Lessons We Can All Take Away From The Life of David.

Have you ever wondered why David was called a man after God’s own heart.  If you know the history of David then you know the great things of David, but then you should also know his shortcomings.  I think the life of David is something that we can all learn from.

I will start by saying that David is far from perfect.  David was an adulterer, he lusted after Bathsheba.  He got this women pregnant and tried to cover up his sin first by trying to get her husband to have sex with her so that he could play the child off as his.  When this did not work, he intentionally sent Bathsheba’s husband to the front lines to get killed. (2 Samuel 11)

David could not control his children.  His son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar.  And David pretty much did nothing about it.  As a result, his other son (Tamar's full brother) Absalom had Amnon killed and rebelled against his own father.  Causing a war. ( 2 Samuel 13)

But still David is known to be great.  Why is that?

This is because as the Bible states

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

I am not saying that it is okay to sin as long as you are a good person do not miss my point.  But I think we first must understand that David is a man.  And no man is perfect and all men will have some type of shortcoming about them.  Therefore, for God to base His love off weather we sin or not is not possible because we all sin.  God would not love anyone of us if this was the case.

Aside from David’s indiscretions, God saw something in David that no one else could see.

Let’s start from the beginning.  When Samuel came to the home of Jesse, he knew he was there to anoint a king.  There was only one problem.  David was not among all the sons that were brought in to be considered as king (1 Samuel 16).  What does that say about David?

Well it does not say anything about David, but mostly about what his family thought of him.  I am sure his father loved him, but he was surely not favored among his family.  So much so that his father did not even bring him in to be considered as king when Samuel specifically ask Jesse to bring all of his son’s before him.

Surely Jesse thought that he did not mean David.  Surely the Lord must be able to anoint one of his son’s that Jesse thought was a better fit.  But that did not happen.  All of Jesse’s son’s past before Samuel and none was chosen to be king.

I am sure when they went to summon David that was frolicking around in the field with a bunch of sheep and Samuel chose him, they must have been shocked.

The first lesson I think we all can see from this is that even though one may be considered last in the world’s eyes or perhaps even their own family’s eye, does not mean that they are considered last by God.

As we came to learn that while David was in the wild with the sheep and everyone probably thought that he was weak and wasting his life away in the wild.  David learned some very important lessons.  There he was with the sheep and himself and then a bear came along.  In his natural mind, this animal was stronger than him.  In the natural world, David should have been mauled by the bear.  But that did not happen, young David killed that bear.

On another day, came a lion.  Once again, David should have been lunch for this animal.  This animal was stronger no doubt, but yet David killed that lion.  And David quickly learned that God was on his side.  He learned that there was not anything impossible to him as long as God was with him (1 Samuel 17).

When it came time for someone to go against that big giant Goliath.  Everyone else was terrified.  Even his brothers.  And this is when we find out why God chose David, because of his faith.  David did not need armor and he did not need some fancy sword.  All he needed was God.  And with a sling and rock the same faith that carried him through to killing that lion and bear.  He slayed a giant.

Sometimes we wonder why we are sitting alone in our corner of the world, not able to do what we want on be what we want.  Sometimes we have dreams that are beyond what we think we can achieve.  But like David, we cannot despise these humble beginning and alone time with God.  For it is in these times that God teaches us to kill lions and bears, so that we can face or own Goliath we will be able to slay them with no problem.  Because we remember how God has prepared us for this moment in which we were meant to shine.

Even after David was anointed everything was not all hunky doorey and peachy and he did not go and live in a castle on the hill.  There was still yet more struggle before he got to where God had anointed him to be.  He fought many battles of war.  He faced jealousy from a father figure in which he loved the most.  He had to run through the woods being persecuted by Saul before he stepped into the promises of God.

Even when God gives you a vision, one can rest assure that you will never step into it easily.  Often times there is struggle along the way.  After Samuel anointed David, his brothers still mocked him.  Saul still chased him and tried to have him killed, before he became king (1 Samuel 21 ).

The point I am trying to get at is that God never gives something for nothing.  David is a man after God’s own heart because he never stopped trying, he never stopped believing, and he never stopped relying on God to see him through whatever bad situation he was in.

Do you think going to war and killing Philistines were easy?

No, he could have lost his life.  But he was confident in his purpose and his anointing and there was no reason to have fear of the obstacles he was going into.  Because he knew that God had his back.  Even though when he was wondering around in the wilderness and things were hard for him.  David still prayed and cried out to God.  Even in his frustration he said

“A psalm of David. A petition. LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.” Psalm 38:1

David was the greatest king, but this did not come without great struggle.  It did not come without testing and playing off his temptation.  Sometimes David past the test.  And sometimes he failed, as with the case with Bathsheba.  But God never stop loving him and God never stop having a plan for him because he knew that David’s desire to please God greater than the times David backslide.

What you can take away from the account of David are some main themes that we can all stand to hear.

First, there may be time when you feel alone.  No one may not even believe in you not even your family.  People may have counted you out and thought you were going to be nothing.  But God looks in your heart.  He has a plan for you and will use you if you let Him.

Second, you may be sitting doing the same thing day in and day out.  And be wondering when things are going to change for you. Thinking that God has forgotten about you.  But pay attention.  Like David and the Lion and bear.  God is trying to teach you something in these times that no one is around.  So learn them so you can go to the next phase.  Like David, how can you go to the next phase with the giant if you have never learned to slay the bear and the lion?

Third, just because you are going through something hard does not mean that God is mad at you or that he has forgotten about you.  David was in the wilderness running from his father and law for God sake.  God still had a plan for him, even though it did not seem like it right away.

Fourth, just because you mess up does not man that God does not love you or that it is going to make God change His plans for you.  God has had practice at this man kind thing.  He created us.  He knows we are not perfect.  He knows that we are going to fail sometimes.  But as long as when He looking our hearts He knows that we are trying to please Him, He can work with us.

Last but not least.  God will exalt you in front of your enemies, just as Samuel did David in front of his brothers.  The Bible states

“So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.” Samuel 16:13

So never feel like you have to get anyone back for doing you wrong.  God will handle them His way.

Each time I read the the verses on David, I learn something new.  I challenge you all to do the same.  God always reveals things to me through is life that I feel we can still apply to ourselves today.  When we are lost, we can always turn into the Bible to give us guidance.  The Bible teaches us,

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9

What they had as problems we still have as problems and the way they learn to deal with them, we can also learn.