In looking at peace and war, we have to look at David. He not only was a great warrior, but he was also a man after God’s own heart. This devotion looks at the faith he had so that he could be both.
Nuggets
- David was widely respected – as a warrior.
- Even with all the blood on his hands, David was called a man after God’s own heart.
- It is all about character with God.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the Peace and War category
But the Man after God’s Own Heart Was a Warrior
Sometimes War Can be Avoided
Sometimes War Is Judgment
Wars as a Sign of the End Times
David was a major Hall of Famer in the Scriptures. But he committed some blatant sins. On top of that, he was a renowned warrior king.
How did all of that mesh together to allow David to be called a man after God’s own heart? Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context #1
I am entitling this category Peace and War – but we are only going to touch on the peace as being the opposite of war.
I am doing this because we have had many discussions about peace. We’ve said peace is an inward tranquility resulting from a balanced life with spiritual order, equity, and truth.
Glossary
War, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations.”
Resource
Let's Put It into Context #2
“But now your kingdom must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command” (1 Sam. 13: 14 CSB)
First Samuel 13: 14 is a verse in Samuel’s chastisement of Saul. It occurred during the War of Independence. Bible scholars think that happened after the second year of Saul’s reign.
The Israelites were battling the Philistines, but it wasn’t going well. The Israelites were going AWOL right and left.
Saul was waiting for Samuel to show up, but Samuel didn’t come. So, Saul took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering – a big no-no.
When Samuel showed up, he made a very interesting comment. “Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel” (I Sam. 13: 13 CSB).
Oh, wow! Jesus could have been a descendant of Saul instead of David!!!!
At times, aren’t we more like Saul than David? We give up waiting on God. I wonder how many blessing – huge blessings – we have lost because we took things into our own hands. (Luckily, we don’t have books written about our mistakes.)
Instead of the ultimate reward, Saul’s reign entered into its sunset. God was done with him as king.
God wanted someone who was “… a man after his own heart …” (1 Sam. 13: 14 CSB). He found that in David.
Person of Interest
But David Was a Warrior
“As they danced, the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.” (I Sam. 18: 7 CSB)
And to think it all started with a giant. David went to visit his brothers and killed the giant that was terrorizing the army (I Sam. 17).
Oh, yes. David had some good years with just him and the sheep. Then he got anointed (I Sam. 16). What better way to start showing you are fit to be king than by killing the giant?
David was widely respected – as a warrior.
- By his people. “But the men said, ‘You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city’” (II Sam. 18: 3 ESV).
- By his enemies. “But the servants of Achish [king of Gath] said to him, ‘Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’”?” (I Sam. 21: 11 NIV).
In a quick look, I didn’t see where David had lost even any of the battles, let alone wars. We would think he lost some battles but always won the wars.
It was obvious that God was taking care of His people – even in the battles in which they were entangled.
Still, David Was a Man after God’s Own Heart
“After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.’” (Ac. 13: 22 CSB)
Even with all the blood on his hands, David was called a man after God’s own heart.
Oh, yes. David said he wasn’t allowed to build God’s temple ‘… because you are a warrior and have shed blood” (I Chron. 28: 3 NIV).
David was an interesting warrior. In the Ancient History Encyclopedia, it says, “Scholars have long noted that David’s hopes for his enemies was for them either to be removed or to repent.”
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To me, that is not a normal warrior-like mindset. That isn’t blood and guts and win at all cost.
Our center is considered our hearts. Obedience has to come from the heart. God’s Word is supposed to be a part of us. His laws and commandments are supposed to affect our character or our core – our heart level.
Glossary
Oh, yeah. Look at some of his mess ups.
• Adultery (possibly rape)
• Murder
• Polygamy
• Weak father
That didn’t change the fact that God chose David.
Look what the Homiletic Monthly said David was. It was written, “David was a man of fervent piety, of swift repentance, and of the deepest spiritual aspirations.” Piety is defined as reverence and blameless.
Resource
What else was David? He was a loyal friend. His friendship with Jonathan was something.
Some would say he was cavorting with the enemy. However, they were true friends regardless of the situation.
It was obvious that David loved his children. No, he may have been lacking in the fatherhood abilities, but that didn’t mean the affection wasn’t there.
It Wasn’t Physical
“The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; he repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness. Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me and have not disregarded his statutes. I was blameless before him and kept myself from my iniquity” (Ps. 18: 20-23 CSB)
But it seems that we can’t get over the do’s and the don’ts. We have to create a list of all the offenses we done that go against God’s laws and commandments.
God doesn’t do that. Oh, yes. He wants us to confess and repent of our sins – and will judge us for any unconfessed sin. Confession is an acceptance that we have sin in our lives by a repentant sinner, a conscious request for forgiveness of that sin, and the commitment of faith that God, as Sovereign Lord, can and will forgive those sins.
It is all about character with God.
Yes, it says cleanness. “… he repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands …” Ps. 18: 20 CSB). We’ve talked about that before.
Glossary
What it boiled down to is the Israelites were holy because they were clean. They were holy because they followed God’s moral code. Holy means to be set apart, perfect, and pure.
See what else it says? “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness …” Ps. 18: 20 CSB).
Righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments. It is more the right principles under which we live.
We get to righteousness by navigating the sanctification road. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul beginning with regeneration and ending with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
Yes, sanctification is a process. We are sometimes going to take the scenic road into sin while we are navigating because – even though we are disciples – we are still in the sinful body.
That is why David had the problems he did. But through it all, he was repentant when he sinned. Repentance is expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to changing ourselves through obedience so that we no longer do the wrong things.
David wanted his heart to be like God’s heart. He wanted his character to be God’s character. That made him a man after God’s own heart.
Glossary
Making the Connections
David kept God as his priority. A great summary of his life is found in Second Chronicles 28: 1. “Unlike David his father, [Ahaz] did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD (II Chron. 28: 1 NIV).
Yes, David went to war. Yes, he sinned. He was good at being a warrior.
Still, David had peace in his heart because he kept God there. The peace we have from God is inside us. It isn’t the absence of conflict. It is our trust in Him even in the storms.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
David is a good example of God not throwing up His hands and turning His back on us when we sin. David being a warrior and his blatant sins testify He doesn’t give up on us. We have to have our priorities right, though.
Those we are witnessing to may have troubles wrapping their heads around that. They may not know David and his circumstances but may substitute someone they know in that role.
We need to think about what we are going to say when they raise that issue. It is a major issue.
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
We can be men and women with the heart of God. Go back to the quote I used. There were three things attributed to David.
• Fervent piety
• Swift repentance
• Deepest spiritual aspirations
We would say that as put God first, be sorry for and changing what is wrong, and do what God wants us to do.
We can do that.
Father. We want to be Your children after Your own heart. We want to be warriors when we are engaged in spiritual warfare. We want Your character and Your love to be evident in us. Amen.
What do you think?
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