August 5, Day 217 – A Man After God’s Own Heart
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- Aug 4
- 3 min read
Coming today to 1 Chronicles 16:37-18:17, we read about the development of unifying events in David’s kingdom after the ark comes to rest in Jerusalem. David was a man of humility and integrity, and both were needed to unify God's people. Of course, this serves as a spiritual picture of how we are to order our lives properly before God – and to allow Him to bring our affairs together for His glory and for our good after (i.e., to “seek first the kingdom of God,” cf., Matthew 6:33). In 1 Chronicles 17, we see David’s desire to build the temple – a “house for God” (verse 1). This desire flows out of David’s heart of humility, which recognized the infinitely high majesty of his Creator. He realized that, as the lower individual, he lived in the luxury of a palace, while His sovereign, divine LORD – the greater and higher Person – dwelt in a tent. In David’s heart and mind, this situation seemed up-side-down, and he desired to correct this reversal. But through Nathan the prophet, David learns that God “has not dwelt in a house, nor did He command anyone to build Him a house” (verses 5-6). God denied David this opportunity – because he is a man of blood (cf., 1 Chronicles 22:8). However, because David’s heart was tender and pure toward God, the Lord tells him, “I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you,” and “I will establish [your] house and kingdom forever” (verses 10-14). This is God’s promise that the Messiah will come from David’s family. Verses 16-27 record one of the great prayers of the Bible. Again, we see the humility of David: “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” (verse 16). This prayer not only epitomizes the humility and integrity of David’s heart, but also it reveals why God could say that David was “a man after His own heart” (cf., 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22).
Proverbs 19:3-12 reveals several practical truths that, by implication, we should practice in our daily lives. This section begins by saying that “it is not good to have zeal without knowledge” (verse 3). When I read this verse, I am reminded of Jehu’s zeal (cf.., 2 Kings 10:16). We recall from our readings that he was like a reckless “madman” (cf., 2 Kings 9:20). Zeal without knowledge leads to folly – which we need to avoid – because folly leads to ruin. We need to stand by our friends for the sake of honesty and integrity. If we love life, we will get wisdom – which produces patience and ability – to overlook offenses.
Today we come to 1 Corinthians 1:1-17. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth – a local assembly fraught with problems. Many of the difficulties of this church seem to appear in many of today’s local churches. Paul begins his letter by extending “grace and peace to the believers at Corinth,” and he “thanks God for them – pointing out that they lack no spiritual gifts in that church” (verses 3-7). I especially appreciate Paul’s appeal for the believers there to “agree with one another” (verse 10). Paul’s call comes immediately in the book because division is one of the major problems of the Corinthian church, and it needs to be addressed. Unity is vitally important among the brethren in the Christian life. Others need to see in us that Christ enables us to live harmoniously together, and this accord then becomes a testament to the power of God to overcome division, disunity, and all sin. Essentially, Paul is saying that the failure of unity within the church actually renders Christ’s cross to be “emptied of its power” (verse 17).
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