“But God said to me, ‘You must not build a Temple to honor my name, for you are a warrior and have shed much blood.’” (1 Chronicles 28:3 NLT)

What is your purpose in life? I think for some people it’s just long life. That’s not a bad thing to aspire to, but long life is not the objective. Fulfilling God’s purpose for your life is the objective. Life isn’t measured by duration but by donation. What have you donated? What have you done with your life?

There must come a moment when we pass from money to meaning, from possessions to purpose, from success to significance. For David, that moment came when he decided to build a temple for the Lord. In those days, God’s Spirit dwelled among His people in the ark of the covenant. The ark was kept in the tabernacle, which was a tent.

David had trouble reconciling the fact that God’s Spirit dwelled in a tent while he lived in a palace. David wanted to build a house for the Lord. He set aside the necessary funds and gathered the necessary building supplies.

David’s request was valid. His heart was in the right place. He was a man after God’s own heart. He wanted to give back to God for all that God had given him. But there was just one hitch: God said no.

He answered David through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 7:1–7. God reminded David that He had never asked for a house. He didn’t need to be protected from the elements; He controlled the elements!

David’s timing was off. The temple would be built, but not during his lifetime. His perspective was off, as well. He saw himself as the right person for the job. He didn’t see himself as God saw him. Look again at the passage above from 1 Chronicles 28. David was a warrior king. He had too much blood on his hands.

David learned a hard, valuable lesson. Sometimes God says go. Sometimes God says grow. Sometimes God says slow. Sometimes God says no.

God revealed His reason for saying no to David. He always has His reasons—and they’re always perfect—but He doesn’t always reveal them. Maybe you’ve discovered that yourself. Maybe you had dreams that you didn’t realize. Maybe you dreamed of a successful ministry, and it didn’t happen. Maybe you dreamed of greater success in business, and it didn’t happen. Maybe you dreamed of romance and marriage, and it didn’t happen.

Maybe you feel God has let you down. If so, look at what David did in his situation. Instead of sulking or pleading with God, he wisely pivoted to what God had done for him. “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, has chosen me from among all my father’s family to be king over Israel forever” (1 Chronicles 28:4 NLT). In other words, “I want to talk about what God said yes to, not what He said no to.”

Have you ever said to the Lord, “Here is the way I think You ought to work. But not my will, but Yours, be done”? Some might say, “I am not saying that to God. If I say that, He will make me do something I don’t want to do.” I believe a person who believes that has a warped concept of God, a misconception that His will is always going to be something undesirable.

God may be saying “no” to something you have asked Him for because He wants to give you something far better than what you could ask or think. Don’t be afraid to let your Father choose for you.

Reflection question: How can you stay faithful to God after He says no to a prayer request?

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“Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, ‘Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?’” (2 Samuel 9:8 NLT)

It would be an understatement to say David had a complicated relationship with King Saul and his family. David was the anointed successor to Saul. As far as Saul was concerned, that made David his enemy. In fact, he tried to kill David several times.

Yet David married Saul’s daughter Michal. And Saul’s son Jonathan was David’s best friend. Jonathan tried to intervene on David’s behalf with his father. But when he realized how deeply Saul hated David, Jonathan urged his friend to flee.

But before the two friends parted, Jonathan asked David to show kindness to his descendants when David became king. Some time later, Jonathan died with his father on a battlefield.

History teaches us that the first thing many people do when they rise to power is eliminate any potential rivals. But David chose a different approach. It’s not that he was unaware of the political landscape. Saul and Jonathan may have been dead, but Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was still alive. He might have challenged David for the throne of Israel.

Keep in mind, too, that Mephibosheth was Saul’s grandson. David could have gotten a little payback by making him run for his life the way Saul made David run for his life. Instead, he invited Mephibosheth to his palace.

“Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” (2 Samuel 9:7 NLT).

This wasn’t an empty promise. Four verses later, we find these words: “And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table, like one of the king’s own sons” (nlt).

David was part of the most exclusive genealogy in human history—the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Yet his attitude was inclusive. He showed loving generosity to someone who had done nothing to earn it. He showed grace to someone who might otherwise have been his enemy.

And in this story, we find a beautiful picture of God and His mercy. Mephibosheth had nothing. He deserved nothing. He could repay nothing. In fact, he was hiding from the king. That’s us. We have nothing to offer God. We’ve done nothing to deserve His favor or forgiveness. Sometimes we even try to hide from Him.

And what does He do? He seeks us out. He adopts us and invites us to eat at His table. He makes us part of His royal family. This is the relationship God wants with you.

