This sermon delves into the remarkable life of David, a man after God's own heart, contrasting him with Saul and highlighting how God looks at the heart rather than outward appearances. It explores David's humble beginnings, his deep relationship with God, and his unexpected anointing as king. The narrative of David anointed as king of Israel reveals God's unique perspective on choosing individuals based on their hearts. The story of Mephibosheth showcases David's grace and loyalty, drawing parallels to God's unconditional love and favor towards us despite our unworthiness.

This week we're talking about David, and in comparison to last week, what a remarkable life. God describes this king as a man after his own heart. David, what's the overarching thing of David's life, in your opinion? To me, the remarkable thing about David is how he is defined by this phrase, a man after God's own heart, which to me seems to be a tremendous contrast to his predecessor Saul. Saul was sort of the king from Israel's heart, the projection of their desires. David seems to be the king from God's heart. He's the one that God had in mind to put on the throne. In a lot of ways, an unlikely young man, not from a particularly prominent family, the youngest among his brethren, even among his own brothers, it seemed like there were people more qualified to be king. But David seems to be that guy that had the special mark of God's choosing upon him. And I like to say it was because David was the kind of man who sought God when nobody else was looking. When David was just alone with the flock, he sought God in a deep and powerful way. And he had the relationship with God in a personal way that Saul seemed to lack so transparently. So, yeah, huge contrast there between David and Saul. Let's just talk about that wonderful story of where, you know, David is anointed king of Israel. I think that's so telling because Samuel goes to Bethlehem and he pulls out Jesse and his son and Eliab's before him and he's like, surely the Lord's anointed is before me, you know. But God says, hey, I didn't choose you. And I think that says something remarkable about the fact that even Samuel was kind of wrapped up in what a king should look like. Well, everybody is. I mean, it's interesting how God describes that in that passage. He says, man looks on the outward, but God looks at the heart. And I'm fascinated by how God seems to state that just as a statement of fact. Look, that's how it is. Man does look at the outward and there's no other way around that. Nevertheless, we got to see that God looks at the heart. David was the guy there who had a different heart than any of his brothers. And that's what God was most interested in. Yeah, it really is a fascinating thing how God's priorities, God's choosing was really not the same way as man's. It really says something about just the people that are kind of obscure and they're kind of working out there and sort of in the field. I mean, David wasn't even asked to come to this celebration. In fact, he was, you know, just out there doing what God called him to do out in the field. You know, when you think about how David was despised in his own family, I mean, I think about people who live with that kind of pain. In their own family, they're not respected, they're not despised, or excuse me, they are despised in their own family. Man, you just, your heart goes out to those folks, but you realize that God not only can relate to those people and touch their lives, but he can use them in a powerful way. Man, that's David's story exactly. I love in that whole narrative in 1st Samuel how Jesse doesn't even call his youngest son by name. He calls him the youngest. I didn't even notice that. He calls him the youngest, doesn't even call him by name. As far as Jesse's concerned, that son doesn't even have a name. He's just the youngest out in the field. Well, that's amazing because David means beloved. That's right. You're thinking that you might address him in another fashion. Isn't that kind of strange? In David's family, his name was ironic. Beloved, right? But before God, it was absolutely literal and fulfilled. No irony about that. He was beloved of the Lord in a very special way. Do you think he wrote any of those psalms before he became king? Before he was anointed king? What's your opinion on that? I believe so. I mean, you kind of have that feeling that he wrote some of those psalms. You know, you take a look at Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God, or those psalms of deep trust in God. You just see that heart of a shepherd, a guy who's out there with nature, just trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances. So I believe that some of those were written at a young age. But even if they weren't, the heart that wrote those psalms was developed at a very young age. Just trusting and relating and loving God when nobody else was looking. And man, what a challenge for us, right? I mean, a lot of times the greatest love we show to God is when other people are around us, when other people are looking. But really, who we are before God in that secret place, that was part of the glory of David's great relationship with God. Now, I wanted to at least look at one story in which kind of the flavor of David's reign was characterized. Right. David's life is so big that we really got to kind of... What discipline it took for you Lars, to kind of bring it down to just one or two stories. And really, I chose the story of Mephibosheth, just because it shows David really respecting his promise that really he made to his friend Jonathan a long time ago, but also was really a politically risky maneuver for him in order to bring a guy back from Saul's household and really just bless him that way. Do you have any thoughts on that story or what's your take on that? When you think about the great tenderness that David shows towards Mephibosheth and his family, you think about it on a few levels. First of all, you think about how unthreatened David was to do this thing that was politically, in some ways, suicide to show favor to his rival's family. But the other thing you see is you see, again, we always want to look to see how we connect this to Jesus. Don't you think that it's risky the way that God extends such grace and favor towards us? You see people who seem to receive grace and forgiveness from the Lord, and in some ways it looks like they're ungrateful. Or in some ways, so to speak, I'm speaking favorably of course, they stab God in the back, they're ungrateful for what he's given them. But I tell you, God, even though there's risk, so to speak, involved in it, God extends the same gracious love towards us. I mean, we are Mephibosheth, aren't we? I mean, we come from a rebellious king, do we not? We are lame. We need this grace. We need this mercy from our King Jesus, and without it we perish. And there we see David very much illustrating for us what the King of Kings is like. Right. I love that passage where it says they treated him just like the King's sons. He ate at the same table as the King's sons. It just shows just the same status as we are with Jesus, but in God's eyes. That's right. It's just an amazing story. That's us, isn't it? I mean, not only are we saved, not only are we rescued, I mean, it would have been enough for David just to give Mephibosheth the pension or, you know, to keep him out of poverty. He said, no, you're going to eat at my table, I'm going to regard you as part of my family. And isn't that the greatness of the salvation God gives to us?