Whitten Q & A - WHY WAS DAVID CONSIDERED TO BE AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART?

Hello, my name is Christian, and I'm gonna be answering a quick question for you guys Brother Josiah came up to me a couple weeks ago and asked if I would answer a question and I was like absolutely

I will And the question that I chose was why was David known as a man after God's own heart, and that is a very good question why was he a man after God's own heart and I began wondering wow what a prestigious title to have for God to give you that title

You must have done something extraordinary you must have been so righteous and pure and sinless

But the more you study David the more you realize that that's not that wasn't the case.

He was not sinless by any means He was actually very sinful

It all begins in the beginning all right. We know him as King David, but he wasn't always royalty he began as a shepherd

He was the youngest of eight, and he was put on sheep duty all right again He was the youngest of the eight all the big brothers are doing other things keep the young in outside taking care of the sheep

So very humble circumstances very humble origins. We know that when he was in the field he wrote psalms he wrote

Music for the Lord he mastered the harp He learned how to how to foster a worshiping heart and not only that When bears and lions came and tried to attack his sheep he would trust in the

Lord To save him and his sheep and we know that he did we know that God rescued

David because of David's faith, and we see this evolve when we

When Goliath comes in we all know the story we've all been to Sunday school We know

Goliath Philistine was fighting David David hurled his slingshot and killed

Goliath Where did that faith come from I believe it originated Back when he was a shepherd it originated back when he was taking care of the sheep

Because he trusted in God that God would protect him and his sheep from lions and bears so in his mind

What's a human? What's a mere person if I a shepherd can protect my sheep my

Lord can protect me and So we see that this amazing faith is just brewing up inside this man

David a man after God's own heart But I don't even think that's the answer to the question

He is a man Full of contradictions. I hate to say it, but the more

I read about David the more I realized how simple he was He was a worshiper of God he loved

God with all of his heart, but we also know that his hands were very bloody He was a military leader.

All right, most of the times impure he was a murderer and Notice is the difference between a military leader and a murderer

God ordained war some wars, but God did not ordain murder When one day we all know the story when

David was watching his kingdom from his palace He saw a woman named Bathsheba a married woman married to a man named

Uriah Uriah was a loyal faithful servant to David David disregarded all of that.

He dishonored him He does honored his wife to the point of killing Uriah And I would even dare say raping

Bathsheba So what happened

This holy man all of a sudden is making some very bad mistakes

He wasn't just a rapist murderer. He was also prideful

He was prideful enough to count his army something that God said specifically not to do

And we also know that he was also a poor father. We read later on in the Bible The effects of his poor parenting his children rise up and rebel his children are charlatans

They it is just a mess and a scandal And so who is this man?

I thought this man was a faithful god -loving person But then we're exposed to this

We're exposed to the murdering side of David the sexually immoral the prideful man

David So wait, what does God judge when God calls him a man after God's own heart?

and The key is found in his repentance Number one we have to admit that he is just like us.

All right, we've got to stop romanticizing these biblical characters These people were real people these aren't just Bible stories

David Noah Moses Abraham these people were just like us.

There weren't any any more human or any less human than we were All right, they might have had specific tasks that were

God ordained But in the end there were just mere men. They were like us susceptible to sin and temptation to fear and anxiety to anger

They were just like us All right So we need to we need to remember that they struggled just like us so we can't sit too high and judge

David on the things That he did When the same God that said do not kill also said do not lie.

So I a liar can't condemn David the murderer who might have judged

I am just as sinful as he is mine just looks a little bit prettier than his I can hide mine more than his and his is

Splastered on the Bible for the entire world to see and so we need to step back a little bit and remember that these are actual people and have a little bit of sympathy for these

People that they were just like us. I Believe that the reason he was a man after God's own heart was because he was so eager to earn back

God's favor He was so eager to repent and fall down on his knees and seek

God's face again He wasn't a man after God's own heart because he was sinless

He was a man after God's own heart because he was repentant full because he knew where his strength lied

He knew that once he touched the ground he had to get back up and keep pursuing and keep pushing in It was a man of weakness

He was a man of conviction And he was a man of God's own heart because he repented and he sought after God with all of his energy with all of his being and so In short, that's the answer to why

I believe he is a man after God's own heart, but I want to leave you with this Psalms 51 David wrote this when he was caught or when the

Prophet Nathan came up to David and said You've done something wrong You've murdered somebody and you've taken someone who is not your wife and you have remained repentless

Once David got Convicted he wrote the song and it is so indicative of His repentness of his eagerness to get to get back with God and it starts like this

Be gracious to me God according to your faithful. Love according to your abundant compassion blot out my rebellion

Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin for I am conscience of my rebellion and my sin is

Always before me against you you alone. I have sinned and done this evil in your sight

So you're right when you when you pass sentence you are blameless when you judge me indeed

I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me Surely you desire integrity in the inner self and you teach me wisdom deep within Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean wash me and I will be whiter than snow

Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that the bones you have crushed rejoice turn your face away from my sins and blot out my guilt and This is the verse that gets me

He says God Create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me don't banish me from your presence or take your

Holy Spirit from me restore to me the joy of your salvation and Sustain me by giving me a willing spirit

Then I will teach the rebellious your ways and the sinners will return to you David knew

The repenting was the right thing to do And it always is it doesn't matter

Where you are in your life, it doesn't matter how many bad things you've done. It doesn't matter how long it's been since your last confession

It's never too late to do the right thing. It's never too late to repent and We can learn something from David That our forgiveness our reconciliation our redemption is found in God and later on the

Bible We realize that this God came down and his name is Jesus and he offers salvation to all people

Forgiveness no matter what you have done. And so if you think man, you just don't know what I've done

Let me tell you you don't know what he did Jesus's love on the cross his death and his resurrection

That power overpowers any sin you've ever committed and so it is never too late

Never you're never too bad for God to fix if you think that your sin is too far

From from from God's reach and you've been listening to voices that weren't from God Because we have a book right here that tells us

That his sacrifice is enough to blot out everything like David said blot out my transgression and he can for you, too all right, and I hope in some way shape or form

I was able to enlighten you on a little something and Show you why Jesus and God and the