If David Was a Man After God’s Own Heart, There is Hope for ALL of Us

I am going to be brutally honest here.

I struggle with some of the “heroes” of the Bible. For instance, David.

He is known as a “man after God’s own heart.” Yet, there are several instances where he did things that are, at the very least… questionable, at least to my plank-filled eyes.

At first, he was a scared child, fighting a giant. I will give him that. David: 1; Manndi’s Judgement: 0.

However, it seems the older he grew and the more confident in his abilities, which were a direct reflection of God’s own grace shining directly upon his face, he got a little… full of himself.

The man watched a woman bathe on her rooftop. Creepy!

I mean, I cannot say other men wouldn’t do the same. I know more would than wouldn’t, especially if it was a good-looking woman, which Bathsheba definitely was.

But then he became so obsessed with her that he literally had her husband (a member of his own army) killed, so that he could take her on as his own wife!

I mean, the nerve!

How did she feel about this?

Was she happy to be rid of her original hubby and excited to elevate her status by becoming the wife of a king?

Or, did she feel like a pawn, an inanimate piece of property, an object to be traded back and forth like a shining bauble at a children’s pre-school playground?

And what about David’s original wife?

Oh sure, she ended up in the “crazy'”category (like all first wives, when it is very likely the men that first fell in love with them and then drove them straight to inevitable madness).

Perhaps I am projecting here…

The point is, David’s actions did not always show his heart.

They often showed selfishness, vanity, and perhaps even a seasoning of narcissism.

I see this in many of our leaders today. I see this in many of my own relationships if I am honest. I even see this in myself. Hard to admit, but oh so very true.

But while some of David’s actions seem a bit questionable, his faith never suffered.

He loved God. He trusted Him. And he cried out to His beloved Heavenly Father in the most bitter, heart-wrenching moments of his life.

God continually answered that call. Why?

Because thankfully, God sees deeper than the surface level of humankind’s sin.

He sees the heart.

And apparently, David had a heart full of love for his God, or he would not have made history and be one of the most talked about men in the greatest book of all time; God’s own Word.

Where man sees sin, God sees the need for saving grace.
Where man sees hate, God sees a true heart.
Where man sees ugliness and greed, God sees a child in need of love and understanding.
Where man sees missteps, God sees a man trying his best to finally get it right.
Where man sees selfishness, God sees unmet needs.
Where man sees fault, God sees desire.
Where man sees failure, God sees an opportunity for growth.
Where man sees sin, God sees a heart in need of a Savior, which He lovingly provided by way of His own precious son.
Where man sees nothing worth saving, God sees a heart worthy of His grace.
Thank GOD for seeing beyond what we mere humans are capable of seeing. Oh! We of such limited vision.

I may still have questions and unsettled notions about David, but when I put my own sins under a microscope, he certainly seems more relatable.

And that is the cool thing about God. He loves to make great examples of those that make us sit back and say: “Wow – if God could use HIM or HER, He could surely use me!“

So when you are, dare I say the word, “indicting” others in your life, be it in social media, the political arena, on the pulpit, in the boss’ chair, across the lunch table, or in your own home; just know that God sees more than human eyes will ever be capable of.

He sees the lies, He sees the truth, He sees the struggle, He sees the injustice.

And while it may absolutely chap some of our very sensitive hides, He often uses those folks that are capable of sending a very real and very grace-evoking message: “God sees the heart, while man simply sees the sin.”

Perhaps we should concentrate more on our own sin rather than judging those who seem so easily targeted.

The bigger question is: Why are certain folks so easily targeted, while others (who likely have much more to hide) are left to their own devices?

In my humble opinion, when there is a witch-hunt, it is not necessarily the witch who is holding all the evil cards, it is likely those that are leading the witch-hunt to try and remove focus from their own devious methods.

After all, the giant David fought was very much favored to win.

He had size, strength, precision, and practice.

But David had one thing the giant did not, actually three things, but only one worth mentioning.

A slingshot, a pebble, and a heart full of faith.

David had God…and thus defeated the giant.

What giants are we rooting for today?

And, if we are being completely honest, which “David’s” are we hoping to see extinguished?

Because that is the very place the crowd was in on that fateful day when David brought the giant down.