That’s why it’s essential that you get to know Him for yourself. He loves you. He has a plan for your life that’s better than your plan for yourself. But you need to come to Him. Mephibosheth could have refused David’s offer. He might have said, “I’m not going to that palace. I’m not going to sit at his table. I don’t want any of it. I want to stay here in Lo-Debar and watch the tumbleweeds blow by.” Instead, he made a wise decision that changed his life. You can do the same, right now, simply by embracing what the Lord is offering you. Your life will never be the same.

Reflection question: How has God shown mercy to you?

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“Then David confessed to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’

Nathan replied, ‘Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.’” (2 Samuel 12:13 NLT)

You could argue that, aside from Adam and Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit, no sin has gotten as much press as David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba. It seems like everyone has heard the story.

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, the apostle Paul writes, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall” (NLT). So if you read David’s story and think, I would never do anything like that, you’re missing the point. A better response would be, “God, help me not to make those kinds of decisions. Instead, help me stay close to You.”

The story in 2 Samuel 11 begins with David in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was on the roof of his palace in Jerusalem when he should have been with his army, battling the Ammonites. From his roof, he saw an extraordinarily beautiful woman taking a bath. It was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s loyal soldiers.

David sent for her and slept with her. And Bathsheba became pregnant with his child. At that point, David could have repented and faced the consequences. Instead, he tried to cover it up. He arranged for Uriah to be sent home from the front. He wanted Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba so that Uriah and everyone else in Israel would assume that her baby was his.

But Uriah refused to enjoy the pleasures of home while his fellow soldiers were still fighting. Instead, he slept outside the palace gates. So David took a more sinister approach. He sent Uriah back to the front with a letter for Joab, his commander. In the letter, David ordered Joab to station Uriah where the battle was fiercest and then pull back the rest of his forces. In other words, he wanted Joab to make sure that Uriah was killed in battle. (David probably didn’t sign that letter, “A man after God’s own heart.”)

This time, his plan worked. Uriah was killed, and David immediately took Bathsheba as his wife so that her pregnancy would seem legitimate. For a moment, he might have thought he’d gotten away with everything. But there was one problem: “The Lord was displeased with what David had done” (2 Samuel 11:27 NLT).

Twelve months later, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. To his credit, David immediately admitted his guilt. David and Bathsheba’s child died, and they had to live with that loss for the rest of their lives.

But, as devastating as his sin was, David made a comeback. He faced repercussions, but ultimately his life ended well. Remember, David came from Bethlehem. And that’s where Jesus was born. Why? Because Jesus was the offspring of David through the bloodline of Mary and the lineage of Joseph. That’s why Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed.

Want to know who else made it into the messianic line of Jesus Christ? Bathsheba. She repented, too, and was included in the most exclusive genealogy in human history. When you look at the family line of David, you find not only Bathsheba but also two other women, Tamar and Rahab, both prostitutes who turned to the God who gives second chances.

The ideal, of course, is obeying Him in the first place. We need to understand that God’s plans are better than ours. Having said that, it does not mean that they are always the easiest plans or even the most appealing at the moment. There are times when we are going through life that we might not like the plan of God. But God’s plans are always better for us in the long run.

Reflection question: What God-given second chance are you most thankful for?

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“The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (Psalm 27:1 NLT)

David was a shepherd, a musician, and a poet. When you think of the qualifications necessary for those occupations, courage probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Yet David showed remarkable courage. He killed a lion and a bear protecting his flock. He walked onto a battlefield to face the giant, heavily armored Philistine warrior Goliath, carrying nothing but a slingshot and a few rocks. He led King Saul’s army into countless battles.

At some point, though, fear replaced courage in David’s heart. First Samuel 21:10 says, “So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath” (NLT). Even though God had protected him again and again in high-risk situations, David chose to run away.

He may have been thinking, I liked it better when I was watching sheep. At least then I knew who my enemies were. He may have felt as though he were in over his head with all the political intrigue and royal scheming. We’re talking about a small-town boy here. He was probably still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was the anointed king of Israel. (And it wouldn’t be long before God dropped the bombshell that he also would be the ancestor of the Messiah!)

Whatever the reasons, David was gripped by fear, and that caused him to take his eyes off the Lord. In his panic, he ran to enemy territory, where the Philistine king recognized him immediately. First Samuel 21:12 says, “David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him” (NLT).

David escaped from Gath and hid in a cave called Adullam. And that’s where he wrote these words from Psalm 142: “I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles. When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me. I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me” (verses 1–4 NLT).

But then he shifts gears. “Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, ‘You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me’” (verses 5–7 NLT).

