Start each day by reading the passages listed above. Then use the summary and reflection provided here to guide discussion around the daily reading.
After Saul, the first king of Israel, disobeyed God, the prophet Samuel sought out Jesse to anoint one of his sons as the future king. David was the youngest son of Jesse. He succeeded Saul as the second king of Israel. During his life and reign, David disobeyed God on several occasions. But because of his posture of repentance before God, he was called a man after God’s heart.
Reflect on the relationship with God and David. What stands out to you about his interactions with God?
What I love about the life of David is that we get to see what is essentially a spiritual relationship with the Lord that is similar to our own. Not that the experiences are the same, but that David was human and had his own faults. Each time he sinned, we can see how he repented to the Lord; not only did he make the customary sacrifices for the redemption of sin, but we are able to get a glimpse into his heart, and into his prayer life. This reminds me of how our prayer life is today…Christ come to be the sacrifice for us, so that we do not have to make physical sacrifices for our sins. It’s lovely to see how much God loved David through their spiritual relationship, and to know that we can have the same kind of relationship with the Lord.
David and God’s relationship is closely packed, David wants to prove to his father that since he is the youngest it doesn’t mean he can’t do what his older siblings do, so he try’s to take over his siblings work whenever his siblings don’t succeed in the task their father, God, gives them.
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David repents and turns back to God as opposed to Saul who made excuses. In a recent small group meeting, someone talked about how she used to go to a church that was really big on repentance. Another group member had been talking about falling back into thought patterns that weren’t consistent with God’s character (e.g. that if you pray for something God might give it to you but in a bad way, kind of like “be careful what you wish for”). She recommended repenting. To immediately recognize those thoughts and repent, telling God “I’m sorry for believing the lie.” I’d never thought of that before. How many lies do I believe when I let my mind go down negative paths or when I create negative scenarios that might never happen? Instead of focusing on what I know about God’s goodness and what is sure (his love, his grace, my salvation, eternity secured) when I’m facing the unknown. God forgive me for believing the lies. I want to turn back to him whenever those negative thoughts come up.
David’s relationship with God is surprisingly intimate to me. It’s beautiful to see and it is such a contrast to how Saul interacted with God. Saul thought about what would make him “right” before God as David thought about what would “please” Gods heart.
What stands out to me is that when David sinned and God chasten him on it, David immediately repented and ask for God’s forgiveness. He never let God’s angry fall on the people. David had a close relationship with God it mirrored the relationship the Adam had with Him in the Garden before He sinned and was cast out.