a Love Story – a Man After God’s Own Heart – February 9

a LOVE STORY
February 9, 2021

a Man After God’s Own Heart

Dedicated to my dad, a modern-day man after God’s own heart.
Happy Birthday, Dad; I love you so much.

Acts 13:22, ‘After removing Saul, He made David their king. God testified concerning him: “I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (NIV)’

The Lord God, Master, Creator of heaven and earth, Almighty God, Provider, Healer, all that He is, sank to His knees, His head in His hands. The same hands that had sculpted worlds and fashioned living, beating hearts encased in bodies made of clay, now held His own heart, dried His own tears. The Master had accepted much, forgiven much, encouraged much, dreamt much, agonized much. He had so much more even He wanted to bless His creation with; the supply and dreams were endless but so was their folly and foolishness. Still. The tears coursed like a river, streaked across His face and dried. He could use anybody, invading their messiness and making something magnificent, exchanging their rags for His riches. The Lord God had so much to give.

He considered David. He relished him; even still, with all his humanity and worldliness. The Creator smiled; he was willing and available, and where he wasn’t able, God was. David had pursued Him relentlessly, and worshipped Him wholeheartedly, and this love His servant had for Him covered a multitude of sin. So the aberration in the end mattered very little and He had been able to work miracles out of those mistakes.

David’s obedience had killed wild animals and his willingness had slayed giants, and out of his greatest defeat, the Lord God would bring victory and redemption. He remembered His anger and how it had burned inside of Him, and then later, how He had hurt, watching His servant unable to look Him in the face. He too had hidden from Him; his actions had displeased the Lord. He had given everything into his hands and all things He had placed beneath David. But like Adam, it hadn’t been enough; he had to have what wasn’t his to have; he had to take what wasn’t his to take. This man He had so much faith in had masterminded the death of someone who was loyal to cover his own wanderlust with the woman, and because of that, the consequence had to be death.

But when David returned to His first love, to His Master, he returned contrite and repentant, and the Lord would use the disastrous for the people’s good and for His glory. The Lord God would use David forever, everywhere. What the enemy meant as—not just a stumbling block but—a tragic assault would result in the Master’s rescue mission of His people; because this is what love is: forgiveness and second chances and the gift of not being known by one’s failures but instead by one’s humility. The Lord God listened to the pain and the praises that fell from His servant’s lips and He pondered; He was right to have left a hollow inside of David. Oh! how he had attempted to fill the void with everything else, but in the end, his Master was the only One Who could satisfy the deep longing in David’s soul.

During the month of February,
come with me as we JOURNEY through
the greatest LOVE STORY ever written.