“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7b

If you’re just joining in this week, you may want to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of “We Three Kings”. Here’s a quick recap:

• In Part 1, we explored the fallout of the Israelites rejecting God as their only King and discussed using history to seek God’s wisdom and apply what we learn to our own walk with Him.
• In Part 2, we dug into how Saul allowed his insecurities to undermine his confidence in God and reminded ourselves through the Word that God equips those He calls; our confidence is not in ourselves but in God Almighty!

Now, on to Part 3: David, who God called a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

David shows up on the scene not much more than a boy, overlooked by his own father until all of his older brothers were rejected by God (1 Samuel 16). Jesse (David’s father) and Samuel looked at all of his taller, stronger, older brothers until God finally said to Samuel,

Stop looking at these guys. I am rejecting them. I am not looking for someone to be king on the outside, but someone who will make me their King on the inside. (1 Samuel 16:7; Acts 13:22)

After all, Saul looked the perfect part and we know how that turned out.

Sweet friends, David may have been initially overlooked, but his defeat of Goliath with just a sling and a stone has made him a biblical hero in children’s church lessons and in our hearts even as adults. Unlike Saul, whose behavior demonstrated a lack of trust in God, David lived boldly from a place of faith and obedience even from a young age. When God anointed him as the next king, He told David not to dethrone Saul and though David had multiple (dare I say, justifiable) opportunities, he nor his men harmed Saul (1 Samuel 24-28). David faithfully awaited his turn to be king, trusting God’s timing and God’s direction – even when doing so caused his own life to be threatened.

Throughout the histories, we see that David followed God very closely and made God the Lord of his life in nearly every way, but just like us, he was not perfect. Much like Jacob and the in-fighting of his four wives and their many sons, as we read about David’s life, we see that he had trouble keeping his own house in order due to his sons at times rising up against his authority and competing against each other to be the next king. We learn that this in-fighting was a result of what even David would likely admit was his greatest failing: having an affair with a married woman and sending her husband to the frontlines to be killed in an effort to cover that she was pregnant with David’s child (2 Samuel 11-12).

No dear heart, David was not perfect, but more than anyone perhaps, David understood God’s place as Lord of his life and when he erred, he was quick to take ownership of his wrong-doing and repent. We see the evidence in David’s own words:

• Remorse for wrong-doing:
  • For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. (Psalm 32:3)
  • Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:2)
• Recognition of God as King of his life:
  • You are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. (Psalm 51:4b)
• Confession of wrong-doing:
  • I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:5)
  • For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. (Psalm 51:3-4a).
• Repentance (turning around and going the other way):
  • Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:10-12)
  • Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. (Psalm 32:10)
• Desire to help others avoid sin:
  • Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you (Psalm 51:13).

David broke two of God’s commandments: adultery and murder (by proxy); two sins that should have – by law – cost him his life. But David recognized Who his sin was truly against – God – and he confessed, repented, and was so serious about not sinning again that he sought to help others avoid sinning against God too. God, in His infinite mercy and love, forgave David and restored him to fellowship, but the consequence of David’s actions would hound his family with in-fighting for the rest of David’s life (2 Samuel 12: 7-15).

Beloved, what lessons can we learn from David, a man after God’s own heart?

1. No one is perfect, but we can all seek to make God King of our lives.
2. When we seek God’s ways, we prosper.
3. When we seek our own ways, we and others suffer.
4. When we sin, we must:
   • Be truly grieved for our wrongdoing.
   • Recognize God’s authority and that our sin is against Him.
   • Confess our wrongdoing to God and submit to His judgment.
   • Demonstrate true sorrow by turning around and going the other way. As Jesus would tell the woman thrown at His feet for adultery, “Go and sin no more”.
   • Demonstrate God’s Lordship in our lives and our understanding of sin as wrong by helping others avoid sin.

Father God, I thank you for your unfailing mercy and boundless grace! Lord, I am grateful for David’s life story and the demonstration of how to be restored to fellowship with You when I too fall short of Your design for my life. Father help Your children to seek Your heart above all else! Grieve us, Holy Spirit, when we are straying toward wrong paths; let our groaning alert us to our need to repent and seek restoration!