Bible Tuesday - David Part 31

“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.  After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
Acts 13:20-22

Eight months ago, I started this journey to see what this verse meant.  I'm still not sure I know.  But one thing is for certain.  David and I are gonna have a long chat in Heaven. 

After all this time, what do I know about David?

One thing I see with David over and over again is that his love for God never wavered. Did he make stupid mistakes? Yep. A whole heapin' bunch of them. But not once does He deny his love for God.   

David never gave up. And he had quite a few incentives to do so. I mean, people were trying to kill him (including his own son) for a big part of his life. That kind of thing can weigh heavy on ya. But David kept going. And maybe there is a lesson for us there. 

When I started reading the Bible, I was 28 years old.  I imagined that the Bible was full of heroes.  I expected a  bunch of stories that would make me feel bad about my pitiful self.  But as I began to study the word for the first time, I realized that the only hero in the Bible is Jesus.  The rest of the characters are just flawed people.  You see the big idea of the Bible is not that people can change, it is that God can change people.  It was comforting to find that those 'great men' of the Bible were, more often than not, just a bunch of punks like you and me.

I think, at the end of it all, David is God’s way of telling us that He understands.  David isn’t a horrible sinner that finds God and that’s the end of the story. He’s a sinner that keeps sinning.  He loves God.  He acknowledges God’s right to declare what is and is not sin.  He doesn’t blame God for the consequences of his sin.  But he also keeps on making stupid decisions right up until his last breath.  (He also raised kids with some real behavioral issues which is especially comforting to me.)

David is God’s way of reminding us that we need Him at our best and at our worst. He is a man who loves God.  That’s what sets David apart.  Not his deeds, whether good or bad.  His heart was fixed upon  God.  And maybe David is God's way of assuring us that He can love us for our intentions even when our actions fall miserably short.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Psalm 23:6