king david

Several in my small group struggle with how God could love King David. They wrestle with seeing beyond the sin in his life to the reality of his heart. I pulled together these few versus for them since he was a "man after God's own heart".

And when he [God] had removed him, 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 heart, who will do all my will.’ - Acts 13.22

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” - 1 Sam 13.13-14

David loved the Word of God as expressed beautifully in Psa 119 and particularly in verse 97, Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

David loved to commune with God through prayer as seen in Psa 116.1-2, I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

Praise for God was a constant in his life (Psa 119.164; 95.1-7; 104.33).

He understood the value of unity (Psa 133.1) and demonstrated it through his relationship with Jonathan (1 Sam 18.1) while having personal experience with the destructive nature of disunity (2 Sam 13).

David hated falsehood (Psa 119.104; 101.3-4, 6-7).

I personally think the one that most revealed his real character is found in 2 Sam 12.13. After committing adultery and killing Bathsheba's husband and then being confronted by Nathan with his sin, David did not follow the path of many. Instead he was broken and confessed his sin. More than being wrong. He knew that his sin was against God almighty.

There's more but bottom line, did David sin grievously? Yes. Yet somehow, through the whole of his life, his heart was hard after God.