DAVID

A Man After God's Own Heart

What does God mean when He calls David, “a man after His own heart?” How does David’s life demonstrate his pursuit of God when we know his life was far from perfect? These are just a couple of the questions that come to mind when we think of David's amazing life. Of all the people written about in the scriptures, David is the only one whom God commends as “a man after His own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14 NIV)

Because David wrote many of the Psalms that are recorded in the Old Testament, future generations are able to draw closer to the Lord and worship Him. As we see David’s human emotions revealed through the Psalms, we are also encouraged to get real with God. Do we see all of the Lord’s wonderful attributes as David did? Are we able to genuinely engage with God, despite all of our fears, worries, disappointments, and pain? David did, because God was enough for him. This is one of the legacies he has left us.

We will study the complexities of his life as a young shepherd boy, a valiant warrior, a poet, a musician, and a king to see how the Lord works with a man who continually yields to Him. David’s life was not perfect in that he made sinful choices, but he also made God honoring choices. So often, we want our heroes to be either all-good or all-bad. God gives us heroes that are "all-human." The Lord commends David and his story directs us to our own need for a Savior. The Lord promises David in 2 Samuel 7:16 that one from his seed is coming and “your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” The Son of David, Jesus, is the one who fulfills this promise.

This Week:

Living Love

2 Samuel 9

2 Samuel 9 invites us to consider those less fortunate than ourselves and how we might extend ourselves to bless them. Is there someone in your life that needs your compassion? Is there someone you can think of that needs an invitation? Consider David at his best in his loving encounter with Jonathan's crippled son.

Book Recommendations

A Grace Disquised, by Jerry Sittser, Zondervan

One Year Book of HOPE, by Nancy Guthrie, Tyndale

Leap Over a Wall, by Eugene Petersen, Harper, San Franciso

Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom, Broadway Books

Sacred Thirst, by M.Craig Barnes, Zondervan

First and Second Samuel, by Brueggemann, John Knoz Press