“The LORD has sought out a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded Him to be prince over His people…” – 1 Samuel 13:14
“Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, ‘Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far? – Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness…you are great…there is none like you….” – 2 Samuel 7:18-29
“And when He (God) had removed him (Saul), 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 own heart, who will do all my will.'” – Acts 13:22
Yesterday we saw God raise up a Teacher, Samuel, who would help His people understand that He was interested in being more than a emergency response worker…He wants a relationship with us. His desire from the beginning is to walk with us always during the good times and the bad. From this point on, our story always has these “prophets” that God uses to remind us who God is and how much He loves us. Each of us has personal stories in our experiences of these prophets. That person on your life journey that introduced you to a fresh perspective on the God who created you. A parent, a Sunday School teacher, a friend, a grandparent, or all of the above! They may not have their names recorded in the Scriptures, but their names stand out in the “bible” of your life.
Pause for a moment in today’s meditation and thank the Lord for bringing that person (prophet) into your life.
Meanwhile, back to our story. After providing these teachers, God also saw that we needed structure in our daily lives…a government of sorts. Not to separate us from the Lordship of our creator. He would always be King of Kings! Not to separate our spiritual lives from our “secular” lives. This idea is foreign to the Bible. This leader would guide the people of God in following the direction taught by the prophets. This, in turn, would empower them to give testimony to other nations of God’s love and desire for reconciliation.
Of course, we the people thought we knew what we needed and using our own criteria chose poorly. The people chose Saul to become King of Israel…and God let them (that choice thing again). Then God revealed His choice. The Bible describes him as a “man after God’s own heart”…David. Samuel would not have picked him, you and I would not have picked him. In fact, when God sent Samuel to anoint him the leader of His people, He reminded Samuel that He did not pick leaders the way we would. He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
A shepherd boy named David becomes King. What? Not only does he lead God’s people but he sets the framework for the coming of God’s ultimate act of salvation and redemption! Yes, Jesus is referred to as the Son of David for it is through the lineage of this “man after God’s own heart” that God demonstrated His love for us (Romans 5:8).
David was far from perfect and always struggled with keeping things out of the ditches. But his story within our story shows us that what is important in God’s evaluation of our life is the condition of the heart. Our usefulness in God’s plan is not determined by a resume of tasks and abilities. It is not decided by what other people think or our position. It is decided in a personal interview with the Savior. He asks one telling question. It’s the same question he asked Peter and I’m sure He asked David long ago…”Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17).
Today, in your story, how do you answer Him?