David: The Man After God’s Own Heart
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Good Morning! Happy Father’s Day!
Can I get all of our children to come up forward real fast, and all of our father’s here today with us to stand - we have a special gift for all of you, and we want to recognize you by letting the children just bring those to you!
Last week I was so busy it wasn’t even funny, and fortunately I’ve had some sleep since then, so maybe we’ll be able to stay on course today. That said this week it’s been similar, as yesterday I had to take Joshua to SBU for college registrations stuff, Monday through Wednesday was the Southern Baptist Convention which I watched online, and today Kristin and I celebrate 23 wonderful years of marriage. So today is the first actual day of Summer, Father’s Day, and my Anniversary. June is a busy month for us as a church with VBS starting tomorrow and our team being in from Illinois for that and for my family - especially this year with 2 going off to college - it’s a lot to process, and a lot to go through as a church and as family. But before we get any farther,
Let’s Pray.
I don’t know about you, but as a father it’s easy for me to get discouraged when I fail to live up to many of the examples of fathers both in the Bible as well as in my life.
I know I have certainly failed. Long hours with the Navy, deployments, transfers to different locations, and then add in my failure at times to be the sympathetic loving father or my own demonstrations of teaching by example those things of speeding and sometimes my dismissal of things - I get discouraged.
And for some of us it could be that you didn’t have an example because there wasn’t a father figure to watch as you grew up, and for others maybe your father was always working or traveling to provide for your family, and so you didn’t really get to see him at all.
On the flip side of that, maybe you had a father that you looked up to and he was “so great” that you don’t believe you could ever be that good, or you have a father where no matter what you ever did it was never “good enough”.
For me, my dad was a sheetrocker and worked a lot of long days, so there wasn’t much time with him. When I was old enough, during the summer months when school was out I would go to work with him and clean up sheetrock scraps (I know I wasn’t much help) just to be there closer to him, but he still had to pay the bills, so work was necessary so while we were in the same place, he was busy, so it wasn’t exactly bonding time. In that regard, I learned most of my “manly work” of cars and home maintenance from my grandfather.
But don’t get that twisted, because I say all of that to say this. I love my dad. He isn’t perfect, but he provides for his family, and although he doesn’t always set the right example, he did teach me well that marriage is till death do you part and to work hard to provide for my family and others. When I was growing up he would give family and friends the benefit of the doubt if they were in a financial bind and he always cared for others. I may not have learned a lot of that car maintenance and home maintenance stuff from him, but I did learn a lot from him, and some of that was the ingenuity to make things work in the times where I may not know exactly what I’m doing. He’s not a believer, so that’s something I still pray for, but he did have at least some good moral foundations where many don’t.
Today, I want to discuss another father who wasn’t perfect. The man after God’s own heart, King David. But I don’t want this to be a discouraging message – rather I believe that God has a message of encouragement out of David’s faults. We’re going to focus on the most well known story of King David’s faults, the story of he and Bathsheba, but understand that throughout David’s time as king that we know about from the bible he had more than just that one – he was neglectful in chapters 13 and 19 of 2 Samuel, he took a census of the people in 24, and what’s really the worst part about all of these are those these actions affected – the neglect resulted in the death of 2 of his sons, the census resulted in 70,000 deaths in the country Israel.
But as David the adulterous father, because David already had somewhere in the range of 6 sons, this is where I think we see the real pivot point of David as a father.
1. David, the adulterous father.
1. David, the adulterous father.
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
So it’s spring, “In the time when kings go off to war” First off, he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Usually Kings of Israel went out to war with the troops, but this particular time he sends Joab out to do his job. And that’s when we see the start of the spiral in this sin. Now lets look at 2 Samuel 11:2-5
It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
Problem 1 – he saw a woman bathing – Let’s presume for a moment that she believed that she was doing so without the expectation of being seen. This means that David probably got more than a glance.
in fact it says “The woman was very beautiful”, so I’d say he definitely got more than a glance…
And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
So David sends this guy to learn more about her – in today’s language I’d say we have made it to the facebook stalking level.
So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.
This escalates quickly…
Verse 4 really seems to leave out a lot of the details to the story. No dialogue, no why am I here, just straight to the adultery. I wonder if she told him about the part there that’s in the parenthesis, that she had been purifying herself part, or if that was just a tidbit for the reader.
And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
Surprise!
Now you’d think that maybe David would have learned something from this, but nooooo. He works a plan to try to convince Uriah to go and be with his wife. He says nope, won’t do it, honor and stuff. Uriah knew it would be wrong for him to do that while his brothers were at war and fighting still. So David moves on to plan B –
2. David the murderous father.
2. David the murderous father.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.”
Wow, David writes the death warrant and sends it with the guy who he’s having killed. talk about cold blooded.
Now bear in mind David’s got 6 sons. And they know, at least eventually, I mean, it probably was pretty obvious, but even if it wasn’t it was written down by someone.
And here’s the result from this adultery, this sin that David commits with Bathsheba. She bears a son to David, and this son dies without a written name in the bible.
Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick.
David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”
But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”
Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
but that’s just the start of the problems.
Your oldest son Amnon depurifies your third son’s sister Tamar from another mother.
But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”
But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
Your third son Absalom murders your first son Amnon, because of this defilement.
Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”
But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.”
And because of this, in the long run, Absalom dies.
Your fourth son Adonijah then attempts to become king as you’re dying.
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
And he dies after this as well. All in all, that’s 4 dead sons because of sin, sin that David allows in one part and quite possibly in part because they watched their father doing things that got out of hand. I know I have been guilty of this many times in my past and I probably am not done making mistakes for my kids to see. Our actions have consequences, and in David’s case he paid a hefty fee for his sin and I have seen some things my kids have done and immediately regretted some things I have done that allowed this action to take place.
