We saw in my last post some of the characteristics of a man after God’s own heart.
Today we see more of what it means to be such a man or woman.
- Fourthly, when convicted of sin David repented immediately (cf. 2 Samuel 12:1-13 and Psalm 51).
- David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then he was guilty of murder as he arranged for Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to die in battle. When confronted by the prophet Nathan, he exclaimed”
“I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:13a GNB)
- Fifthly, he knew that God was his strength.
When he was facing Goliath as a young shepherd boy, his words …
“I’ll strike you down and cut off your head… (and) … will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth…” (1 Samuel 17:46 NIV)
… would have sounded like an unconscionable piece of arrogance if he had not also acknowledged:
“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give all of you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:47 NIV)
“Ascribe strength to God,” he writes in Psalm 68:34a. When he feared for his life at the hands of his own men after the destruction of Ziklag, 1 Samuel 30:6b (NIV) tells us that “David found strength in the Lord his God….”
Next Post: What Else Makes Us a Man or Woman after God’s Own Heart?