Title: People Close to God
Contents
No one would hesitate to recommend King David if one of the great men in the Bible is cited. There is no doubt that David's appearance as a shepherd, poet, and king is comparable to anyone else. However, David also became the protagonist of great events during the reign of the king. It is the case for Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. As we well know, how did King David commit adultery with Bathsheba? Wasn't it King David, who was at his best as a great king? We cannot understand David without mentioning the wounds he had.
But today's text is David, but God said to David, "This is a man after my own heart. that all my will may be done.” Then, how could David be a man after God's own heart?
Today, I would like to share the grace of God by examining how David, who lived while enjoying everything as the king of a nation, committed such a sin.
1. David's Wound: A Forgotten Being - the youngest of 8 brothers
David is unmistakably hungry. Evidence of that fact is abundantly found in David's psalms. Let us now consider a few examples: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). “My soul looks to you, O LORD” (Psalm 25:1). “O God, you are my God; I seek you earnestly; in a dry and weary land where there is no water, my soul thirsts for you, and my body longs for you” (Psalm 63:1).
Among the words used here, numerous poems such as 'longing', 'not lacking', and 'satisfied' reveal David's inner self as it is. He had this hunger because he did not receive the love of his father Jesse. As the youngest of eight brothers, and raised to be forgotten by his family, David lacked love and eventually finds himself starving even within.
A funny episode showing this happens the day Samuel comes to Jesse's house to find and anoint the king. It is said that Samuel, the spiritual leader and judge of the time, will come and anoint. How glorious and important for that house? However, even though all seven sons of Jesse passed before Samuel, God did not issue the anointing command. So Samuel asked. “Now, are all your sons here?” Jesse finally answers this question. “The horse is still shepherding the sheep in the field,” he says. This is the scene that shows Jesse's indifference towards his youngest son. This father's indifference, the neglect of his brothers, these all contributed to David's hunger.
It is the inside of a human being that will never be filled unless we treat it personally. No matter how young he is, he must love him sincerely and treat him personally. But the opposite is also true of David. That's overprotection. Even when parents are indifferent to their children, there is a serious lack of affection. Because overprotection is completely ignoring a child's personality.
Love should be the language of the receiver, not the language of the giver. The love parents give their own way can sometimes not be love at all for their children. In particular, if it is love that is given unilaterally regardless of the will of the child without seeing the child as an independent person, it is certainly not love, but rather violence or oppression.
2. Struggle to satisfy your never-ending thirst
David is basically a person whose hunger and hunger are satisfied by the love of God. Therefore, David had “intimacy with God.” The reason God allows us to hurt is because inferiority can lead to humility, anger to passion, rejection to commitment, fear to trust, and hunger to intimacy. However, even if the wound is healed, the wound does not disappear completely, but changes from a 'wounding tendency' to a 'healing tendency'.
Our devotion has a very important meaning when we consider it from God's side, in that it is the fulfillment of God's plan and will that we want to receive. Because true devotion begins with the grace I received from God.
1) Obsession with wife
Another obsession of David is his obsession with women. David's obsession with his wives can be seen in the process of David becoming his wife and the way he brings Michal back without giving up. The same is true of Bathsheba. This is a tragic event that took place when the coating of God that had covered David's wounds of hunger was peeled off. One of the reasons why such a wonderful man of God became such an outrageous criminal is David's inner wounds and the attacks of evil spirits that took advantage of them. When we see this, we can realize the terrible sinful nature of the wound.
Although David committed sexual crimes, David's obsession with these women is not his obsession with sex, but his longing for love. He acted like this out of a longing to receive the love he had not received from his father, but it was not his obsession with simple sexual relations between a man and a woman.
The preconceived notion that most of us have about playboys is that they indulge in sex. But in fact it is not. From the point of view of their healing ministry, it is perfectly reasonable to view their actions as a struggle for love in order to nurture a hungry heart.
However, since the character of the wound is development, the inappropriate continuation of an action initiated by the lust for love leads to an obsession with sex itself. That is why almost all addictions, including work addiction, tobacco addiction, drug addiction, sex addiction, gambling addiction, entertainment addiction, and shopping addiction, have developed the scar of a hungry heart.
However, when the content of addiction becomes so broad, it will be difficult to distinguish between what is and what is not. If the following six items are met, it can be said to be an addiction.
① Continue even if your body is tired and your health is impaired. ② Feeling guilty, but unable to stop. ③ Continue to destroy relationships with family or people around you. ④ The thought of it never leaves my head. ⑤ If you are in a situation where you cannot do it, you are bored, anxious, and do not know what to do. ⑥ It seems to cut off by will for a while, but soon finds such a situation and falls into it.
2) Obsession with children
David's obsession with children is great. Of course, there are no parents who do not love their children, but in David's case, it can be said to be a bit excessive. His attitude towards his son Absalom, who had driven him out of his father, and his feelings for the first child he had with Bathsheba are beyond normal. However, the greatest suffering in David's life came because of his children. So what does this mean? It means that his love for his children is not normal. It's kind of an obsession. You have to know that you are obsessed with filling your empty heart and your hunger, but that leaves nothing but pain.
3. Worshipers who enjoyed intimacy with God
In David's psalms, there are many things that satisfy God. And there are many confessions of intimacy with that God. When we refer to David as “a man after God’s own heart,” it means that David has a close relationship with God.
He was very active and competitive in receiving God's love and blessings. When the ark was in Obed-edom's house, when he heard that the house had been blessed by God, he immediately ran and brought it to David. Of course, he was once angry with God because of Uzzah's incident, but there is no doubt that he is still a man with an extraordinary passion for God. And David was the one who danced so that his clothes were taken off in front of the ark. He was a person who knew how to have personal communion with God and was a true worshiper. Through these fellowships and worship, he received love from God that he had never received from his human father, and David's hunger was able to be healed.
Dear all! When I think of David, ‘David the worshiper’ comes to mind, and the deep worship he experienced has nothing to do with the healing of a hungry heart. Because of his father Isaac's favoritism, Jacob, who had a hungry heart like David, was healed only after experiencing deep worship.
That's right. Worship is the cure for all wounds, but especially, I hope you believe that worship in which Heavenly Father's love pours out of a hungry heart is truly a thrill and a surprise. At that time, I believe that worship will become a scene of intense healing.
Our members are no exception to this problem. Since there is no one in this world who lives without a wound, we must realize that we cannot live for a moment without restoration of worship, the channel of intimacy with God. God is still looking for worshipers. In order to bear fruit worthy of that calling, we must maintain a close relationship with God today. That is only possible through true worship. At this time today, I pray in the name of the Lord that we will all enjoy the grace of living as close people with God every day as worshipers before God.