Ok, so about now you’re wondering at what point I give you an encouraging point.
3. David, the encouraging father.
3. David, the encouraging father.
First, lets remember that David is known as the man after God’s own heart. In every one of these situations, David repented. He realized his sin, learned from them, and was completely repentant of them all, and as in Psalm 139, David always sought to have a heart after God, and for God to show him his sin. Look at verses 23-24:
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
I read a devotion from this bible last year on Psalm 25. It says:
“Take a look at the dads in your congregation. How engaged are they in the service? Do they look like they’re enthralled with God’s holy presence, or do they look like they’re watching someone change their car’s oil”
And this is supposed to be from your perspective while the preaching is going on. From this perspective I see both types, some of you are excited, others not so much -
It goes on to say “the next time you’re at a big ball game” do the same thing. The point of the devotional was that our children watch what we do. If we oooh and ahhh over this and that, but treat God and church as a secondary obligation, then that’s exactly what they’ll do – or have done. Like Psalm 25 says in verses 12-13:
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
Who wrote Psalm 25? David. The bottom line is that it’s never too late. David figured that out, sought God, forgiveness, and turned from those sins. Did it cost him? Sure. Did it cost his sons? Sure. None of us are perfect. So first up, fathers, when you read your bible and do what it says remember that your children are watching you. We have to remember that we are always one generation away from the fall of Christianity - not that we could be responsible for that globally, but when we fail to teach our children the words of Jesus and the instructions in this book we lose our family, our sons and daughters and grandchildren, to the world of sin. The books of Kings and Chronicles remind us of that, as David’s son, Solomon, and the sons after him, failed on multiple occasions to follow after God. But because David repented, the kingdom of Judah remained in his bloodline, and the failures of Solomon are related to his 700 wives rather than the sins of his father. God credited David with righteousness and as being a man after His heart because when David did fall into sin, he turned to God for his strength and he was excited about the things God was excited about.
Fathers, get excited about the things of God.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Show your kids exactly what this verse means in how you engage with the service, with how you serve, and with your daily interactions with others and the rest of your family and most importantly with how you interact with the Word of God.
Fathers, if you have things or sins in your past that have affected the upbringing of your children, repent to God and seek forgiveness from your kids. It won’t be easy necessarily, but it is necessary. They may not forgive you, at least not immediately, but it is the most important first step.
Children of fathers: Your father isn’t going to be perfect. Some of you may have been wronged by your fathers that many of us wouldn’t be able to imagine. I’m not going to tell you to just forget your past, but I will say that if they seek your forgiveness, give it freely, as God has given you. It won’t be easy, they may not even seek your forgiveness, but the forgiveness frees you from bondage to the sin.
Because what we see in the New Testament reflects that David was still the man after God’s own heart.
In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are in Antioch, they’re at the synagogue, and they are preaching. In that preaching, they get to King David and in verse 22:
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Saul was the king the people thought they wanted, David was the King God selected.
And King David is the kingdom that God uses for Jesus’ lineage.
King David wasn’t perfect - but he did repent and follow God. He maintained his relationship with God by surrendering his will to God’s will, and God still blessed him through his failure.
Fathers, be men of God’s own heart.
Let’s pray.
Father God thank you for Your our dads and future dads. Thank you for providing us with your Word that shows us not only how our dads and we as dads are not perfect, but how are to respond to you and your Word Lord and also that there is grace and that even when we make mistakes that you still use us to bring glory and honor to Your name.
Men, God wants you to know that you are loved. God has a plan for your life no matter how many times you may have been derailed, no matter what you have done, and He is your strength and He is your power - but first you have to let Him have the wheel. You have to trust Him to do what’s right, and sometimes that means stepping out in a fearful situation and doing something outside of the norm. Are you allowing Him to work through you?
Father speak to our fathers and men here today, Lord give them the boldness that they need, be their strength and their power.
Wives and kids, do you have unrealistic expectations of your fathers or husbands? Are you somehow holding them up to standards that the fathers in the bible couldn’t uphold, or for that matter quite honestly you aren’t even upholding? Television has grossly misrepresented fathers for decades as either this perfect person we cannot live up to or as some oblivious man who is treated without respect and as a lesser human being. Number one, ask your fathers and husbands for forgiveness today, and then surrender that stuff to the Lord - and let God work through you too.
And as you remain in prayer there are some here that may have realized that they don’t have a relationship with Christ. Because even on Father’s Day the Bible tells us that if you don’t have Christ as your Lord, you are lost. And God is searching for you, the lost child today and right now you feel like the Word of God has spoken to you today and you are seeking to be found. And if that’s you, Jesus has found you right where you are. God has spoken to you today and He’s telling you that you need the Savior, and Jesus is that Savior.
And finally, even on a special day like Father’s Day, there may be someone who would say I don’t know this Jesus Christ, but I’d like to. So if that’s you, if God is calling to you to draw into a relationship with Jesus, answer Him today. If you don’t know how it’s as simple as ABC. A- admit to God that you are a sinner, B-believe that Jesus came to redeem you through that sinless life, death, and resurrection, and C- confessing Christ as Lord and Savior with your mouth, choosing to follow Him. if you don’t know how to start, you can simply pray something like this:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. Lord I believe that you came to free me from the bonds of sin and death and Lord I thank you for what only you could do. Lord I choose you, to follow in all that you are and to walk in the Spirit in a relationship with you, and to spend eternity with you. In Jesus name, amen.
Father, thank you again for this body, and Father as you are speaking to those here today, I pray that we will follow you where you lead, that we will see you revealed, and that we will follow in your presence today.
If you need someone to pray with you just come forward someone will come to pray with you. Don’t delay, don’t let this moment pass you by, answer His call today, come as He leads, as the music plays softly for a moment, this is your moment.
