A man after God's heart
My favourite character in the Bible is David. I keep coming back to him again and again. Here is a man who wore his heart on his sleeve. His strengths and flaws were there for all to see. As I’ve read through David's life I have found five key characteristics that spur me on in the way that I live my life. These are traits that I want to pursue.
A heart after God
David is described in many ways throughout the Bible. The phrase that perhaps summarises him best though is that he was a 'man after His [God's] own heart'. Throughout his life he actively and passionately chased after God. Whether as a simple shepherd boy, a king, or a father, he sought the will of God. We often see David enquiring of the Lord. Even though he sometimes failed, he knew the importance of living life God's way, rather than pursuing his own selfish ambition. One striking story is found in 1 Samuel.
David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them but carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured - Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, ‘bring me the ephod.’ Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?’ ‘Pursue them,’ he answered. ‘You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.’ (1 Samuel 30:1-8)
David and his men had returned to their base in Ziklag to discover it burnt to a crisp with all their children and wives kidnapped. One can hardly begin to imagine the sheer panic and terror that must have fallen upon David. To make everything worse, David's men were so consumed with anger and resentment that they talked of stoning him. In this kind of situation, what would you do? My initial reaction would be to run for my life. I’m not sure I'd have responded the way David did. In the midst of such pressure and pain he found a priest with an unpronounceable name and took time out to enquire of the Lord. Surely this wasn't the time to sit around and pray. Something needed to be done. David chose, however, to concern himself with doing it God's way. He didn't assume that he knew best. He didn't want a good idea; he waited for a God idea.
It is so important for worship leaders to be constantly enquiring of the Lord. We need to be so desperate for God that we'll do whatever it takes to follow him. We will be so much more effective in our ministries if we seek the will of God and do it. This involves spending time with our heavenly Father. We cannot know the heart of God without first being still and listening. For each of us the hidden place with God is crucial. Sadly all too often we let our ministries get in the way of our relationship with God. We become so busy that the noise of the world around us swamps out the voice of the Lord. We find ourselves more focused on doing the work of the Lord than on seeking the Lord of the work.
How did God bring David to the place where in times of crisis he would automatically turn to the Lord? It was in the place of wilderness, in that hidden place, on his own looking after sheep, that God seemed to equip him for all the years ahead. These years that could have seemed like wasted were anything but. In fact they were the most important years. Where did David learn to write his songs? On the backside of a hill, in the middle of the night. Where did David write Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd”? It wasn’t in the palace.
When David prepared to take on the giant Goliath, the people around tried to suggest that as David was only a boy, he wouldn't have a chance. Look at David's immediate reply;
"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God." (1 Samuel 17:34-36)
Wasted years? While he was looking after sheep God was preparing David's heart for all the responsibility and blessing he was to give him. He learnt valuable lessons that would form him for the rest of his life.
When I was 14 I learnt how to play the guitar. The main reason I wanted to learn was so that I could worship in my room, on my own. Once I'd learnt G, C, D and Em I realised that I could play most of the worship songs that were around - especially after discovering a capo! I would spend hours singing my heart out - driving my family mad. Looking back I can see how God was deepening my love for him and developing my understanding of him. I learnt so much of what worship was about. It was often during those times that I'd feel a conviction about a wrong attitude - or at other times of distress I would sense God's peace in such a tangible way. God was preparing me and moulding me to be the man that he intended me to be. He still is. Those times were so precious and anyone involved in leading God's people in worship needs to seek those times alone.
If we’re not learning how to worship before him on our own then how can we stand before others and lead them in worship. Andy Park says, "Worship leading is taking your private cry and making it public." We cannot lead people to a place where we haven't been ourselves. Like David we need to embrace the hidden place and learn to seek after God's heart.
