Sunday, April 24, 2016

A Heart Like King David's


Yesterday, I wrote about David's mighty men of valor from Zebulun and their undivided heart. The issue of an undivided heart has been on my mind ever since, so I thought we'd look at David's heart today.

You probably remember the story from 1 Chronicles 17 of David's desire to build God a house. (Leanna Paraphrase coming up) "That's an admirable thought, David, but I don't need you to build Me a house. Instead, I'll build you a house. A house of descendants that will never end. A throne and kingdom that last forever." 

David was speechless for a few minutes.

"I brought you out of the fields and made you the man you are, David. I've put you in this place."

Finally, David sat before the Lord and worshipped. "Who am I, God, that you would bother with me at all?"

Even when David was king, he remembered the fields. He remembered his days as a shepherd boy. Even when he was old, David was a shepherd at heart. Did he make terrible mistakes? Yes. He did. We all do. He made mistakes and he suffered for them, but he always found his way back to his Heavenly Father.

David understood who he was (and who he was not) in relation to the awesomeness of Almighty God. 

He understood who God was, too, and he loved Him.

David wanted to do something huge for God, build a temple of gold for Him. 

What he didn't quite see was that sitting before God in worship and humility WAS something huge. 

Giving God credit for all He did WAS something huge.

Shepherding His people with God's own heart WAS something huge.

Following God into battle against His enemies, when he was a poet at heart, WAS something huge.

Loving Him without reservation, dancing before Him in the street without self-consciousness, WAS something huge.

David loved the Lord His God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength and it was huge. All-consuming. 

He fought for the Lord and His people and wrote poems and songs while he did it. His was a heart that worshipped all the time. 

His mind was set on God.

How do we have a David heart? We do what David did. When he took spoils of gold and silver and bronze, he dedicated it to the Lord. David had a house of cedar. The gold he collected was for God's house.

He didn't allow his eyes to linger on the riches of this world. Instead, he put them on God alone. 

If we put our eyes on God alone, if we focus on seeing people and things the way God sees them, treating them like He says, we'll begin to have a heart like David's. 

An undivided heart.

And that's the best heart of all.

Today, let's take our eyes off the things of this world and focus them on God. We sang this song by Helen Lemmel (1922) when I was a child, and the words are still true today. 


"Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face;
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim 
in the light of his glory and grace." 
(Helen Lemmel 1922 -public domain)
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In case you missed the post yesterday, here's the link: Zebulun's Undivided Heart Helped Change a Nation

And here's the link to an indepth look at loving with our whole heart: Loving with our whole hearts
#undividedheart #goodSunday #kingdavid

4 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this post, Leanna. David has always been one of my favorite Bible characters. I have a Beth Moore study book called "David: 90 Days with a Heart Like His." But I sometimes wonder if I'll EVER have a heart like his.

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  2. Have also lately been thinking of what it means to be double minded. There is no place in worship for double mindedness . Loved this blog ! Thank you!

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    1. Peg, Thank you. I know the feeling. I wish I could have his heart for worship, too.

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    2. Thanks, Cecille. You're absolutely right.

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