After God's Heart

December 6

David was a king whose reign over his people was absolute. If he called a man to be in his service, he came; if he desired a woman to be added to his harem, she was his. Yet in spite of his great power, he maintained a sense of humility before God. He considered himself to be a servant of the one true and living God.

Much of David’s rule over God’s people Israel was spent in on-going battle with the surrounding people who had made themselves enemies of Jehovah—primarily because they were worshipers of false gods. In Psalm 143:11, 12 David says, “Quicken me, O Lord, for the honor of Your name, because of Your righteousness, deliver me from trouble. Let Your mercy dispel my enemies; destroy all those who afflict me because I am Your servant.”

David didn’t base his warfare upon the animus of a ruler or a kingdom against himself but upon their disdain of the God he loved and served. David fought for the truth and integrity of the Living God of Heaven and Earth, and because that was his driving motivation, he anticipated that the God of Heaven and Earth would favor his exploits.

In Psalm 119:63, David states his affiliation in a more positive framework. He says, “I am a friend to everyone who fears You, to anyone who obeys Your laws and Your precepts.” David based the entirety of his person-hood, his thoughts, his actions, upon God’s law. David was a “man God sought who was after God’s heart,” I Samuel 13:14.