David: A Man After God’s Own Heart

Series Introduction

Every man lives by a code or set of standards. Even if you have never thought about it or listed it out, we all have those inner rules we follow. Some may have been drilled into us as kids, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”, while others may have been learned from friends or experiences. Faith is one of the greatest sources of these life rules. Of all of these, faith often has the deepest impact on our character.

It can be difficult to look at scripture to develop a code to live by. Human nature turns the bullet point into rules, which can drift from the original intent of the code. This is exactly what happened to the Israelites after Moses! They took the law of God and turned it into a mechanical list of to do items. As a result, they often completely missed the original point of the law…. Love God, and love each other. Life became a game of hopscotch dancing around checklists.

What does a man with true biblical character look like in real life? Jesus is the obvious choice for an example. But let’s be honest…. That is a very intimidating example to try to follow. Jesus is the best role model for integrity and how to live life. But what about an actual guy? Someone who is not perfect, who makes mistakes and is still able to live in integrity? Maybe someone who was a man after God’s own heart?

David was far from perfect, some of his sins are about as bad as they get. Yet, God still called him a man after his own heart. What was it about David that earned him such high praise from God? How does a murderous adulterer still find God’s favor in life? What was it about David and the life he lived that provoked God to remember promises he made to David hundreds of years after his death?

These are some of the thoughts that I am being led to in my current season in life. God is causing me to completely redefine who I am and by what standards that I live by. I am finding that some of my standards, which I learned in my faith walk, still fall short of my calling as a man of God. While those standards were lightyears ahead of where I was before Jesus got a hold of me, they are not quite enough for where God is leading me.

In this series of King David: A man after God’s own heart, we will explore a list of characteristics and qualities that served David well in his walk with God. Let’s look together at the life of King David and seek out how we ourselves can become men after God’s own heart!!!