A Man After My Own Heart

I have a painting in my living room, black lettering embossed on a golden background with the words to an old hymn written as a reminder to my family:

Be thou my vision

O Lord of my heart.

It sounds like a psalm sung sweetly to the Lord. A prayer of praise and adoration, a prayer of supplication to the Lord who lives inside us.

King David would have loved this song. I'm sure of it. David's heart belonged to God, David even being called "a man after God's own heart" by God Himself:

After removing Saul, he made David their king. 

God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, 

a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'

Acts 13:22

I think of the checklist that David must have completed to gain this lofty title. 

Merciful. Humble. Generous. Brave. Faithful. Loyal. Warrior both in battle and in prayer. Spiritual. A student of scripture. Bold in God's Name. Obedient. Kind. 

Wow, David certainly deserved the accolades given him. I could only dream of having this title connected to my name. 

That David sure did live a perfect life. Deserving he most certainly is.

Do you sense the sarcasm? Because there are some things about David that tend to get overlooked. There are some other words we can associate with our hero:

Impulsive. Cheater. Disobedient. Coward. Irresponsible Father. Murderer. Adulterer. Egotistical. Heartbreaker. 

Once David had to leave his new bride Michal. He was running for his life and she risked hers to save him. She loved him so. But he never came back for Michal. For whatever reasons, he left her behind. She was married off to another man. Years later David heard of this and demanded her return as she rightfully belonged to him. Her second husband dutifully brought her back to David, weeping as he lost her. 

That's not cool, David.

And then there was this other time that David impregnated a married woman and had her husband (who was also his best friend) murdered.

Yeah, that's not okay, David.

Oh, and then there was this time when one of David's sons raped his daughter and David did nothing about it. 

Wow, "how the mighty have fallen" is right, David.

A man after God's own heart? Well now I'm super confused. David was obviously an incredibly flawed man. A sinner. 

But yes, still a man after God's own heart.

David made many mistakes and believe me when I say he suffered the consequences of them. He felt the physical ill that true repentance brought with each and every one of these mistakes.

Michal hated him for the rest of her life. The child conceived with Bathsheba died and David walked in crippling humility for the rest of his life. His family fell apart due to his inability to discipline his son.

See, David earned this title not because of filling the boxes on a checklist of good deeds, but because of the state of his heart.  

David got how much he mattered to God. He understood that even through terrible sinful choices that God still loved him. David got that his very existence delighted God. 

David knew he was made for God's joy. And his joyful love for God reflected that. David was a man after God's own heart because he loved God with all of his.

Friend, God doesn't want us to complete a goodness checklist. He just wants us to love Him. While David suffered long term, crippling, and severe consequences for his disobedience he never stopped loving the Lord. His mind and body strayed, but his heart never did.

Want to know what a heart that is after God's looks like? Go peruse 2 Samuel 22. Some familiar snippets:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

He rescued me because He delighted in me.

As for God, His way is perfect. 

He makes my feet like the feet of the deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.

Perfection doesn't make us a friend of God. Loving Him does. And David understood this better than anyone.

As we strive for a sinless life you and I will falter. We will sin. It's going to happen. But "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness," says 1 John 1:9.

Do you understand how much you matter to God? Do you know that He takes great delight in you and the life you live? God doesn't expect perfection from you, dear one. Obedience? Yes. A life in which you strive to do right and follow His Word? Absolutely.

But personal perfection doesn't make you his. Your acceptance of His love through Jesus Christ does.

And you and I are even more blessed than David. We live in the fullness of the knowledge of Jesus. David knew nothing of Jesus until he entered eternity.

We will never obtain perfection. We will not lead a sinless life. In this we are already exactly like David. But let his deep love for the Lord inspire us to see God differently.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

God of David, create in us a heart that loves you just as much as he did.

The One Who Loves You More

To be perfectly honest, I'm a take-it or leave-it kind of gal when it comes to Valentine's Day.  Now I certainly love celebrating love, but I am not a big fan of hype.  And Valentine's Day never quite lives up to what is anticipated as things with much hype tend to do.  (I'm serious.  Think about this past New Year's Eve.  Expectation:  glitter, champagne, fancy clothes.  Reality:  Cheetos, Ryan Seacrest, and your footie pajamas.  Bed by 9:30.)

