"But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. "
1 Samuel 16:7
I don't know if you know this about me, but David is one of my Biblical heroes. God called David from being an overlooked, little shepherd boy to being king over Israel, with the strength, courage and fortitude to carry out God's will for his life to the very end. This is not to say that David didn't fall, he committed adultery and then murder to cover up his adultery, but when confronted with his sin, David admitted to his wrong doing. He asked God for mercy, and then lived out the consequences for his sin. He sought and then obeyed God in everything He did. David remained humble during the entire time God allowed for him to lead, before AND after God gave him the throne.
God called David a man after His own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)
What does that mean? To be a person after God's own heart?
Before the throne, all David had was God and his sheep. David kept his head down, and did what ever he found his hands to do heartily unto the Lord. (Ecclesiastes 9:10). How do I know? Because when David was sent to give his brothers bread, and dared to challenge Goliath, he came prepared with the experience of God's strength in his life. Before David armed himself with his sling and five smooth stones to fight Goliath, he had already trusted God to deliver him while caring for his sheep.
"And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God."
1 Samuel 17: 34-36
I don't know if you noticed, but God calls David a man after his own heart in 1 Samuel 13:14, when he denounced Saul as king over Israel, 3 chapters before Samuel finds and anoints David as the next king in 1 Samuel 16:13.
This is before David slayed Goliath, or the 10,000. This is before he is recorded as one of, if not the greatest king in the history of Israel. David was a man after God's own heart, in the field, tending sheep, trusting God.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Do you want to be like David? Trust God.
Trust that God knows you and loves you more than you could ever hope to love yourself. Trust that God's Word is true. Trust that God has forgiven you of every sin you have repented of. Trust that God is not holding who you were against you, He only sees who He has created you to be. Trust that God has allowed you to live through those things that will serve to make you into who He has designed you to be.
Believe what God has said about you.
Once we can trust and believe that God will always be just who He said He would be, it's when we can live like David.
David always expected God, to be God and that was his strength. God wants us to trust Him. God wants us to rely on Him, and when we do He can follow through on His word.
When we trust God we love Him deeper, when we love Him we follow His commandments, because we trust that His Word is going to bring us to a deeper trust in Him.
This work on our heart posture allows God to bring to the surface everything that He has planted in us from our conception.
"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
Jeremiah 1:5
You already are who God has called you to be. God is just waiting for you to figure that out.
