A few years ago Prince Harry wrote Spare, a sometime lurid memoir that deeply upset some in the British royal family. It’s not just royals or famous people. Who wants their personal struggles on the headlines? I would venture a guest that hardly anyone wants that kind of negative publicity. Even after a loved one has passed away, their descendants rarely want their loved one’s dark secrets to come to light.
But that is exactly what happened to Israel’s great King David.
What a life David had. Since April of last year, we have followed the account of his improbable rise to become king of Israel. David came out of nowhere. But God picked him for a reason.
When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David to be king, David was young. Maybe even an older teenager, or young adult. He was a no name. His only reputation was within his family and local community in the small town of Bethlehem. And even that reputation was no big deal.
David was the youngest sibling, with 7 older brothers. They were the one’s making a name in the world, serving in the military. But David? He tended his dad’s flocks of sheep, while his brothers were in fighting in the army. David used a sling shot to ward off predators from grabbing sheep, while his brothers wielded swords in battle. They were men; David was too young to enlist. So he walked around the fields with sheep, and in his spare time wrote songs and played a harp. The thought of David becoming king was laughable.
Yet when Samuel goes to anoint the next king, God tells Samuel to go to David’s father, Jesse’s family, and Jesse brings out his military sons one by one. God says “No…nope…uh-uh,” passing up each brother, until finally there are none left. So Samuel says, “Are there no more?” Had this been a mistake? Did Samuel hear God wrong?
Their father Jesse speaks up, “Well, there is the youngest, and he’s out tending the sheep.” It is as if Jesse is saying, “You can’t seriously want to see him, right? You want to pick the older brothers, as they are men, soldiers. David is too young, untested, and knows nothing of military life.” It would have been common to think that a king needed to be a seriously experienced military man.
But God says, “I want David.” Why David? God had told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
God picked David because of David’s heart. David’s lack of age, height, experience, battle, and training did not matter to God. Why? Because David had the right kind of heart.
When God says I look at the heart, God is not referring to his physical blood pumper. This word is being used figuratively to refer to one’s conscience. It has everything to do with one’s inner desire, will, intention. David had the right kind of heart.
In Psalm 78:72, we read that “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” That psalm writer is not talking about David’s days as a shepherd of literal sheep. The psalmist is talking about David’s heart as king, a leader of people. He led with integrity.
You might say, “Hold on a minute. When we studied the life of David, we heard stories describing David as sinning and lying, and not having integrity.” The story of David in the Bible is often like Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir. That is true. So how can David be called a man after God’s own heart if he also committed atrocities?
I personally appreciate that the writer of David’s life includes numerous messy parts. We learned about David’s women problems. The worst was David’s terrible sin against Bathsheba, her husband, and God. Recently we studied David’s census that led to thousands dying. They are awful episodes, and a writer could easily have thought, “I’m not going to include David’s terrible choices because I don’t want him to look bad. I don’t want surrounding nations to know about our king’s infidelities. Further, I don’t want God to look bad, since it was God who chose David. So I’ll just skip all the bad parts, and make it seem like David was always and only a man after God’s own heart. I will make David look perfect.”
Do you see that an author might be motivated to hide David’s sins? The royal family, David’s children and grandchildren, might put pressure on David’s biographer to skip the sordid details. David’s relatives could be extremely embarrassed to have David’s many foibles in print. When 1st and 2nd Samuel were published, one of David’s relatives was on the throne. They had authority and means to keep that book from ever seeing the light of day.
Except they didn’t. It’s all there for us to read, and it is horrible, and messy, and I am glad. Not just because I think it is important to tell the truth, but because the truth about David’s sin gives us hope that being a person with a heart after God’s own heart does not require perfection. The story of David gives us assurance that even though we sin, and sometimes sin royally, we can confess our sins, repent, and receive God’s forgiveness. God loves us, no matter how awful our sins. No one’s actions ever make them unlovable or unforgiveable by God. Praise God, his grace is sufficient. David was truly a man after God’s heart. He would look to God, receive forgiveness and make changes even after he sins. David’s sins and God’s grace remind us that we too can be people after God’s heart, though we sin.
What I wondered about this week was what David thought about this idea of being called a man after God’s heart. Did he know that people labeled him that way? Did Samuel tell him that he was chosen because of his heart? Did David think about what it mean to have a heart after God’s heart?
In the account of 1st and 2nd Samuel, we rarely get to hear David’s thoughts about his heart. But there is another place we can turn to learn what David himself has to say about his life. The psalms.
David wrote between 73 and 75 of the 150 psalms in the biblical book of Psalms. David’s psalms are like his personal prayer journal, and through them we can learn much of David’s thinking about the heart. Check back tomorrow as we begin to study some psalms where David mentions the heart.
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 