Psalms 89:3-4 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. [Selah in Hebrew means “pause and ponder this!”]
Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David [in the Hebrew New Testament it’s written – Yeshua HaMashiach ben David], the son of Abraham.
New Testament genealogies of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) all identify Him as the son of king David. It was universally understood from the Tenach (OT) that the messiah would be descended from David and that he would restore the Davidic monarchy to its ultimate and most universal expression, even that this king would reign and sit on the throne forever.
Why was Yeshua’s identification with David so significant? One reason is that David is the only man in the Bible about whom the Lord said, this is “a man after My own heart”. Yet we know well David’s imperfections … adultery and murder — so why would God say this about him? I believe it was David’s lifelong love for and abandoned worship of the Lord, and also his contrite heart (Ps. 51) and the depth of his sorrow and repentance which showed this relationship to be the most important and precious in his life.
God isn’t expecting perfection from us — His Son has provided that. Yeshua alone is the Man whose heart and actions are flawless. But David exemplified a man whose love and respect for his God were constant, if imperfect, a man after God’s own heart. And this is the heart that God is seeking today, contrite, worshipful, and filled with respect and love for our God.
David provides a wonderful example for us who are as imperfect as he was. We may fall and fail miserably – but its how we get up that makes the difference. Our constant desire to preserve this most precious of all relationships will show that we too have a heart after God. I know I want to hear Him say, “Yes, you are truly someone after my own heart!”
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]In my travels across the United States, I’ve come to a greater understanding of the racial divisions which seem to characterize much of the restlessness in America. While I was in Little Rock, Arkansas I spent time with a black pastor who was taught of the true legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. While historians will rightly record MLK as a civil rights leader, he was first and foremost a Baptist pastor, and was a biblical rights leader who saw that, in the Kingdom of God … there is NO RACE! That was the revelation which inspired MLK to speak out against the social injustice of his generation.
As we’ve been traveling across the United States, one of the messages we’ve been carrying is being a minister of reconciliation for bringing restoration of relationship between parties that have been divided and wounded.
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Samson is a powerful example of a man of God who won his battles over and over again because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Yet when he was finally defeated by Delilah's temptations he didn’t realize that the Lord had left him, so effective was the woman's spell...
When Saul was king of Israel, there were no giant slayers in their midst; so when Goliath stood against the armies of Israel, the Israelites trembled! There was, however, a young shepherd, whose intimate knowledge of His God inspired and empowered him to fight the evil giant, and defeat him.
An ancient story is told of a King of Spain who was to visit a poor country village. Upon hearing of his plan to visit them, the people seemed excited to offer a great celebration that would show their adoration and love for their king. But the villagers didn’t have much to offer.
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