Help us to always have you in our heart.
If you've been following the full daily readings (where we're looking at the kings of Judah and Israel) you'll see plenty of references to David. He seems to have been the corner stone by which all the other kings are measured. (Builders use a line between the corner stones to mark out a straight line. Any stones not in line need to be moved.) Very few came up to his standard. Yet one or two were close. Now David wasn't perfect, but the main thing was he tried to please God.
He sinned in respect to Bathsheba and Uriah in particular. Even though he sinned so badly, God was still willing that he would turn back to him.
So why are the comparisons made against David?
The answer may lie in the fact that his early life was as a shepherd, not the Royal child of a previous king. Here he was well placed to learn about leadership, about caring, providing and protecting those who depended on him. But here he accepted a greater lesson; that he relied on God in the same way that the sheep did to him. God looked after him and David accepted this. This conviction was so strong that he was willing to go out and fight a giant, Goliath, armed with no more than a sling and a few pebbles.
The other aspect may be in regard to repentance. He accepted that he had done wrong and that there was no way to go, but back to God. That takes courage.
Another clue is recorded in 1 kings 15:5 “because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” David followed God's commands, both those given to him by the prophets as well as those in the Law.
David listened to God. He wrote Psalms (and prophesies) because he wanted to do something for God. We can always try to do our best for him as well.
As a result, God was willing to make huge promises to David. He said that his descendent would serve him forever, that he would build God a temple and that he would be called 'His son'. That David would always have a king to sit on the throne of Israel may be the main reason. God had promised this and always keeps his promises. That David gave his all to God was probably why he was a man after God's own heart.
In Matt22:42-46 we read
“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”
He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’?
If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
Can you explain the above question?