David, the True Worshipper

As my students (and friends) will attest, I am fascinated by the character of David more than any other Biblical personage. When one initially thinks of David, the epithet "a man after God's own heart" often comes to mind, and this fact interests me. This particular description of David is only coined once in Acts 13:22 ("I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will") and is based on the passage in 1 Samuel 13 where Samuel is condemning Saul for his incomplete obedience to God's command regarding the Philistines. While this description of David is clearly true, David's role as this "man after God's heart" has a plethora of complex layers that are often glossed over in this five-word description -- that is, while David does seek after the heart of God, he does not always do it in a perfect way.

At his core, I believe David was one of the most "human" characters that the BIble describes. He was a murderer, an adulterer, a fugitive, a far-from-perfect father -- and yet still wrote songs like "Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere" (Psalm 84:10) and "Because your love is better than life, I will glorify you" (Psalm 63:3). He clearly had a deep love for his Father and maintained an intimate relationship with Him until the end of his life.

When I say that I am fascinated with the character of David, I admit that I am both inspired and (at times) confused by him. My biggest conundrum with David concerns his obedience to and/or love for the law of God. On the one hand, he praises the law profusely throughout the Psalms: "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it will all my heart" (Psalm 119:33); "Your statues are wonderful; therefore I obey them" (Psalm 119:129); and "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). It is clear that David is intentional about meditating on and obeying the laws of God through his writings, but, at times, his actions seem to speak differently.

For example, look at the story of David at Nob. David and his men were exhausted from battle, and David asked Ahimelech the priest if any food was on hand. Ahimelech admitted that there was no ordinary bread on hand, but "only consecretaed bread" -- bread intended only for the priests themselves (Leviticus 24:18). David, however, skimmed over this seemingly meaningless rule and doled out the loaves to all of his men to keep them going.

Another somewhat perplexing instance of David's seeming "disobedience" to God's law is in 2 Chronicles 8 when Solomon considers a move into David's old palace. He makes this fascinating statement before deciding to move in: "My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy" (2 Chronicles 8:11). Wait a second. Is Solomon implying there that David kept the Ark of the Covenant in his very bed chamber? Wasn't Aaron only allowed to enter the Most Holy Place and minister at the Ark of the Covenant once a year on Atonement Day (Leviticus 18)? How, then, does David have the right to keep this intensely holy object (the very presence of God!) in his own home? It is admittedly perplexing.

Perhaps these small instances of apparent disregard to God's laws would not be so confusing if other Biblical character seemed to have the same freedoms, but this rarely (if ever) seems to be the case. Consider Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6 as an example. When he and his brother Ahio were guiding the ark of God toward Jerusalem, the oxen stumbled and "Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God... The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act. Therefore, God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God" (2 Samuel 6:6-7). In this instance, God seems awfully strict about showing extreme reverence for the ark. Or what about Achan in Joshua 7? He hoarded one beautiful robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold in his tent, and for this he was stoned him publicly. Again, God seems incredibly serious about following His laws wholeheartedly.

While I have no clear reconciliation for these examples, I have a suspicion that David's justification for his actions comes through the intentions and motivations of his heart: "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). Obviously God knew David intimately and had plenty of reasons for sparing him when he seemed to break Israelite law, and I love seeing this facet of God's character even in the Old Testament. I think we often see the "Old Testament" God as one of anger, wrath, and vengeance, but in reality, we have no "Old Testament" or "New Testament" God -- we have ONE God, YHWH, and his character does not change.

Even in the confusion of these passages, I think we can also see a very valid lesson in God's call on our lives to obedience rather than sacrifice: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22) God wants US -- our hearts, our time, our love, and our obedience -- and not our weekly trips to church, our 30 minute quiet time, or our Bible study groups. May we give him our EVERYTHING and not just seek to live the good "Christian" life based on the world's standards.