People of hope Part 4 – King David
Monday devotions - 6 April 2020
Read Samuel 16
In the devotions of the past 2 weeks, I referred to King David. However, his story starts long before he was king. In Samuel 16 we read how God called Samuel and sent him to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king. It remains a remarkable discussion with God. God says to Samuel: “I am sending you to Jesse – for “I have provided Myself a king among his sons”. Uhm yes that’s right – did you read that properly? No, God is not saying Jesse and his wife happens to have had a son that I think can do the job of being king. God says, “I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.” You see, God has a Kingdom, and He has a purpose with His Kingdom and His Kingdom purposes come first. After that He then creates David, or you, or me specifically for that purpose. He builds into our very design everything we will need to fulfill our purpose. There is no way anybody on earth is born without a purpose, simply because God’s Kingdom purposes come first – and then God provides for Himself someone – you, me, David, to fulfill that purpose!
Furthermore, God said to Samuel that He will tell him who to anoint and that the choice should not be made on the grounds of outward appearance, because God does not see as man sees. He looks at the heart. On arrival, Samuel invites Jesse to bring all his sons to the meeting, and well this is where the story gets interesting. Jesse brings all his sons – or does he? After Samuel went through all the sons of Jesse, Samuel must ask, “Is there not another”? Upon which Jesse answers well yes… there’s this youngest one still, but he tends to the sheep…
Truth is David was not even deemed worthy enough by his own father and brothers to attend the meeting, let alone did they ever imagine him being worthy enough to be the next king! On top of that, there seem to be serious neglect if not abuse of a young child. In 1 Samuel 17:34-36 David tells Saul that he has killed the lion and the bear while looking after his sheep, so he will kill Goliath as well. How does it happen that a young boy– at most a teenager – is left out in the field having to fight lions and bears to keep himself and his sheep alive. In our day and age this would have been serious endangerment, abuse and neglect of a child. Sounds to me like serious rejection. It really does not give me the idea that David was a very welcome and treasured member of his family.
In addition to this, in Ps 51:5 David, after his sin with Bathsheba and in his own darkest moment of repentance, writes: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me”. Was David an illegitimate child? We don’t really know, but what we do know, is that for some reason his father and brothers did not deem him worthy to even be at the meeting. Not even good enough to be present when they brought a sacrifice nor to celebrate with them when his brother (as they expected) gets anointed as king. No sense of: You belong to this family, we love and include you in our midst. No – just a “Well he’s tending to the sheep, you see someone must do that while we are all gathered here. He’s needed there not here”. I doubt that it was just because he was the youngest.
What a hopeless start David had and what a life he was created for! I don’t think that becoming one of the greatest Kings of Israel was David’s best achievement, nor was his victory over Goliath, or the many wars he won, or the psalms he’s written. I think he simply became great because He was ‘a man after God’s heart’, and God does not see as man sees but He looks at the heart. What is in your heart and mine? What does God see when he looks at us? Let’s read psalm 51 and see what David saw when he looked into his own heart:
"Psalm 51
Quoted from the NKJ: Biblegateway.com
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar."
David saw his sin, his iniquities, deceit. He did not hide that or tried to reason or explain or excuse himself. He simply offered his broken spirit to God as a sacrifice. Then he asked God to create in him a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. He asked God to keep him in His presence and to have the presence of the Holy Spirit with him forever.
This is what made David great. In his most hopeless hour he reached out to God – He was a man after God’s own heart.
Thus, one question remains. In your and my desperate hopeless hours do we reach out to God? I want to encourage you to draw near to Him in this time. He will not reject anyone who seeks him.
©Copyright 2020 All rights reserved HG Venter
Read Samuel 16
In the devotions of the past 2 weeks, I referred to King David. However, his story starts long before he was king. In Samuel 16 we read how God called Samuel and sent him to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king. It remains a remarkable discussion with God. God says to Samuel: “I am sending you to Jesse – for “I have provided Myself a king among his sons”. Uhm yes that’s right – did you read that properly? No, God is not saying Jesse and his wife happens to have had a son that I think can do the job of being king. God says, “I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.” You see, God has a Kingdom, and He has a purpose with His Kingdom and His Kingdom purposes come first. After that He then creates David, or you, or me specifically for that purpose. He builds into our very design everything we will need to fulfill our purpose. There is no way anybody on earth is born without a purpose, simply because God’s Kingdom purposes come first – and then God provides for Himself someone – you, me, David, to fulfill that purpose!
Furthermore, God said to Samuel that He will tell him who to anoint and that the choice should not be made on the grounds of outward appearance, because God does not see as man sees. He looks at the heart. On arrival, Samuel invites Jesse to bring all his sons to the meeting, and well this is where the story gets interesting. Jesse brings all his sons – or does he? After Samuel went through all the sons of Jesse, Samuel must ask, “Is there not another”? Upon which Jesse answers well yes… there’s this youngest one still, but he tends to the sheep…
Truth is David was not even deemed worthy enough by his own father and brothers to attend the meeting, let alone did they ever imagine him being worthy enough to be the next king! On top of that, there seem to be serious neglect if not abuse of a young child. In 1 Samuel 17:34-36 David tells Saul that he has killed the lion and the bear while looking after his sheep, so he will kill Goliath as well. How does it happen that a young boy– at most a teenager – is left out in the field having to fight lions and bears to keep himself and his sheep alive. In our day and age this would have been serious endangerment, abuse and neglect of a child. Sounds to me like serious rejection. It really does not give me the idea that David was a very welcome and treasured member of his family.
In addition to this, in Ps 51:5 David, after his sin with Bathsheba and in his own darkest moment of repentance, writes: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me”. Was David an illegitimate child? We don’t really know, but what we do know, is that for some reason his father and brothers did not deem him worthy to even be at the meeting. Not even good enough to be present when they brought a sacrifice nor to celebrate with them when his brother (as they expected) gets anointed as king. No sense of: You belong to this family, we love and include you in our midst. No – just a “Well he’s tending to the sheep, you see someone must do that while we are all gathered here. He’s needed there not here”. I doubt that it was just because he was the youngest.
What a hopeless start David had and what a life he was created for! I don’t think that becoming one of the greatest Kings of Israel was David’s best achievement, nor was his victory over Goliath, or the many wars he won, or the psalms he’s written. I think he simply became great because He was ‘a man after God’s heart’, and God does not see as man sees but He looks at the heart. What is in your heart and mine? What does God see when he looks at us? Let’s read psalm 51 and see what David saw when he looked into his own heart:
"Psalm 51
Quoted from the NKJ: Biblegateway.com
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar."
David saw his sin, his iniquities, deceit. He did not hide that or tried to reason or explain or excuse himself. He simply offered his broken spirit to God as a sacrifice. Then he asked God to create in him a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. He asked God to keep him in His presence and to have the presence of the Holy Spirit with him forever.
This is what made David great. In his most hopeless hour he reached out to God – He was a man after God’s own heart.
Thus, one question remains. In your and my desperate hopeless hours do we reach out to God? I want to encourage you to draw near to Him in this time. He will not reject anyone who seeks him.
©Copyright 2020 All rights reserved HG Venter
Listen to the song about David by Chris Tomlin from The CD - The Story
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