“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple… My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’  Your face, Lord, I will seek”  (Psalm 27:4, 8).

Inspiration and real hope come to me when I think of the Biblical character David and how God referenced him as “a man after His own heart.”  Sure, David was the towering subject who killed a lion and a bear, slew mighty Goliath, and reigned as the greatest of kings.  The part that brings encouragement and lively hope is not so much his special feats, but rather the things God chose to forgive in His ultimate assessment of the man.

All things being equal, an adulterer and a murderer do not fit into a wholesome relationship that God would endorse or memorialize.  The fact that David had an affair with a married woman, Bathsheba, and subsequently masterminded a plot to have her husband Uriah killed in battle as part of a cover-up made him guilty of both crimes.  As you read the story of David, on a human level, serious consequences of these acts did follow David all the days of his life.  But God….

In today’s message, we’d like to focus on the repentant response that David genuinely exhibited when the prophet Nathan confronted him about what he had done.  The light of God’s reality hit David in a dramatically resurrecting way, which was the direct opposite of what David’s stone had produced in the ill-fated Goliath.  “Oh my God, I have sinned against You,” was David’s heartfelt conviction.  He had let down the One who had birthed him and developed him as the psalmist-warrior-king.  His flesh had ruled and reigned in God’s place. For that, his heart cried—not in simple remorse but in shame and godly sorrow.

There are numerous scriptures that share the idea that God’s Kingdom is one of the heart.  Three favorites are found in proverbs:  As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (23:7); Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life (4:23); Trust in the Lord with all your heart and in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your path (3:5-6).

Family and friends, none of us is King David or ever will be.  What we can be, however, is a man or woman after God’s own heart.  The privilege of pursuing him and worshipping Him in Spirit and truth is ours and the choice we make in that regard is ours as well.  The Spiritual oasis available to us requires a thirsty and burning heart for fellowship with the Lord; the I AM who created us, the One who gives us a second chance, The Holy Spirit who lives about and in us, and the awesome rewarder of eternal life. 

An earnest prayer from this writer:  Father God, in Jesus’ name, please purify my heart and enlighten me to join King David.  My desire is to be empowered by Your Holy Spirit and known by You as a man after Your own heart! 

Matt 5:8; Psalm 51; 1 Cor 10:31