In this post I am continuing to focus on our heart focus. To that end here is something significant that David wrote.
Psalm 86:11 (NKJV)
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
The note in my bible says the alternate translation of the phrase ‘unite my heart’ is ‘give me singleness of heart.’ In essence David was praying for his heart to have a singular focus on the ways of Yahweh so that he could walk in truth. If we study David’s life it is obvious that he had a few failures on this journey. I am confident we have all had failures. Yet if we want to walk in Yahweh’s ways, which are truth, we need only look to David’s approach and emulate it.
In addition to the above verse David is also recorded as the author of the following two verses.
Psalm 103:7 (NKJV)
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
Psalm 27:4 (NKJV)
4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
We don’t know the order in which David wrote Psalms 27, 103 and 86. However, what is evident is his possession of a singular desire to pursue God with all his heart, a recognition of the need to go beyond His acts to His ways, and an awareness that he needed God’s help to succeed. If we examine David’s life both the failures and successes are evident. While David only receives a passing mention in the hall of faith chapter in Hebrews 11:32, scripture testifies about two commendations that David was given that no one else in scripture ever received.
David is referred to as a man after God’s own heart in 1 Samuel 13:14 by Samuel and in Acts 13:22 by Paul. David is the only one in scripture described in this way. The description was given before David was anointed and called to be king because God knew his heart, both the coming failures and the continual pursuit of God’s heart. The other commendation is that Jesus is seated on the throne of David even though Saul was Israel’s first king. The throne was seen by God as being truly established by David and was prepared for Jesus (Luke 1:32).
In relation to our hearts the message of David’s life is twofold. First, it isn’t about whether we fail, we all will to some extent, it is about the desire of our heart before and after we fail. Secondly, it is about the reality that God’s final analysis of our lives is based not on our failures but on our pursuit of His heart. David had some major failures but each time his eventual response was one of repentance and a renewed seeking of God’s heart. Should we choose to do likewise we too can look forward to a commendation from the Lord on that great day.
Let’s ask Him to help us to be people after His heart.
