I was talking to my mom on the phone today, and she was sharing with me what Pastor Mike had preached yesterday at church. We had a nice long conversation that took many turns, but at one point I brought up David being a man after God's own heart. Some years ago, I did a series of teachings on this, and the Lord showed me some of the reasons why He called David a man after His own heart.
One reason is found in 1 Samuel 30. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. At this point, David had fled from Saul and was living in the land of the Philistines. He and his men had gone with the Philistines to Aphek to fight the Israelites. As the story goes, however, David and his men were sent home (obviously, it would not have been good for David to fight against his own people). When they arrived back to Ziklag, they found their town had been destroyed and everyone had been taken captive by the Amalekites. The men were extremely distraught and cried until they had no more strength. They also had talked of stoning David because they were so grieved at the loss of their families.
David had no one on his side. He was hurting for the loss of his two wives, but he had no where to turn. The men were angry with him in their distress and were considering killing him. What was he to do? He could only turn to the Lord. There was no one there to give him a pep talk. No one around to cry on a shoulder. He had no friends there just to listen while he poured out his hurt and his pain, his concern and his fear. He was all alone. No prophet came along and gave him a great word. No preacher encouraged him with a word in due season. No friend to come alongside him and promise to be there no matter what. His wives were in captivity. He had fled from his own people and King Saul for fear of his life, and here he was about to be killed anyway.
Oh, but David was a man after God's own heart! David did the only thing he could do other than give up. He encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord. He refused to give in to his grief and despair. He refused to let death have the final word. He denied discouragement and fear a place to stay. He didn't wait for someone to show up with a master plan, a defining word, a bouquet of balloons and some chocolates. He turned to the Lord, and he picked himself up!
Today, I'm thinking I need to revisit my teaching on David being a man after God's own heart. It's definitely time for me to stop looking for the bouquet of balloons and box of chocolates!
Scriptures for reference and study: 1 Samuel 30:6; 1 Samuel 27-30
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