While I may not put much stock in Valentine's Day, I do put much value in being loved.  Don't you feel it in your chest, in that space above your heart? The desire to be loved?  Not just respected or admired (although these things are of the utmost importance, too), but to be loved?

I'm not just talking about romantic love.  Love comes in many forms - from parents, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, children, and spouses.  When you feel someone love you with pure, unapologetic abandon - this is a beautiful thing that answers a need in your soul.

There's a reason love makes us feel so good.  Genesis 2:18 tells us that God made Eve for Adam because it "wasn't good for man to be alone."  Jesus commanded us in John 15:12 that we are to "love one another" as He loved us. And, my goodness, let's not forget I John 4:8:  "God is love."  Simple - you feel love, you feel God Himself.

The love humankind has for each other is God come down to dwell with us, in us.  My dear grandmother, who will be 97 this month, lives the most authentic relationship with Jesus I have ever seen or may ever see in my life.  A few years ago she dreamed she was in heaven.  While there in her dream she said, "I felt love flowing through my veins."

Love, my friends, is the language of heaven.

And God speaks this language to us now every time our heart thumps with emotion at those He has sweetly placed in our lives.  This is something to be treasured.  But if we think this serves as our fill of love we are sorely mistaken and missing another, more valuable treasure.

My mother tells a story of the day my second son was born.  She still had not arrived at the hospital when I was being wheeled into the OR for a c-section. She recalls crying in the car and whispering to God, "But she's my baby.  I should be there.  I'm her mother."

Jesus tenderly whispered back, "But I'm her Savior.  I love her more."

I think of my husband.  He woke up three times with our crying two-year-old last night.  Why?  Because he wanted me to be able to sleep.  That's love.

But there is One who loves more.

Can you picture your mother?  She packed your lunches and probably still calls you every day.  She prayed over you with tears during your most trying times. That's love.

But there is One who loves more.

How about your dad?  My father-in-law once drove an hour and fifteen minutes to help my sister-in-law hang a shower curtain rod in her new apartment. That's love.

But there is One who loves more.

Think about your dearest friends.  My friend Jennifer will ask me if I need help for an upcoming event before I can even think to ask.  That's love.

But there is One who loves more.

And what about our precious children?  Whether they share our last name or are only ours during school hours or Sunday school time.  A hug from a peanut butter and jelly covered five-year-old?  That's love.

But there is One who loves more.

These precious people God has placed in our lives are just the ultimate, aren't they?  Joy-inducing, heart-bursting, honest-to-goodness gifts.

But none of them left a heavenly throne, suffered at the hands of evil, and overcame death for you.

See, Jesus loves you more.

Revelation 19:11 tells us the story of "the Rider on the white horse."  He is dressed in white and leads the armies of heaven.  He comes to earth to vanquish evil and wipe away the tears of His people.  He is called King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Maybe you've been fortunate enough to receive the love of spouses, mothers, fathers, friends, and children.  Praise God for those blessings!

But maybe you've been hurt by lack of love.  Suffered the loss of a mother or a child.  Never knew your father.  Were betrayed by your best friend.

Friend, if that latter category is familiar, boy do I have good news.

You see, that Rider on the white horse?  Our precious Jesus?  Revelation also gives Him another name:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, 

whose rider is called Faithful and True.     

(emphasis mine)

And there He is, the One who loves you most.  And He is not confined to things we humans are:  to death, abandonment, loneliness, loss, betrayal.  Nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38).  Nothing.  Because His love is limitless and carries no trace of human weakness.  His law?  It's pure love (2 John 1:6).  

In His perfection He has committed Himself to you.  He has named Himself for you - "Faithful and True to (insert-your-name-here)".  

And your name?  My friend, it's engraved on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16).  

So let's celebrate the people whom God has placed in our lives.  Let's love them and appreciate them.  But in a place of honor, held high in our hearts, let's celebrate Jesus. 

Because He loves you more.

Oh, Faithful and True:

Let us remember that Your love is Perfect.  Let us remember that You will never leave us nor forsake us.  Why?  Because it is against Your very nature.  It is impossible for You to let go of what You have claimed.  Let us return Your love in the best ways we can:  by recognizing it and showing obedience to Your Law.  The Law that just happens to be love, too.

Lord, may it be so.