January 7
Pslam 31-35, 1 Samuel 13
Out of all these verses today, one really sticks out and is often misunderstood. It’s 1 Samuel 13:14 - “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
What does it mean for David to be a man after God’s own heart? I mean, do you know his full story? He has an adulterous relationship with a married wo...
January 7
Pslam 31-35, 1 Samuel 13
Out of all these verses today, one really sticks out and is often misunderstood. It’s 1 Samuel 13:14 - “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
What does it mean for David to be a man after God’s own heart? I mean, do you know his full story? He has an adulterous relationship with a married woman, get’s her pregnant, kills of her husband so that he could marry her, isn’t allowed to build the temple because he is a warrior and has too much spilled blood on his hands, mistreated the ark and brought death to Uzzah for touching it when it almost fell from a cart. . . David has a lot of ruthless roughness to him. How could he be called a man after God’s own heart?
What does it mean to be righteous? This is often misunderstood to be someone who is so perfect that they are free from sin. But do you know what righteousness really is? It’s the pursuit of what is right. It doesn’t mean someone who always gets it right. It refers to someone who always wants to know what is right and centers their life around that pursuit.
Though David often failed and did things that were wrong, he had the heart to do what is right. Saul, while wanting to have the favor of God, pursued God’s favor without pausing God’s righteousness. He offered sacrifice to God in order to be blessed by God, yet did not want to follow the commands of God to get there. He was more interested in what God would do for him than the act of drawing into God’s plan.
We can often get so legalistic that we believe our work for God, or our act of worship and devotion to be an attempt to attain the blessing of God. But the truth is, God’s blessing only comes in pursuit of God’s heart. When we align our hearts with God, we see the blessing of his hand in our life.
This becomes the key that David knows leads to God’s favor. He said in Psalm 31, “In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.” David knows that his life is riddled with failures and downfall. Yet he also knows that in God, there is righteousness that will rescue him. He doesn’t ask God to deliver him from the effects of his shortcomings. Instead, he asks God to deliver him into God’s righteousness.
He knows that where his heart is, and where God’s intentions are, has a gap between them. The only way to fill that gap, is to pursue the righteousness of God.
Samuel addresses King Saul after his failure to obey the commands of God. He brings Saul the judgment - If you had only kept the commands of God, he would have established your throne forever. But because you have not, he will cut it short.
God doesn’t judge and convict our failures. He judges and convicts our heart. The truth is we will all fail and fall short of the Glory of God. But a heart turned towards God will be redeemed. We will be brought back into his fortress when we realign our hearts with what is right. This is the work that Jesus came to do - so that no matter what, there would be life for those willing to pursue it!
So may you pursue the righteousness of God today. May you allow the spirit to convict you and draw you back onto the right path. May you have a heart that pursues the heart of God. And may you know his mercy, as you continue to experience the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
