Where the heart is

'...He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ Acts 13:22.

This verse has been a source of comfort to me ever since I figured out what it really meant.  You see, for a long time I could not understand how God could call David a man after His own heart when David had done so many bad things and made so many wrong decisions.  God never changed His mind about what he said in the verse above.  After all, David committed adultery, murder, and lust.  He even looked the other way when one of his sons raped his own sister.  To say that he was the patriarch of a very dysfunctional family is to put it lightly. 

What I figured out about David was that he admitted his sins and short comings to God, and asked forgiveness whenever he did wrong. 

'Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your loving kindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight— ...' Psalm 51:1-4 

 

David's heart was in the right place because he admitted when he was wrong and asked God to forgive him.  He was just as human as we are today.  He made mistakes, made bad decisions; he went left when he should have gone right.  But at the end of the day, He knew that having a right relationship with God was what mattered most.

 

When we mess up, make a mistake, or make a bad decision, the first step to fixing things is to ask God to forgive us.  Once we do that, we are on the way to keeping our heart in the right place. 

 

Beware, when we start down the path of keeping our heart in the right place, we will be misunderstood by many, just like David was.  But as we read the Psalms we see that David did not allow naysayers to deter him.  Whenever he found himself in trouble with family issues or problems with enemies, he called out to God.  Call on God and he will take care of everything.  Just make sure your heart is in the right place.