Praise the Lord everyone! What is on my heart this month? Chasing after God’s heart, and catching it! Years ago a popular book came out
by the author Tommy Tenney, and the title of this book was called God
Chasers. King David was a God chaser, a man relentless in his pursuit to
know God intimately and have God more in his life.
At this time in Israel’s history Saul who had been appointed king had
made several direct acts of disobedience, disobeying direct commands
from the Lord. Thus God had seen enough, and was seeking someone
to replace Saul, and God spoke to his servant the prophet Samuel to
speak these words in 1 Samuel 13:13–14 (NKJV).
13And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept
the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you.
For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought
for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded
him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what
the LORD commanded you.”
Then in 1 Samuel 16, God speak to Samuel to anoint the next king of
Israel. 1 Samuel 16:1 (NKJV)
1Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil,
and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided
Myself a king among his sons.”
Jesse had 8 sons, and the youngest would be David, and he was God’s
choice.
Question: “What made David different...in that he would stand out to
God?” For review:
1) David Had Great Faith in God!
2) David Had Great Trust in God!
3) David Had a Passion for Spiritual Things!
4) David Kept a Humble Heart!
5) David Confessed His Sins!
6) David lived a life of forgiveness!
Now we come the 7th and final characteristic about David, that God would say of him “that he is a man
after my own heart.”
7) David Never Stopped Worshiping God!
One thing we can be guilty of is that when things get
tough or hard, we may choose to abandon God.
Some stop praying, reading their Bibles, fellowshipping, and/or eventually stop going to church all tgether. Yes David has committed some horrendous
acts of sin, laying with another mans wife, then trying to cover it up, then having the innocent husband
killed. Then to even make matters worse she even
got pregnant from the affair and the baby died.
David would marry her, and take to be one of his
wives, but the choice to walk away from God, or
“hide away from God” never entered David’s
thoughts. He never stopped calling out to His God, or
worshipping His God, even though he had to of
known, “God knew!”
It is believed that Psalm 32 was also written by David
at about the same time as Psalm 51.
Psalm 32:1-11
A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose
sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my
groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I
have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to
You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a
flood of great waters They shall not come near him.
7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from
trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you
should go; I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have
no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit
and bridle, Else they will not come near you.
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who
trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And
shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
David knew his righteousness did not come from his
actions, but from his love for and submission to
God. At a time when others may have run from or
hidden from God, David chose to praise the
Lord.
Many of David’s psalms were full of his heartaches and even questioning of God, but he never
stopped serving and worshiping Him. Reading about
David's life not only shows show us why he was
called a man after God's own heart, but also helps us
see the characteristics that we should look for in
ourselves, as followers of Christ who are also after
God's own heart.
Do we have faith? Do we trust the Lord in all circumstances? Do we have sacrificial love for others, even our enemies? Are we humble? Do we operate with
integrity? Do we seek forgiveness from God for our
sins? Do we worship the Lord no matter what our
circumstances?
We may not face the same kind of giant that David
did, or be called by God to rule a nation, but we can
choose each day to seek God's heart.
Jesus loves you and so do I! ~ Pastor Doug
