David - A Man After God's Own Heart



Wait on the Lord



I only have a few minutes to write today.  I have to try to squeeze my writing into my lunch breaks. :P  Oh well!  At least I get a little time.

In Acts 13:22 David is called a man after God's own heart.  Since I chose that phrase for the name of this blog, I think I should do a short study on who David was and why he was honored with that title.

David was the son of Jesse and the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth.  As a boy, David served his father, family, and God as a shepherd.  We aren't told that much about the time David spent as a shepherd, but we do know that he killed a lion and a bear, learned to play the harp, and that he developed a character that cause God to have Samuel anoint him as the king to follow Saul.  Over the next several posts I am going to point out aspects of David's character that I believe distinguish him as a man after God's heart.

 

A Calm Resolve to Wait for the Salvation of God

To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun

Truly my soul silently waits for God;
From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be greatly moved.

Psalm 62:1-2

My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.

Psalm 62:5-7

In these verses we see that David is totally dependent on God for the protection of his soul.  David describes his soul as being silent and as waiting for God.  If my understanding is correct, Psalm 62 was written during the time that Absalom (David's son) was trying to take over the kingdom.  So, in the face of great emotional turmoil, David writes that he is resolved to have a silent soul and trust in the salvation of the Lord.

I've been meditating on the life of Peter recently.  Peter is a really interesting character in scripture.  He is very bold and willing to express his opinions, and at the same time he is the disciple that seems to see Jesus best for who He is (The Christ, the Son of the living God).  Peter sees the power of Christ many times while he is a disciple.  He witnesses water turned to wine, the feeding of the 5000, the transfiguration, and the calming of a storm on the Sea of Galilee.  He also got to watch the Lord every day to see the daily kindness and sacrifice of his Saviour.  To me, the daily sacrifice of our Lord was the most powerful evidence that Peter saw to identify Jesus as the Christ.  In John 13:12-17 it says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you."

Christ instructed his disciples that their love needed to be "as I have loved you."  In other words, it needed to be a daily sacrificing of their own wishes and desires for one another. 

We know that Peter truly believed that Jesus was the Christ.  Peter literally says the words in Matthew 16:16, but he also demonstrates them in Matthew 14:22-33.  This is the passage that describes the  disciple's trying to cross the Sea of Galilee (I think it was the Sea of Galilee... It doesn't say).  Peter sees the Lord walking on the water and asks the Lord to command him to walk on the water.  He realized that it was safer to be with his saviour (even when it defied the laws of physics) than it was to be in his sinking boat.

So how does Peter go from being a man that is willing to defy physics to be with the Lord, to denying that he even knows the Lord?

We read about it first in John 13:36-38.  The scene is directly after the Lord's Supper.  "³⁶ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times." 

Jesus actually warns Peter that he will fail in his love.  The actual occasion of Peter's denial is written in Mark 14:66-72.  "Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.”  But he denied it again.And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.”Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!” A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept."
Can you imagine how Peter must have felt after he remembered Christ's words?  He denied Jesus, the man he believed to be the Son of God.  Not only did Peter deny Jesus, but his denial was immediately followed by the death of Christ.  There was absolutely no way for Peter to restore the relationship.
Thankfully we serve a gracious risen saviour.  Jesus rose from the dead and He chose to restore the relationship.  We read about it in John 21:15-17 "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah,^[b] do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah,^[c] do you love Me?”He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,^[d] do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."
Peter denied Jesus three times and three times Jesus lets him state his love.  And with that statement of love, Peter receives the same instruction from the Lord that he had been given earlier: to act out his love in sacrifice for his fellow man. 

We serve a gracious God who gave his life, both in life and in death, for us.  Our God loves us and is not willing that any of us should be separated from His love.  Only through the sacrificial love of Christ can our broken relationship be restored.

I wrote the following poem to try to describe how I imagine Peter must have felt after he denied Christ and broke that relationship.

Walking on the Sea
My soul is at sea
Battered down
Lost and hurt
Anchor gone
Sails are torn

No landmarks to see
Wind is sound
Lost and hurt
Cargo gone
Rudder scorns

I would dream of rest
But my boat
Sinks an inch
Muscles burn
Hope is lost

About to give up
Still afloat
Sink an inch

Tables turn

Count the cost

Cry out to my God

Save my soul

Let me rest

Make me whole

Hopeless hope

Then I see a Spirit

Walking in the storm
Impossible to think it
My saviour heard my cry

Don't think I believe
Scared enough to die
"Be not afraid"

The voice says

"It is I"

Lord, if it really is you

Command that I should come

"Come" says my Lord

I know that it is Him

But can I, like Peter

Take a single step

Trust that I'm forgiven

Leave my sinking ship

I see the wind around me

I'm scared and I don't know

Save me Lord, I'm drowning

I'm walking on the sea