After finishing my book David’s Faith, I wondered what made him a “man after God’s own heart.” After all, there were other kings in Israel who were righteous and Godly beside David.
David is no hero of my friend, Verna. She sees him only as a failure — both as a father and husband. He had several wives at one time and his children were a grief to him, partly because of his absence of decent parenting skills. Her deep dislike of David made me think and wonder just why he was a man after God’s heart. Then, I believe, I found the answer.
David Never Worshiped Idols
I think what made David so special was that he never, ever turned his back on God to commit the sin of idolatry. While there was ample opportunity to worship gods that one could see and feel, and seemingly get better results by worshiping them, David never swayed from his loyalty to the one true, but unseen, God. And as king of Israel, he guided the entire nation in the worship of the One true God.
Starting with David’s son, Solomon, idolatry crept into the nation of Israel through its leadership. Although there were some righteous kings who tried to varying degrees to rid the nation of idols, idolatry was present until Israel was taken into its captivities.
The nation of Israel under David’s rule was a time when the leader was focused on God and God alone, despite his personal life being in shambles.
In the interesting book “Homeless to Billionaire,” author Andres Pira shares his deep trust in the universe for his personal good from lifting him out of homeless to becoming a billionaire. Even in his failures, he trusts that the universe is guiding his steps and does not fret when he meets with disappointments.
I interject his observation in this article to observe that as Christians, we should have that same, if not greater, trust in our heavenly Father, the One Who created the universe. While trust in a created object is idolatry, Pira’s misguided trust, his sincere idolatry, can be a lesson to us who do have a loving Heavenly Father who does hear our prayers, even when we think He does not, and He is loving us, even when we feel He is far away. He is the creator of the universe and all things in it and He is truly working for our good.
David Always Trusted in God
In his prayers, sometimes David cries, wondering where God is, but he never loses faith. David has a deep friendship with his God, and his example is something that we have can and should mimic today in our Christian walk. David cries out in Psalm 42:9 “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Nine times in the Book of Psalms, David calls God “my rock.” I think that this deep trust, a friendship with God all though David’s life, made him the man after God’s heart.
David understood this. David trusted God, not His creation for his help. He says, “My help cometh from the LORD who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2).
Let me encourage you to follow David’s example in his relationship with his heavenly Father — David never wavered. We can all take a lesson from David, the man after God’s own heart, and make David’s Rock our Rock — our only Rock.
Looking for more Bible thoughts? Check out The Three Crowns of Christ: Past, Present and Future.
