Are You a Man After God's Own Heart?-
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
Did
you ever wonder how God could call David "a man after His own heart" (I
Sam. 13:14)? True, He called him that before his horrific infractions
of adultery and murder. But even after his death, God said of him that
he did "keep My statutes and My commandments" (I Kings 3:14). How can
this be?
Well,
to begin with, compare how Balaam was able to say of God that "He hath
not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in
Israel" (Num. 23:21). This, of course, was because the Jews could say
that "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our
transgressions from us" (Psa. 103:12), and Isaiah could pray with
confidence, "Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back" (Isa. 38:17).
Similarly, God was able to turn a blind eye to David's sins, knowing
that Christ would one day pay for them.
But
there has to be more to it for God to be able to call David a man after
His own heart, and I believe there is. You see, when God said of David
that his heart was "perfect with the Lord his God," He said that in
contrast to Solomon, whose wives "turned away his heart after other
gods" (I Kings 11:4). Despite his great sins, David never fell into
idolatry. He always had a heart for the Lord, and a burning desire to
serve Him.
As
a pastor, Christians often ask me how I can think so highly of them
when, in many cases, I have counseled them through their times of sin
and failure, and so I know their deepest shame. I always explain that it
is their heart for the Lord that God looks at, and so I always try to
do the same. I don't mean to say that those who strive to serve the Lord
can do no wrong in my eyes, but this is very close to being so.
So
it is that while we should always strive to live our lives as perfectly
as God sees us in Christ (Phil. 3:10-14), if you are beating yourself
up about your past sins and failures, stop it. Remember that "man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (I
Sam. 16:7), and if God doesn't behold your iniquity, neither should
you.
Finally,
if you are a judgmental Christian, why not learn to look upon others
the way God looks at you, and "receive ye one another, as Christ also
received us to the glory of God" (Rom. 15:7).
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