After studying the life of David for a sermon, I was intrigued by how much love God had for David. David was not the best example of "a man after God's own heart", yet that is a phrase exclusively associated with David. This begs the question,"what does it mean to be a man after God's own heart?" Was he after God's heart when he laid eyes on Bathsheba? Probably not. When he slept with another man's wife. Nope. Was he after God's heart when he had Uriah killed? I don't think so! These are sins for which David would pay a heavy price. Our sins do have consequences even if you are a child of God seeking his plan for your life.

What made David a man after God's own heart, in my humble opinion, is his faith in God. You see when Nathan the prophet, sent by God, told David of his sins, in a parable, David was broken. Contrite! It was as if someone showed him a mirror and he saw his own sinful image for the first time in living color. Upon hearing the voice of God David immediately fell into a broken, shattered state of repentance. Psalm 51 is probably the greatest display of this repentance. Being a man after God's own heart did not make David "superhuman." It made him heartbroken when he realized he had broken God's heart with his behavior.

Having a heart for God means that we seek to please God in all we do. Our faith, our hope, our love, and our trust are reliant on the promises of God. Remember David took a rock to a sword fight and won because he believed God would not fail him. He may have lost his way but he still knows God's love for him and his brokenness caused an overwhelming expression of that love. God loves you. Allow him to make you better by keeping the eyes of your heart open to see Him.