Monthly Archives: August 2014
Heart Check IX
‘One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive – anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”’ 2 Sam.9:1.
A Loyal heart. David’s heart was loyal. Sadly, loyalty is something that is becoming very scarce as the years goes by. But it is something that is always rewarded by heaven. David had a loyal heart, even to his dead friend Jonathan [2 Sam.9:1]. Imagine that, Jonathan was dead but David remained loyal to him. Many people are only loyal to people that they can get value from later. People are loyal only to people that they can get something from. So for a lot of Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check VIII
‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is’ Ps.63:1 [KJV]
A Worshipping heart. There are a hundred and fifty Psalms in the Bible, David wrote seventy-nine of them. In fact, he compiled the entire Book of Psalms but he composed seventy-nine. More than half, the other seventy-one psalms were composed by other people, that tells you of his heart. Ps.63:1, David says ‘my soul, my soul [in our context] and my flesh is seeking to worship God. You and I know that even when our souls and our spirits are alive maybe in the Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check VII
‘Then David accepted her present and told her, “Return home in peace. I have heard what you said. We will not kill your husband.” 1 Sam.25:35
A lot of people vow or make decision to do the wrong thing. Then God in His mercy sends them an Abigail but they will insist on following through with the decision they have made because of pride even to the detriment of their souls.
When I read the story in 1 Samuel 25, I was saying to God that Abigail is not loyal to her husband. How can she say ‘I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent’ 1Sam.25:25. Or does it not come across as that? But I understood that she was actually saving his life. What loyalty can be greater than that? But she was saying the truth also. Some women are so foolish, truth is stirring them in the face but they refuse to see the truth. Abigail was not just saying those things to flatter David; she believed so much in what she was saying. And Abigail said ‘And when the Lord has done these great things for you, please remember me, your servant!’ 1 Sam.25:31. David must have laughed and left. Abigail got home, Nabal was throwing a party, drinking himself to stupor and she left him. In the morning when the effect of the alcohol had worn off, Abigail told Nabal what David was going to do to him and Nabal had a heart attack just from hearing that David was coming for him. Ten days later, the Bible says that God smote Nabal and he died. Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check VI
‘David replied to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today! Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands’ 1 Sam.25:32-33.
David had a Listening heart. I urge you to please read 1 Samuel 25 it is an amazing story. There was a wealthy man called Nabal. He had sheep, goats, cattle, and all sorts of livestock. In the wilderness, David met Nabal’s men and provided security for them. When he heard Nabal was shearing his sheep, David sent his boys to Nabal to congratulate him and ask him to share provisions with them. Now think about it, imagine you park your car in a Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check V
‘So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?” “Yes,” Samuel replied’ 1 Sam.16:4.
Think about it, who anointed David king? The number one prophet in the land, Samuel sent by God. This same Samuel was feared within and outside of Israel. Samuel was such a powerful man of God that the Bible says that in the days of Samuel, the philistines did not attack Israel. You know why? They tried and Samuel engaged the supernatural and the philistines were hearing the voice of God. The Bible says there was confusion in their midst and Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check IV
‘He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams’ Ps. 23:2
A Patient heart. David was anointed king as a teenager. He did not become king, at least over the united kingdom of Israel, till he was thirty. So for at least fifteen years, David was waiting patiently and adventurously too. He was running from pillar to post. He was just waiting. A lot of us God gives you just a glimpse of what He wants to do and we just rush and make a mess of the whole thing. David had a patient heart. In fact when David confronted goliath Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check III
‘And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him’ 1Sam.18:14-15 [KJV].
How did Saul lose his kingdom? There was battle, there needed to be sacrifice so that God would intervene. Samuel was supposed to come and perform the sacrifice. Saul waited and waited and Samuel was late. How can a man of God come late? But Samuel came late. And the Philistines were approaching, gathering, and closing in. The people were agitated and Saul must have said, “I know how to do this thing. I have seen Prophet Samuel do it several times. Is it Read the rest of this entry
Heart Check II
‘But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘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.
He was just a shepherd boy when God said to Saul ‘‘But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command’ 1Sam.13:14. God said about David, “I have found David, He is a man after My heart’. Wow! David’s heart is committed to God, totally committed to God.
Heart Check I
‘But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command’ 1Sam.13:14 .
David is so unique such that in the whole Bible, there is only one person named David. People’s names are usually repeated. Although it may not necessarily mean anything, yet I find it interesting and worth mentioning. David survived all the terrible things he went through because of one thing – his heart. David had his heart in the right place. How do you deal with a father in-law that is trying to pin you to the wall with a javelin? Physically, this is not Read the rest of this entry
What’s Your Excuse?
‘Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve’ Prov.24:12
David survived all the pressures of life because of his heart. David was sidelined, his own father, Jesse, and his brothers relegated him to the wilderness, David got a prize for killing goliath, the first daughter of Saul the king, but Saul gave his wife to somebody else. Imagine you have paid the bride price for your wife and then you go there to pick up your bride with your friends and find out that she has been given to someone else. But through all of this, David Read the rest of this entry
