David in the Bible happens to be a man that was so dear to God. Many remember his story from when he killed Goliath with the help of God. But the story of God's goodness in his life dated back to right from when he was tending his father’s sheep in the wilderness, when he was just the easily forgotten last born in his family. “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him... David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine...” (1 Samuel 17:34-35,36 KJV). And God did deliver him from Goliath. More so, from being a shepherd boy in the wilderness he became anointed as king over all Israel.
When Saul, the rejected king tried so hard to kill David, David was always saved from his hands. When David was forced to leave Saul's presence, God still showed himself faithful and enabled him to do great exploits (1 Samuel 23:1-5; 30).
In his reign as king, it was very obvious that the Hand of God was upon David. And God established his house. “And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying...Now therefore so shalt thou say unto My servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel...And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” (2 Samuel 7:4,8,16 KJV).
Now God wasn’t good to David because he was the most qualified man in Israel or because he was free of sin. Recall when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be killed so he could be with her (2 Samuel 11). Despite the gravity of this sin, God's goodness can still be seen even in the punishment of David. He didn’t withdraw His promises from his household. One thing to note is David's dedication to God, his swiftness in repentance and his complete submission to the Will of God (2 Samuel 12:13,19-20,22-23). Through this he lived his life for God.
Human reasoning would expect that when God came down to earth, He would come through an untainted heritage. Probably from a priestly house that has no record of sin. But God came from the house of David, a man who had committed sexual sin, a man who had wrongly murdered another. Even when you go back in time to the ancestors of David, his history is peppered with many seemingly unworthy people. Tamar, one of his distant great grandmothers, deceitfully had sex with her father-in-law (Judah) and bore Perez. Rahab, another grandmother, was originally a prostitute who wasn’t even an Israelite (she was originally from Jericho which God destroyed), Ruth was also a foreigner, originally from Moab (Ruth 1). And God didn’t consider all this when He gave His promise to David and fulfilled it by sending His Son Jesus Christ to mankind through the house of David.
What should be derived from this is that God isn’t necessarily looking for people that are completely without sin. If He was, trust me, no one will be qualified. Even the person who thinks he is holiest among all, will still be found with sin. This isn’t to discourage anyone or promote sin. It is rather to serve as an encouragement to all—to the thief, to the liar, to the unkind, to the stingy, to the hypocrite, to the sexually immoral, to the unsaved, to whoever is reading this, that your past will no longer matter to God once you start taking Him seriously. Once you shed off the old life—if you are yet to accept Christ into your life, accept Him, if you have accepted Him but you still occasionally fall back to how you used to be, make the decision right now to turn a new leaf and follow it up with action, if you are self-righteous and you think that you are entitled to certain things only because of your morality, be reminded today that the righteousness of man is like a filthy rag before God (Isaiah 64:6) and that it’s not of him who wills or him who runs (Romans 9:16). To all who are reading this, whatever category you fall under, you aren’t disqualified yet. It’s not too late for you to start afresh with God.
God is looking for those who will be completely dedicated to Him. The first step is definitely to open up your heart to Jesus and accept Him, this automatically makes you a candidate for the display of God's goodness. The implication of accepting Him into your life is that you have surrendered all about you to Him and nothing is held back. Just as David constantly sought to please the Lord, you have to constantly seek to please Him. David is described as a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). Our sole purpose on earth should be to please God. When you’re all about pleasing God, you are simply setting yourself up for the display of God's great works in your life.
“O taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8a KJV). As you make the decision today, even this moment, to be completely all about God, following Him faithfully, obeying Him, it will mark not merely a new page in your life, but rather, it will mark a whole new book in your life. The sure mercies of David will be yours and your whole life will begin to show that the Lord is good.
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