Man after God’s Own Heart

by Terry Wane Benton

God accomplished great things through David while his faith was steady and strong. One feature of the Bible is that it does not make a man look better than he actually is. With all of David’s victories and moments where his faith shined, inspiration demanded we learn about his weakness as well. The story of his lust for Bathsheba, his adultery, and his cover-up remains to taint a good man’s record and show us that one moment of weakness can cause a lot of damage. Many lessons can be learned from God’s record of David’s sins.

One major lesson shows us that great men of faith sometimes lose a battle but not the war and what such men do when they fail. It took some pointed remarks by Nathan, but still, buried beneath the pride was a heart that normally wanted to do the right thing toward God and man. When David lost the battle of his lust and all that flooded him from that point, the thing that makes David still a great man of faith is the tenderness of his heart caused, again, by faith. When we lose a few battles due to weakness, faith tells us to repent, get back up out of the dirt, and try again.

Faith brought him back to honest self-reflection and godly sorrow and repentance(2 Cor.7:7ff). Real faith makes a tender conscience, not a perfect man (Psalm 6:1-6). Real faith leans on God’s great mercy, not our own perfection (Psalm 25:6-11). Real faith knows the blessedness of forgiveness and utilizes it (Psalm 32:1-5). Real faith brings one to the mercy seat of God, confessing sins (Psalms 51; I John 1:7-19). Faith believes in God’s strength and God’s mercy.

A man after God’s own heart is never the self-sufficient perfect man. Such does not exist. But real faith does not become satisfied to live in sin or to ignore his sins. Real faith comes before the holy God for mercy, strength, and renewal, and believes that we will ultimately be victorious through forgiveness and strength. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith to try again after failure is what made David a great man of faith and a blessed man.

It still works that way for us today! Use faith through failures because that is what it is all about!