“Would you dare catalog all your failures? What if you were required to hang a list of them on a wall? Could you sleep tonight if you let them parade before your eyes, one by one, in graphic detail?
In the depths of your most recent failure, what were you thinking? Were you wallowing in self-pity? Were you nursing your wounds with the balm of discouragement? Were you convincing yourself that you were not merely failing at something but that you were a failure?
And can a person who has become a failure ever succeed again? The book of 2 Samuel is a biography of a man who failed many times. This man was David, the greatest king of the golden era of Israel’s history, the pivotal figure in the lineage of the Messiah. A man who failed many times, but a man we would never label as a failure. Why not?
The answer is that David had a heart for God. In fact, God said David was a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22). David sincerely tried to serve God and do what was right. Did he fail at times? Yes, he was a murderer and an adulterer. Those are terrible failures. But David was truly repentant. He was truly sorry for his sins. His heart got back in tune with God’s.
The Portrait of David as presented in this book is the portrait of a man who practiced the presence of God. In his humanness, he slipped and fell at times -- in fact, many times. But his life’s mission was to love God and honor him. Read the psalms that David wrote (in the book of Psalms) and hear the rhythms of his heart toward God.
David would not have wanted to sleep with a catalog of his failures. He would have gone to God and made things right with him, then rested in the assurance that he had been forgiven and that he was in the midst of a lifetime commitment to the Lord God of heaven.
As you read 2 Samuel, come face to face with your own failures, bring them to God, beg for forgiveness, and then forget them. Recommit yourself to getting your heart back in tune with God.” (Touch Point Bible)
Wow! This is what we must all do! Thank you, Lord, for confirming that we are human, and because we are human...we are sinful. And because we are sinful, we must simply ask for forgiveness, and like David, rest in the assurance that God has forgiven us. We don’t have to catalog, dwell, or beat ourselves up for those failures. Just make things right with God and commit your life to loving and honoring HIM. If we do that, God will continually honor us.
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Help us all have a heart for YOU, so we can make a lifetime commitment to you. We love you!
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER.
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