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. He 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
King David has been a puzzle, a mystery, a holy conundrum for thousands of years. His life perplexes, maddens, and humbles students of the Bible. To many, it doesn’t make sense that this man who was so prone to personal weakness was able to “get away with” so much and still have God treat him with special favor. He was many things: a shepherd, a psalmist, a king, a liar, a murderer, and an adulterer. But most important of all, he was the only person in the entire span of the Bible to be called a man after God’s own heart. Can you think of four more stunning words in all of creation? A man—lowly and often full of doubts and sin, like all of us—and yet God singled him out and called him a man after His own heart. What an awesome, almost unfathomable compliment! But in saying those words, God threw open the door to every person on the planet to be, like David, a man or woman after God’s own heart.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Father, like David, there are many who wonder how You could possibly love me as You do. I too am full of doubts and sin, yet you allow me to become a man or woman after God’s own heart.
We all have the same opportunity to embody in our
own personality and in our own way the kind of
heart that reflects the very heart, emotions, and
personality of God.
