give us wisdom to walk the path he has chosen for us.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

A Thorn in the Flesh

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.