Heart after God

David was the youngest in a large family of boys.
He watched the sheep.
He wrote and sang new songs with a harp
and we can read some of those
songs in the book of Psalms.

He killed a lion and a bear and a giant.
He killed thousands of enemies
for his people and his king.
The king gave him his daughter as a wife
because he was so pleased with him.

David was anointed as king but had to keep
on the run for many years
because King Saul was jealous
of him and wanted to kill him
because he knew God had left him
and had gone to be with David.
He knew David was God's new chosen king.

David was very sad when Saul, the king, died in battle.
His best friend, Jonathan, and Jonathan's two brothers,
were also killed on the same day.
All three of them were Saul's sons.

David eventually became king.
He fought wars and did many good things
for God and His people in the land of Israel.

One day he saw a beautiful lady
and arranged for her to come visit him.
Her name was Bathsheba.
They became a little too friendly
and she got pregnant
and David had her husband killed off
(as a last resort)
to try to hide his sin.
God sent a prophet to set David straight
and David repented of his sin.

The son born to this pretty lady died
but they had another son named
Solomon, who eventually became king.

David had lots of family trouble after he killed Uriah,
Bathsheba's husband.
His daughter was violated by her half brother
and David didn't do much about it
so her brother Absalom took matters into his
own hands and blood was shed in the family.
Brother killing brother and the like.

Absalom had to stay away from home for a long time
and David was finally somewhat reconciled to him.
But there wasn't any real peace there and Absalom
thought he could do a better job than David as king
but in the process of the conflict that ensued,
Absalom's long hair got caught up in a tree branch
and David's trusted army captain saw to it
that Absalom breathed no more.

I didn't even tell you about Abigail and her stupid
husband and how David married her also.

In all of this,
through all of this,
David was described as a man
after God's own heart.

When he made mistakes,
He came back to God.
He was always hungry and thirsty for God.

Sometimes,
God redeems negative experiences in our lives.
He uses our mistakes.
He forgives our many sins.
And we are always hungry and thirsty for God.
And He calls us a child after His own heart.

Sometimes,
God keeps us from making a lot of mistakes.
He keeps us from doing things
that we would have to pay for the
rest of our lives.
And we are always hungry and thirsty for God.
And He calls us His child after His own heart.

My point is this.
David was already a man after God's own heart
when he was all alone in the sheep field,
playing his harp. In fact, it was in these
'anonymous' years that his heart for God was most
likely developed.

Many people suffered from David's sin.
Much blood was shed. Many hearts were broken.
He and his people wouldn't have had to go
through all of that trauma
in order for God to call him a man after His own heart.

And so I say to you,
be a man and woman after God's own heart.
Let Him keep you from sin.
Don't do stupid stuff like looking at naked women
when you should be fighting a battle.

Don't be lazy about defending your own children
because you're too busy with politics and kingdom work.

Don't do stuff that God has to redeem
if you can at all possibly help it.

You can be a man and a woman after God's own heart
without doing things that need forgiveness and that ruin
your testimony.

The blessing of the Lord
makes you rich,
and He adds no sorrow to it.

You are blessed.
Don't add sorrow to your blessing.