Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22

David had a lot to be bitter about. When David was young, his father Jesse did not believe in him. When the prophet Samuel asked Jesse to bring out all his sons so that he could decide which one to anoint to be the next king, Jesse left David out. He said (paraphrased), “Bring out all my sons but David. There’s no need to bring out David. He’s not going to amount to anything.” Then later, when David told the king he would fight Goliath, his brothers humiliated and belittled him. They laughed at him and told him to go back to tending sheep. His mentor, King Saul, got jealous of David and tried to have him killed. Then, his wife reprimanded him for dancing in front of the kingdom, saying that he embarrassed himself. Her ridicule of his worship caused a rift between them, and David never touched her again because she despised him. But the worst hurt of David’s life came from his son, Absalom, who plotted to kill David and take his throne.

Notice that David’s hurts came from people he loved or admired. The people who will hurt you the most will be your family or your friends. But even after all that happened to him, the Bible says that David was “a man after God’s own heart.” Acts 13:22 says, “But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’” When you love God with all your heart, you will do what He wants you to do. And God is clear that He wants us to forgive those who offend us. Jesus showed us how to do this when he hung on the cross, even begging God to forgive His persecutors as they were torturing Him! So ask yourself today, “Am I going to be a man or woman with a heart of forgiveness like God?” 

Despite everything that Absalom did, David never stopped loving him. Even during the battle incited by Absalom’s rebellion, David would ask his servants for news regarding his son. He would ask, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” In 2 Samuel 18, when David receives the news that his son was killed in battle, the Bible says, “The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son, Absalom! If only I had died instead of you!’” In his heart, David never stopped hoping for his son to have a good life. He never disowned him or hated him. He forgave him in his heart and wanted him to come home. David had a heart like his heavenly Father.

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