David understood that when the bottom drops out, you look up. You put your focus on God, and not on your problems. You give your fears to Him. That’s how to be a person after God’s own heart.

Maybe you are facing what seems like an impossible situation right now. You may not be able to see a way out. But God can. Call on Him. Then stand still and see what He will do.

Reflection question: What fears do you need to give to God?

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“He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.’ So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.” (1 Samuel 24:6–7 NLT)

After he was anointed king of Israel, David’s life reads like an adventure story. He didn’t assume the throne immediately. In fact, few people knew of his anointing at first. Saul, the acting king, struggled with mental illness. His servants suggested sending for a musician to play for the king to help ease his depression and fear. And guess who they chose? The youngest son of Jesse, from the O Little Town of Bethlehem.

When David wasn’t playing therapy music for the king he’d been anointed to replace, he was running errands for his father. David’s three older brothers had joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. One day, Jesse sent David to take food to his brothers on the front line. There, David heard the giant Philistine warrior Goliath challenging the Israelite army.

You probably know what happened next. David accepted the challenge, killed Goliath, and became a hero. Saul promoted David to military commander, in addition to his job as court musician. And God blessed David, so that he was successful in everything he did. It didn’t take long for Saul to become jealous.

In fact, he tried to kill David by throwing a spear at him. (David escaped.) And by sending him on a suicide mission to collect the body parts of one hundred Philistines. (David returned with two hundred.) And by throwing another spear. (David escaped again.)

David became best friends with Saul’s son Jonathan and married Saul’s daughter Michal. But they couldn’t protect him from their father’s wrath. So David fled.

In desperation, he took matters into his own hands. He had a momentary lapse of faith and tried to hide in the city of Gath. The hometown of Goliath. A place teeming with Philistines. Apparently, David thought he could walk through the city and not be recognized. But he was a legend in his own time. Everybody knew who David was. He was immediately recognized and brought before the king. David realized he was in trouble, so he pretended to be insane. And his ploy worked.

David fled to a cave known as Adullam. Some of his soldiers joined him there. And then one day, an amazing thing happened. King Saul, who was hunting David, walked into the cave alone to use the restroom.

David and his men were hiding further back in the cave. David’s men saw it as a sign from God that David should kill Saul. That way, David wouldn’t have to fear for his life any longer. But David knew better. He understood that Saul had been God’s anointed one, so he refused to harm him. He left that to God. David prioritized God’s will even over his own life.

Jesus faced a similar situation. On the night He was arrested, just hours before He would take the weight of the world’s sins on Himself and endure God’s wrath alone, Jesus prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Matthew 26:39 nlt). He, too, prioritized God’s will even over His own life.

If you are a Christian, people are watching you to see if you prioritize God’s will. They are scrutinizing your every move. You should know they are not hoping you will be a godly witness. They are hoping you will slip up so they will have something on which to conveniently hang their doubts and beliefs.

What kind of character do you have? Who are you in private? For all practical purposes, that is the real you.

Reflection question: How can you recognize and prioritize God’s will in a given situation?

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“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)

David was a complex person. He was a warrior and a worshipper. He was a lover and a fighter. He was an unknown shepherd living in obscurity in the tiny little village of Bethlehem, who was handpicked by God not just to be the greatest king in the history of Israel, but to be a part of the most exclusive genealogy in human history, the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

But there’s one thing David was not, and that’s an obvious choice. He wasn’t the first king of Israel. That honor fell to Saul, a tall, physically impressive man who looked the part. Unfortunately, that’s all he did. It turned out that his heart wasn’t nearly as impressive as his physical stature.

The Lord rejected Saul and instructed the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, to find the next king of Israel. Samuel’s arrival was a pretty big deal. Prophets of God didn’t show up in little places like Bethlehem every day. And when Jesse was given the opportunity, he took advantage of it. He proudly paraded his seven strapping sons for the prophet.

These guys were the original Magnificent Seven. They were top-notch physical specimens. The stuff of royalty, you might say. But as the prophet looked at each one, the Lord said no, no, no, no, no, no, and no. “Do you have any other sons?” Samuel asked.

Jesse replied, “Yeah, I’ve got one more son. He’s out in the field watching his flock of sheep. He’s a little weird. He’s a musician, and he writes songs about God.”

“Bring him in,” Samuel said.

David came bounding in with enthusiasm and energy. The Lord said to Samuel, “That’s my boy. Anoint him.” So Samuel poured oil on David’s head, officially anointing him to become the king of Israel.

