We continue our lesson of looking at how we can have the same love for praise to God, unity of brethren, and a hatred for false ways as David and Jesus had, asking how we compare to being a person after God’s own heart.
In addition to the Word of God and prayer David loved to praise God. “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.” - Psa 119:164. He praised God because of His righteous judgments. He praised God because of His greatness and loving kindness - Psa 95:1-7 “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts,” And he was determined to sing praises as long as he lived - Psa 104:33 “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.”
Jesus also loved to praise God. As He did on one occasion publicly in prayer - Mt 11:25-26 “At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” As He did with his disciples in song - Mt 26:30 “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
Do we Love to praise God …? Do we delight in singing praises to God in song? Do we take time to praise God in our prayers? Once again, David has words to encourage us in this activity - Psa 147:1 “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.” -- Thus it is becoming for those who profess to be children of God to praise their Heavenly Father!
We note also that David loved unity among brethren. “Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” - Psa 133:1. David knew the value of good friendship and unity, as exemplified in the relationship he had with Jonathan - 1 Sam 18:1 “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” He also knew the terrible pain of division within a family (for example his sons, Amnon and Absalom - see 2 Sam 13)
Jesus loved unity also. He prayed diligently that His disciples might be one - Jn 17:20-23 ‘"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” He died on the cross that there might be unity - Ep 2:13-16 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
Do we love unity enough to pay the price …? By diligently displaying the proper attitudes necessary to preserve the unity Christ has accomplished through His death? - Ep 4:1-3 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” By marking those who needlessly cause division? - Ro 16:17 “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”
Finally, we note that David hated every false way. “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” - Psa 119:104. His hatred was based upon his understanding of God’s precepts. His hatred affected his selection of activities and friends - Psa 101:3-4 “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.”, 6-7 “I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.”
Jesus also hated error and false ways as manifested in His driving the moneychangers out of the temple - Mt 21:12-13 “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."’ Manifested in His denunciation of the hypocritical Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers - Mt 23:13-36.
What is our attitude toward false ways ,,,? Are we soft or compromising? Or do we realize that we are involved in a “battle” over the souls of men, and do not think lightly of that which is false - 2 Co 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”. While we are to love the sinner, we must ever hate the sin!
In closing, we note that it was said concerning David that he was one “...who will do all My will.” - Ac 13:22. Because he was “a man after God’s own heart” and had all these attributes we have considered in this lesson God was confident that David would do all that God asked of him. Thus it requires all of the attributes to motivate one to be faithful to all that God may ask.... We have seen where Jesus possessed them, and He was certainly motivated to do the Father’s will - Jn 4:34 “Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”; Mt 26:42 “Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done."’ How about us? Are we motivated to do *all* of God’s will? - Mt 7:21 ‘"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
