David (part 3)
(By Ben Fronczek)
I find it interesting how many times we ignore doing what’s best for us. I’ve read all kinds of information of good nutrition, about minerals and vitamins that are essential for good health, things I should eat and food that I should avoid. I even know what foods to avoid to lose weight.
But despite knowing all that information. What do I do? I don’t take the vitamins and minerals that I know are good for me. I eat things that I shouldn’t. I know that if I consume sugar it almost always has an adverse effect on me. But do I avoid it? Sometimes, but not as much as I probably should.
You probably don’t have a problem like this do you. J Of course you do! If it’s not food, it’s probably something else. Maybe you don’t exercise enough when you know that you should. Maybe you don’t treat a certain person right, or spent quality time with your spouse, kids or someone else when you know that you should. Maybe you don’t take care of your vehicle as good as you should. You see that sticker in the corner of your windshield that you are overdue for an oil change by about 5000 mile but you keep putting it off.
What is wrong with us? Are we too busy, are we defiant or just to forgetful. Are we lazy, or just in our own little world.
The same can happen to us on a spiritual level. We know that there are benefits in praying, but sometime we go a few days with talking to God. We know that there are great benefits to reading and studying God’s word (scripture) yet we struggle to take time to read the Bible. And how often do we actually attempt to study it on our own?
We have been looking at the life of David, and so far I’ve focused on what it takes to become a man or woman after God’s own heart, a quality of character which was bestowed on David so long ago.
What does it mean to be a person after God’s own heart? It means your life is in harmony with the Lord. What is important to Him is important to you. What burdens Him burdens you. When He says, “Go or do” you go and do. When He says, “Stop that in your life,” you stop it. When He says, “This is wrong and I want you to change,” you come to terms with it because you have a heart for God.
As we began to look at what is necessary to have this kind of heart and be this kind of man or woman, the first thing we saw in the last lesson was that David had absolute faith in God. It wasn’t a fickle wishy-washy kind of faith where it was on one minute and off the next. It didn’t consist of just a mouth full of nice word, or even the appearance of doing the right things. Rather, his faith in God was the cornerstone of his life and it filled his heart. And that faith would enable and empower him to do mighty things for the Lord. And the same can be true for us.
But I also believe that there are other things that were apparent in David that contributed to him being man or woman after God’s own heart. Yes, first of all that kind of faith is important and necessary, but also the 2nd thing I see in David that contributed to him being labeled a man after God’s own heart, was:
#2, David absolutely loved God’s law and did his best to obey it.
Of the 150 psalms in the Bible, David is credited for writing over half of them. Writing at various and often troubling times in his life, David repeatedly mentioned how much he loved God’s perfect Word.
Psalm 1 is considered by many scholars to set the tone and is the very foundation of David’s Psalms. In it David gives good advice to those who desire to be a man or woman of God. (Read Psalm 1)
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
David’s advice was to avoid evil companions and their advice, and those who choose to be right should “delight in the Law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night.” He said that those do this would be blessed and whatever they does will prosper at. They will be ‘like a tree planted by living water which will yields it fruit in season and whose leaf will not wither.’
Having a life centered on God’s word and being mindful of it on a regular basis, even daily, may be a prerequisite of being a man or woman after God’s own heart.
As you know, what we focus on will determine our reality. Focus you attentions on fighting, violence and war and you will be more incline to be a violent person yourself. Focus on having money, accumulating nice things and you will become a more materialistic person.
Romans 8:5-6 “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. “
Even before Israel cried out for a King in Samuel’s time, the Lord knew it was going to happen. Even before the Israelites entered the promise land, God gave the people instructions through Moses how their future Kings were to act and some things that they should do. Listen to what is recorded for them, and us in Deuteronomy chapter 17:14ff “14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”
Each and every one of the kings were instructed (among other things) to write out a copy of God’s Law on a scroll and he was to read it all the days of his life so that he would learn to revere the Lord and follow His words carefully. But did they?
I seriously have my doubts. But one thing we know about David, he probably loved and revered God’s word more than any other king.
But you know its one thing read God’s word and quite another to love and revere it. We know that David loved it so much he would meditate, really ponder and internalize it because it was that important to hime.
We find a beautiful example of this in Psalm 119:47-48: “For I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.”
It is not hard to see his complete adoration for God’s Word in the Psalms. God granted David understanding, wisdom, comfort and strength through daily meditation on His word. And I believe we would experience the same of read God’s Word and love it so much that we also ponder and mulled it over in our minds throughout the day.
Most of us know what Paul wrote to Timothy in second letter, 3:16-17. He wrote: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
If you ever want to become a man or woman after God’s own heart like David, we’ll not only need to have absolute faith in God, I also believe we need to absolutely love God’s word, read it on an regular basis, study it, even roll it over in our minds and meditate on it so that we will gain more understanding from it. And of courses like David, we need to apply or obey it.
Paul wrote that God provided His word so that we may be, “thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
So if you are thoroughly equipped by reading and studying it, what are you if you do not read it or attempt to understand it?
I know that you all have probably have heard a number of lessons on the importance of making a habit of reading and studying Gods word, even how blessed you will be as you come to understand it and apply it to your life. But I wonder, as good as you know it is for you, is it like one of those things I mentioned at the beginning of the lesson; like taking vitamins, eating only good foods, getting proper exercise. You know that its good for you, but you simply don’t take the time to do it.
I can’t say that a Christian will be kept out of heaven for not reading their Bible because our salvation is not based on continued Bible reading and study, but rather faith in the saving work of Jesus.
But I do believe that the quality of life, and your understanding, and your ability to teach and impact others will depend on how much you do know God’s word. In reality, statistics show that less and less self proclaimed Christians are reading their Bibles in the USA and it having an adverse effect on the morality of this once great nation.
If God granted David understanding, wisdom, comfort and strength through daily meditation on His word, there is no reason why we won’t experience the same as we life our lives out in these trying times. And the more we know and understand, and do our best to live by God’s word, the more we will just naturally become a man or woman after God’s own heart because what you focus on will determine your reality. And if you focus is on God ad His word your heart will become more in tune with His.
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com