God defied everyone’s expectations when He chose David. He didn’t look like a king—and that was the point. God wanted people to be drawn to David’s heart, because David was a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22 NLT). You can’t judge people’s wisdom, integrity, sensitivity, humility, courage, passion, or leadership potential by their appearance.

That point was driven home centuries later when God’s promise to David was fulfilled, and the long-awaited Messiah—Jesus, the descendant of David—arrived. To casual observers, He was an unlikely Savior. He didn’t live up to people’s expectations about what the Messiah would be like. Isaiah 53:2 says, “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him” (NLT). If you want to see how God works, you have to look past the surface—of others and yourself.

If you have faith in God, if you believe that God can use you, if you are willing to take a step of faith here and there, then God can do incredible things through you. One thing I have said many times over the years is that God is not looking for ability but availability. He can give you ability in time. But God is looking for someone to say, “I would like to make a difference where I am. Lord, I am available.” You just watch what God will do.

Reflection question: Why does God often use unlikely people to accomplish His work?

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“Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16 NLT)

This verse from 2 Samuel 7 is part of a promise God delivered to King David through the prophet Nathan. David was troubled by the fact that, as king, he lived in a beautiful cedar palace while the ark of the covenant, where God’s Spirit dwelled among His people, was kept in a tent. David’s ambition was to build a beautiful temple for the Lord.

But God (through Nathan) said no. David wasn’t the person for that job. That task would fall to David’s son Solomon. After declining David’s offer, God makes a stunning promise. It’s known as the Davidic covenant, and it deserves to be read in full.

“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever’” (2 Samuel 7:8–16 NLT).

God reaffirmed the promise He made to Abraham about a land for his descendants. He promised that David’s son would succeed him as king of Israel. And He promised that David’s kingdom would last forever. This is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was called “the son of David” (see Matthew 21:9 nlt). Not only would Jesus be a descendant of David, He also would be closely identified with the beloved king.

What kind of person receives such an honor from the Lord? That’s the question we’re going to explore over the next several days.

David was a shepherd, a musician, a poet, an outcast, a warrior, and a king. In fact, he was the greatest king Israel ever had. He was part of the most exclusive genealogy of all: the ancestors of Jesus. And aside from Jesus, there are more verses written about David than about any other Bible character. He’s also the only person in the Bible God calls “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22 NLT).

God dealt with him the way He dealt with many people He was preparing for greater ministry assignments. David was anointed king of Israel as a young teenager, but he didn’t ascend to the throne until he was thirty. God used that interval to prepare David for what was ahead. Some of that preparation involved hardship.

When you have gone through the desert of hardship, God uses you to more effectively minister to others. Do you find yourself in a “desert experience”? Maybe God has some training in mind for you. Remember, you can never be too small for God, only too big.

Reflection question: What does it mean to be a person after God’s own heart?

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“So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!” (Numbers 21:9 NLT)

Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. But the journey was anything but pleasant. The Israelites complained repeatedly about the traveling conditions. They accused Moses of leading them into the wilderness to die.

God parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could walk through the middle on dry ground to escape the Egyptian army. He caused fresh water to flow from a rock in the desert when the Israelites were thirsty. He sent manna and quail to feed them when they were hungry. Still, they complained.

God gave them a miraculous military victory over the Canaanites. But after the battle, when Moses led them around the land of Edom instead of through it, “the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. ‘Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?’ they complained. ‘There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!’” (Numbers 21:4–5 NLT).

The Israelites needed to learn a hard lesson. “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.’ So Moses prayed for the people” (verses 6–7 NLT).

Lesson learned (for the moment). The people sinned and faced the punishment for it. They confessed, repented, and prayed. And God sent them a way to be saved. He instructed Moses to make a bronze replica of a snake and attach it to a pole. Anyone who looked at the bronze snake was healed and saved from death.

Of course, there’s more going on in this story than people recovering from snake bites. This is a preview of the work of Jesus on the cross. In John 3:14–15, Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (NLT).

And in John 12:32, He said, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (nlt). The apostle John adds this note in the following verse: “He said this to indicate how he was going to die” (NLT).

Everyone has sinned and faces God’s punishment of death. The only way you can be saved is to confess your sins, ask God’s forgiveness, and place your faith in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

You might wonder, “Why would God be concerned about me?” Job asked, “What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often?” (Job 7:17 NLT). There are many reasons, but the most notable would simply be that He loves you! He loves you with an everlasting love!

The amazing thing is that the God of the universe loves you and is watching over you. He will bless you, smile on you, keep you, and give you His full attention and peace because He cares for you.

Reflection question: Why is Jesus the only way to be saved from God’s punishment for our sins?

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