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This is my first attempt to blog about the way God touches and corrects our hearts in order that we would seek his heart as did the Old Testament King David.  It wasn't that David was perfect because we all knew that he was not! The main reason why God said that David was a "man after God's own heart" is that despite his warrior mentality which resulted in much bloodshed(and excluded him from building the Temple); despite his lust and adultery, some would say possibly rape because could the wife of Uriah the Hittite have said no to the king? David sought her, not the other way around; despite his seeking to cover up his offense by suggesting that Uriah come home from war and lay with his wife(of which he did not); despite the fact that David told his commanders on the field to put Uriah the Hittite on the front lines and then pull back so that he would be slain(II Samuel 11); despite all these things- David was a man after God's own heart? Why?  A murderer? A liar? A thief? An adulterer? As my father-in-law says, "a Rounder." Why was he viewed this way by the Lord.....

The reason: David worshipped only the Lord God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yahweh.

He did not worship Pagan gods. He did not take on the customs of his wives and concubines as we shall see led to his Solomon's demise, through his children that is.  The Kingship of David was so much of a covenant that God showed favor to David in many cases and to his heirs.(II Samuel 7)

(I Kings 11: 11-13) Not because David kept all the laws or performed the right type of sacrifice but that he always, always looked to God's heart for direction. He poured his heart out to the Lord in his songs of praise(II Samuel 22); he danced before the Lord(II Samuel 6: 12-16); he prayed and fasted to the Lord(II Samuel 12: 16-17); he repented sincerely and in broken abandon (Psalm 51); he was the epitome of how we should love and seek God. The Jewish people had a term which they used called hesed or "steadfast love" of God which was vividly and most evidently shown in the relationship He had with His servant David. 

May we do the same and have the art of our heart stay pure and- when tainted by our own impurity, may we repent and show sincere pleas for reconciliation. God's love was so strong for David that He is mentioned in the Genealogy of Jesus at the first part of Matthew. He was mentioned at least 5 times in introducing the Davidic line. Even Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite(a non-Jewish woman) was mentioned in the Genealogy of Jesus along with Rahab (a prostitute), Tamar (a perceived prostitute) and Ruth (a Moabite who used her mother-in-law's cunning ways to persuade her future husband, Boaz) All of these unlikely women and this sinful King, David, were in the line of the the Messiah. In fact, Jesus was called the Son of David, illustrating his Kingship and his humanity. David tried and failed; tried and failed; tried and failed. However, Jesus was the final verdict when it comes to how we should seek the Father. He sought the Father so intimately and honestly that he prayed in the garden:

 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14: 36) In the literal sense, Abba means, "Daddy" and Jesus was crying out through his humanity to his daddy, saying "You can make this go away because you are all-powerful, omniscient God, but let not my selfish desires and frail humanity take away from your divine destiny."  

Thus, David is a human of human example but Jesus is our perfect example: he honestly and righteously show how we keeping our heart checked in with the Father's is the best thing.