David - a man after God's own heart!

I've been reading about David lately and it has been so wonderful. It's almost a realistic picture of truly one of God's children - the high points and the low points of David's life. The one constant is that David ALWAYS trusted God, always went back to Him, always sought God out in prayer in the "stronghold". He pleaded with God, he wrestled with God. He was truly a man after God's own heart. Oh how I'd love to be as faithful to God as David was. He worshiped God with all of his heart, people even thought he looked foolish doing it, dancing before the Lord and all, but he could have cared less. He just knew He was in love with his Father and he wanted to express that to Him. He loved His Lord!

As many victories as God provided for David, the man still screwed up, still gave into temptation, still sinned terribly, but when he did, he ran straight back into the arms of God in repentence. I believe David was so grateful to God because he knew His grace and forgiveness. He experienced it, first hand, for himself. And to think, David didn't even get to experience the grace and forgiveness of knowing Jesus Christ as his savior. Can you imagine how he would have worshiped then!?!? Wow!! I think his heart might have just exploded right out of his chest!!

God is speaking to David below, through the profit, Nathan. Note that vs. 11-14 are referring to Jesus! And this was written how many years before the birth of Christ?!?! Amazing!!

1 Chronicles 17:7-27 (New Living Translation)
7 “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. 8 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! 9 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, 10 starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies.
“‘Furthermore, I declare that the Lord will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings! 11 For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. 12 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me. And I will secure his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you. 14 I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’”

15 So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.
David’s Prayer of Thanks
16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,

“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great,[a] O Lord God!
18 “What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like. 19 For the sake of your servant, O Lord, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.
20 “O Lord, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 21 What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way. 22 You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.
23 “And now, O Lord, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever. 24 And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.
25 “O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him—a dynasty of kings! 26 For you are God, O Lord. And you have promised these good things to your servant. 27 And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

May we be as grateful to God for His grace, mercy and love as David was. I sure hope I get to meet him in Heaven one day!