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The last couple of weeks at my Men's Bible Study we covered the life of David. David was known as a man after God's own heart. The good news is that we can learn a lot from David without being intimidated.
The first thing that stands out is that God was the one who chose David to be king. The people had chosen Saul. The stark contrast was that the people chose Saul for all of the outward reasons. He was tall, strong, handsome, superficially the best choice. When God sent Samuel to choose his next king, David wasn't even in the building! He was out tending sheep. He was the youngest and least significant of his brothers. God has a habit of choosing the least among us to deliver his will.
I have often wondered what David did when he was by himself, in the wildness, watching the flock. We know that he learned how to defend himself and his flock, because he references killing a bear and a lion before his battle with Goliath. We also know he was quite a musician, since he was later asked to calm king Saul down by playing to him, not to mention all of the psalms he later wrote, which were originally sung, not read. But is this also where he grew close to God? From what I understand, tending a flock is very lonely work, Perhaps David spent a lot of his time praying and growing close to God.
I think the lesson I choose to take away from this is that the best way to get to know someone is to spend quality "alone time" with them. Maybe one of the reasons that God favored David is because David took the time to let God know his heart. David was by no means perfect, far from it, but because God knew who David was, he knew that the mistakes did not necessarily define the man. The key is what happens after the mistakes are made. The question I constantly ask myself is: "Do I spend enough quality alone time with God?"
It is comforting to know that trying to be perfect is not what God is looking for. Being Thankful, Humble, Loving, Caring, Believing, and Repenting are the qualities that God rewards.
