"A Man after God's Own Heart"

A prison inmate posed an interesting question to me and it has taken a while for me to respond. He asked why in the second book of Samuel, it says that King David was called “a man after God’s own heart". David stole Bathsheeba from her husband Uriah and then had the man killed in order to cover up for it. What did David do after that to make him into a “Man after God’s own heart?” It can’t simply be due to the fact that David repented. There are plenty of good and holy people in the Bible who never even considered committed the sins of murder and adultery that David committed and yet they are not referred to as men after God’s own heart. I pondered that question off and on for over a year. As time went by and I remembered, I made notes and then compared them with Timothy’s. His were much more detailed than mine.

In 2 Samuel 12:13 David first acknowledges his sin. In Psalms chapter 51, vs 1 he asks for mercy from God, in vs 2 he acknowledges that only God can cleans his sin, in vs 3-5 he doesn’t try to rid himself of guilt, but instead acknowledges the damage of his sins and takes responsibility for his sinful state, acknowledging his helplessness apart from God. In versus 6-7 he acknowledged God as able to wipe away his sins no matter how great and then lays them openly before God; Murder, Adultery, Lying, he bears it all and comes before God in his humble and broken state. He is truly naked before God and doesn’t try to hide or sugar coat anything. In verse 10 he asks God to fix his heart and renew his relationship with him.
What strikes me most about David was that he confesses rather publicly to sins that I would tend to try to bury out of shame. David didn’t let his shame and guilt keep him from God. He lays it all out before God and in front of everybody for that matter (since he wrote it all down). No matter what the cost, he is truly open to God’s will. He abandons his own will and trusts 100% in God to take control and lead him.

David loved God’s will, even when it didn’t mesh with his own will, but above all else David loved God's presence. I pray for the grace to be as open to God as he was. To seek his grace and forgiveness through prayer and the Sacraments when I’ve sinned and to always draw nearer to him, even in the face of temptation and weakness. I ask Jesus to always make known to me three things: his love, his will and his presence.