We have been hearing a lot of
David these days…these past weeks of Sundays. Listening, hearing and learning from David. I have done studies on David at other times as well; some of his
stories are my favorites; the time he fights Goliath with a slingshot and a
stone; when he cuts the corner of Saul’s cape rather than killing him; when he
dances in the street worshipping God and even the story of Bathsheba; the story
of Solomon his son and of course that he
is in fact the line from where Christ comes…who wouldn’t love him, a man after
Gods own heart…perfect.
But David is not perfect.
What have I been learning from David, what do I love about him?
I have seen for myself, that life happens in seasons, some are longer than others...and three things I know; life is beautiful; life is hard; and life never stays the same. I love that we see all of David's seasons, the good and the bad, the high roads and the low roads. I love that through it all he relies on God for everything; He cries out to Him in pain and rejoices with Him in thanksgiving. He weeps and begs and laments, always coming to the knowledge that God is with Him and even when the bible doesn’t exactly say so, those times of overacting and over reacting; even in those times, he knows he belongs to God, I believe it, I’m sure of it.
I have seen for myself, that life happens in seasons, some are longer than others...and three things I know; life is beautiful; life is hard; and life never stays the same. I love that we see all of David's seasons, the good and the bad, the high roads and the low roads. I love that through it all he relies on God for everything; He cries out to Him in pain and rejoices with Him in thanksgiving. He weeps and begs and laments, always coming to the knowledge that God is with Him and even when the bible doesn’t exactly say so, those times of overacting and over reacting; even in those times, he knows he belongs to God, I believe it, I’m sure of it.
One of the things we do, when we
read his story is that we assume that adultery and yes even plotting murder are
the worst sins, but the truth is God does not play favorites with sin, to Him, one
sin is as bad as another. The thing that
we need to assume is that God loves us no matter what, that He will forgive, He
will grant grace, amazing grace. We
simply need to keep Him in the picture. We need to remember His faith in us. We need to remember that we can trust Him…that
even when we fail in the moment, we can turn and see Him there. David always turns.
Like it was for David, life is
hard, it is a series of challenges and difficulties, choosing responses…but it
is also peppered with handfuls of joy…wait for it.
In 2 Samuel, the bible says that God incites David...the same story in Chronicles says that Satan provokes David. Does God test us and tempt us? Does He allow Satan to tempt us? Does God want
to see how we will respond to any given sin that we find ourselves mixed up
in? Does God allow things to happen to
get in the way of anything getting out of control? Can God at any moment change the
circumstances we find ourselves in? Can
God place something in the way of a circumstance from even happening? Yes,
yes and yes. God can either do anything
and everything…or He can’t.
About David, God says, “…he will
do everything I want him to do.”
For some reason, God was there at
David’s side, guarding all his steps,
helping him in his battles, giving him strength and guidance, but sometimes He
was not so near…at least it didn’t seem so; battles were not won, strength was
sapped and wrong choices were made. This
is how it is for us too, for me…sometimes God allows certain things to happen and
in those times I crash. Sometimes God
gets in the way of the thing happening and it is not until hind sight that I
realize how He saved me from crashing. And sometimes, right in the moment, I am in awe at His amazing grace
given to a sinner like me. He is always
nearby.
There but for the grace of God go I…
God could have struck David down,
dead, like Uzzah, when he handled the ark wrongly, or like Ananias and Sapphira
when they held back money. But, He
didn’t, He didn’t strike down David, He offered grace and mercy and tears.
David was a man after God’s own
heart.
I am not perfect, I am a sinner,
in some seasons more than others …but more than that, I am a woman after Gods
own heart. He has offered me grace and
mercy and He has wept with me.
This is what I love about David,
he is not perfect, yet he is a man after God’s own heart…just like me.
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."
2 Samuel 22:33
What I have learned from David is
what I know about God.
I love that.
