What Does it Mean to Have the Kind of Heart God Can Use?
By Babatunde Olugboji
One of the most notable characters in the Bible was David. 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. (Acts 13:22). David demonstrated the courage, love, worship, forgiveness, and repentance; attributes that are essential in our walk with God.
When Samuel became old, he appointed his two sons Joel and Abijah (I Sam. 8) as leaders, but the people of Israel rejected them and demanded a king. God eventually met Israel’s demand (I Sam. 9) and gave them Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, as king. Remember Saul? The one who refused to fully carry out God’s instruction to completely destroy the Amalekites? The one to whom Samuel declared: “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (1Sam. 15:22-23)
It did not take Saul, who did not have a good heart, long to displease God. Thereafter God decided he would give the people what he (God, not the people) wanted: “…your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (I Sam. 13:14).
Samuel then went in search of the kind of king God wanted. At the home of Jesse, David’s father, Samuel was impressed by several of Jesse’s sons, but God did not want any of them. Finally, God instructed him to choose the youngest son, David (2 Sam. 16: 10-13) who was eventually anointed thrice: by Samuel (1 Sam. 16: 1, 12-13), by the men of Judah (2 Sam.2:4) and by the elders of Israel (2 Sam. 5:3). David first reigned over Judah and later over all Israel.
David’s rise to power was not a smooth ride. It was fraught with danger, setbacks, risks, and near escapes. Yet the Lord’s faithfulness to David, and David’s to the Lord brought him safely through all these problems. He coordinated worship, installing priests and musicians; fought wars and prepared for the building of the temple. Through it all, God was with David, helping him scale all the hurdles. All because he has a good heart, a good heart that caused him to obey God.
A heart that devices wicked plans is one of the seven things that the LORD listed as things he hates in Proverbs 6. Other things he hates, are haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers (Prov. 6: 16-19).
You may be facing all kinds of challenges, you may be thinking that your dream is slipping away without any hint of fulfilment, or you are not seeing on the horizon how things could get better, that instead of getting better they are getting worse. If David could survive all his challenges, there is hope for you. Your story will end well.
Kingdom Dynamics, a weekly column is written by Dr. Babatunde Olugboji, the President, Kingdom House, a non-profit organization in New Jersey, USA.
