A heart like David

David was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be king. He accepted this anointing as God's will but knew it wouldn't come without hardship. At the time David was young and Saul was king. As the story goes Saul persued David for many years to hunt him down and kill him. There was evil stored up in the heart of Saul, unlike David who was "a man after God's own heart." David was always kind to Saul and knew that if Saul had been anointed to be king before him (which he was) then he must honor God's decision to do so and honor Saul as king. This, of course, shaped David's future and that of Saul and his family.

In 2 Samuel 9 we read about David, who is now king over Israel years after Saul was killed, seeking to show kindness to Saul's family "for Jonathan's sake" (2 Samuel 9:1). David could have eliminated Saul's family, but that was not his motive of his heart. Instead he wanted to extend the love he had experienced from his close friend Jonathan (see 2 Samuel 1:26) to Jonathan's family. His mind was not on revenge, instead he wanted to show his gratitude.

What does my heart look like today? Do I seek to bless those who have wronged me or do I want revenge? Does my heart look like David's? 1 Samuel 13:14 declares he was a man after God's own heart. Am I a man after God's heart?