By Dr. Agbodo
King David in the Bible is one personality of interest in the Holy Book because he achieved many feats. A boy who was just a “herds boy” became the King of Israel because God sought him out and not because of his special political skills.
But the question is, how did this young boy attract the attention of God for God to call him a man after His Heart?
I have heard many people referring to the personality of King David as an excuse to commit sin, saying that “ if King David, a man after God’s Heart can commit unpardonable sins and still be accepted by God”, then nothing is wrong with them committing sin because God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.
Yes,God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy but that does not mean God loves one human being more than the other. What God means by that statement is that nobody should question His judgement because He looks at the heart of man and not just on the outer man.
People are quick to point out how King David, a man after God’s Heart committed the twin sin of adultery and murder when he coveted Uriah’s wife after he was carried away by temptation.
Yes,this was one of the lows of the life of King David,but for those who may not know, King David is one man who feared God and lived most of his life keeping God’s commandments in holiness and praising Him daily.
King David praised God seven times a day and was one of the few men in the Bible who approached God with his own righteousness and was accepted. King David through several Psalms he wrote told God to judge him with his personal righteousness.
He was so confident of his position with the Word of God that he told God in one of his Psalms to judge him after his own integrity- Psalm 26:1-6.
That means King David was not a habitual sinner but the temptation of Uriah’s wife was one of the few times he fell to temptation as a man. Living in sin and falling into sin are two different things. A righteous man can fall into sin if he is not prayerful and watchful but a sinner lives in sin since he commits sin with impunity.
A righteous man feels remorseful if he falls into sin and asks for forgiveness from God like King David did in Psalm 51 but a habitual sin takes sin as a game. However,King David suffered from the punishment of that sin because God is no respecter of any man. In fact,that was were the division of Israel into two parts started from. The sin of Uriah’s wife also gave room to abominable things happening in David’s household.
Incest came in and his son Absalom’s rebellion also took place which almost dethroned King David if not for the intervention of God. This shows therefore that God is fair to all humans and no matter how close anyone may claim to be to God,if you commit a sin,you have to pay for it. Some people may say but Jesus Christ has come and all our sins have been forgiven or can be forgiven so why should we still pay for it.
Please note that every sin you commit sets you back and if you pray for forgiveness, God will forgive you but you have to start from your backward position to move forward again and this is why many miracles are delayed.
The wages of sin is death and even if you are a Pastor and breaks the commandments of God, the same wages of death will be the portion of the Pastor.
God does not love one human being above the other but whatever a man sows he will reap,and the state you see any human being, whether good or bad today is the reaping stage of the past. Some are enjoying the good past their parents sowed for them and don’t even understand the source of their blessings.
They even claim that everything is working for them even as sinners,so do not see the need to repent from sinful acts. Some enjoyed the goodness of God in the past but used those opportunities to glorify themselves and perhaps the devil instead of glorifying God,and today they are suffering.
Some are enjoying today because of the righteous labours of their ancestors,just like in the case of Europeans that sent missionaries all over the world to spread the gospel of Christ many years ago, but many of their descendants are squandering these blessings on vanities and sin,and unknowingly preparing a future of lamentation for their incoming generations.
God is good to all and has no reason to favour one person above the other. God has created the enabling environment for all humans to make progress on earth through His Word,but the choice is ours whether we choose to obey the commandments of God or not.
In conclusion, King David attracted God to find him because he was committed to the Word of God even as a boy. He was committed to obeying his father on earth according to the Word of God that we should honour our parents so that our days may be long,and that is why he was with the Sheep in the field when Prophet Samuel came to anoint him. He was also a man that feared God because if you read the Psalms he wrote,it clearly showed that the love of God was at the centre of his life.
Imagine the way King David danced when the Ark of God was being brought back to its place of rest. His wife,the daughter of King Saul even mocked at him because he never danced gorgeously as a King but danced as a humble,deeply excited and appreciative servant of God.
Even when David had the opportunity to kill King Saul who was jealous of him and wanted to kill him by all means,he still remembered the commandments of the Lord that “touch not my anointed” and because of that he didn’t kill King Saul even when the opportunity appeared.
He preferred God Almighty to remove King Saul by Himself rather than him killing the Lord’s anointed. King David was a man who was sold out to God and was ready to do anything to please God. So,for anyone living in sin today and claiming that he or she is living in sin because King David,a man after God’s heart lived in sin does not really know the history of King David and that is why this piece is important.
If you want to be a friend of God,depart from sin and the Spirit of God will come into you and change your life no matter how low you are today. God moved King David from the field as a common herds boy to become the King of Israel because He saw in him the love and commitment to His commandments.
When he encountered Goliath,he was more interested in bringing down Goliath because he defied the army of the Lord and not just for his own personal glory of winning the battle. Even the promise of King Saul that anyone that kills Goliath will marry his daughter came in later. What motivated King David was his love for God. He preferred to put his life on the line instead of the name of God to be blasphemed, The Trumpet gathered.
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So,King David was a very righteous man and committed to obeying the commandments of God and anyone living in sin today and justifying himself or herself that even King David who was a man after God’s Heart was a habitual sinner do not really know the history of King David.
The lesson therefore is that if anyone is loyal to the commandments of God,God will surely visit such a person and lift him or her irrespective of how low they may be today. Depart from sin and you will also be a man or woman after God’s heart. God bless us in Jesus Name.
