April 10

Until now, David's track record has been admirable. He had faith that God would help him defeat a giant that everyone else was afraid of. He refused to dishonor God's anointed, king Saul, even when he was trying to kill him. He openly expressed worship to God without regard for what others thought of him. He turned to God for strength in times of trial. He turned to God in times of peace to express joy and thankfulness. It's obvious why God said David was a man after His own heart.

Then one night David saw Bathsheba and decided he had to have her. Knowing full well that she was the wife of Uriah, David slept with her and she became pregnant. David knew he messed up. So what did he do? Confess his sin? No, he tried to cover it up by bring Uriah home from fighting, hoping that everyone would believe that he was the father of his wife's child. When that didn't work, what did David do next? Now, confess his sin? No, he had Uriah sent to where the fighting was the fiercest so that he would be killed. When Uriah was dead, David took Bathsheba as his wife.

After all this, David still had not confessed his sin to God. How could a man after God's own heart fall so far? The Lord was very displeased with David, and He sent Nathan to rebuke him. 2 Samuel 12:7-10 says: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' 

David had no where else to hide. He had no way to cover up what he had done. Now, he finally admitted that he sinned against the Lord. David's heart was genuinely repentant and humble. Psalm 51:10-12 says: "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."

So after all this, does David's faith still seem admirable? Does he deserve to be called a man after God's own heart? I think the answer is yes, absolutely. It's important to remember that David was human, born with a sinful nature into a broken world. All of us, including David, fall short of God's perfect standard of holiness. What David did was terrible. But when he was confronted with his actions, he didn't make excuses, he didn't try to justify his actions, he didn't try to defend himself. He confessed his sin and begged God to show him mercy. He cried out for God to put him back on the right track. That is what we should admire about David.

Last week I was listening to Let Me Feel You Shine by David Crowder Band. There was a line from that song that has stuck with me ever since: "What I need is for You to put me back on my feet." Without God's help, all of us (even a man after God's own heart) are doomed to make selfish, sinful choices. We need God to have mercy on us, forgive our sins, and then put us back on our feet.