Psalm 51:1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

Last time we did a deep dive into David’s WHIP (Worship, Humility, Integrity and Prayer), and how these powerful character traits made him known as a Man After God’s Own Heart. Today we will dig a little deeper into what causes David to stand out, by comparing the Man made in God’s own image to the one chasing His heart. In a unique way, it becomes the perfect way to practically understand the difference in what God is looking for from us.

Adam was God’s first man, created in perfection, by perfection, honestly for perfection. He was given everything we need to succeed; relationship with God, provisions from the Father, living in an environment of blessings. However, temptation shaded Adam’s heart with doubt about God’s best for him. This caused Adam to eat of the tree that God explicitly told him not to. Disobedience was the same sin that caused Saul to lose his Kingdom prior to David taking over. Let’s see how this played out.

Adam

1. Sinned & Exposed His Wife: Eve ate and gave to Adam Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Here Adam ate the fruit, knowing it was wrong. Maybe he saw that after Eve ate the fruit, she did not immediately drop dead and it caused more doubt since the serpent had already planted the seed. But here he failed his wife by not obeying God despite his own thoughts. It was clear what God said, and regardless of how we feel, think or even doubt, God’s Word is always true. This failure would cause them unnecessary exposure; Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  They were naked and free before eating the fruit, but now that they know they are naked, they are experiencing shame, embarrassment and fear.  They’d never been exposed to any of this before.

2. Adam Hid From Confrontation: Gen 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. God knew they had sinned and when He came to speak with them, Adam hid from the confrontation, because Truth always confronts a lie; therefor God’s mere presence was confrontation to the sin they’d just committed. Like many of us, rather than deal with our failure or mistakes we (like Adam) look to hide.

3. He blamed Eve: Gen 3:12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”  Adam provided an example that I have (and many men have) used at times when failing as a husband/father/man. His actions failed God, his family and himself. Ultimately, his blame removed his ability to demonstrate leadership.  When given the chance to step up, he blamed his wife; the very one God gave him to complete him. 

4. Adam Attempted to Cover His Exposure (Nakedness): Adam’s sin exposed he and Eve to their nakedness, which led them to cover themselves with fig leaves (and insufficient covering). Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  We know what this is like, we cover our exposure, embarrassment, shame and hurt with insufficient coverings all the time. We don’t use fig leaves, but we do use alcohol, drugs, food, clothes or other material things. All can distract from the real issue, but they have never truly been able to cover any of the pain or embarrassment.  We know today that we are covered by the Blood of Jesus, and His blood is the only thing that is a sufficient covering.

5. His Actions Negatively Impacted His Lineage: It was from this point on that every man would be born into sin. His actions sentenced his offspring into eternal condemnation, any father would have to consider that failure (Gen 3:22-24).

To the contrary; David’s life and decisions provided substance that gives us an insight to God’s heart.  David was far from perfect, but the way he responded to God was with honor and worship are as close to perfect as we might get. 

David:

1. Sinned & Exposed Uriah’s Wife: 2^nd Sam 11:3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. David’s sin did not just impact his family, but it also exposed Uriah’s family and caused significant consequences.  David’s lust and subjection to what many consider to be the first pornographic viewing (watching Bathsheba bathing atop the house).  Pornography has exposed many men, their families as well as other families to the world of lust and more.  The damage that has been done to so many families has impacted generations.  When your sin impacts other’s you become a parasite to be around and harmful to others. In the case of David, it would cost Uriah his life.

2. When Confronted by God He Took Accountability: God sent Nathan to David with the assignment of confronting his sin and bloodshed. It was interesting, God had different relationships with Adam and David. Adam only knew God’s voice; David had many others, but Nathan’s voice was the authority that David heeded. When Nathan confronted David, his response differed from Adam’s response to God; he acknowledged (2^nd Sam 12:13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”) and then he repented (Ps 51: 1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge).  Contrary to Adam’s confrontation, David stood up and took accountability; he did not point to others for blame but acknowledge that it was his failure and his responsibility alone.   

3. David Comforted the Wife He Failed:  (2^nd Sam 12:24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife…).  David’s sin impacted not just Bathsheba the wife of Uriah but also their newborn son.  The loss of a child is every parents nightmare and here as a result of David’s sin, their son died.  But after this failure, David did not do what Adam did, blame his wife; but he comforted Bathsheba.  That word comforted is powerful; David consoled his wife, he empathized and sympathized with her.  A husband comforting his wife is not as simple as it might seem.  Comforting a wife must be learned for many men, it takes something that many men don’t strengthen.  Now imagine consoling your wife while feeling guilty and being in pain yourself.  This is a valuable lesson David is teaching.  Why?  Practically speaking, 80% of marriages end in divorce following the loss of a child.  David’s heart was to comfort his wife, the remained together during this devastating time and eventually had another son (one that would eventually follow David as King).   

4. David Exposed Himself and Worshiped: Like Adam, David’s sin left him exposed before God, Nathan, Bathsheba and even his servants.  2^nd Sam 12:16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.  David exposed himself to everyone around as he laid before the Lord in prayer and fasting on behalf of his sick child.  Historically, when David and others fasted, they tore their garments; the tearing of clothes occurs in sorrowful occasions but typically a King would not conduct himself in that manner.  However, it was the cloth David was cut from, as demonstrated when bringing the arc of the covenant back to Jerusalem where he praised the Lord right out of his clothes.  Here David was at his most desperate, yet when he knew his son had died; he got up; he cleaned up and he Worshiped (2 Sam 12:20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped..).  David did not hide during this time of exposure; and sometimes when a King is willing to go through his failure and pain openly many are able to learn from it. 

5. His Actions Produce Kings From His Lineage: 2^nd Sam 12:24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him.  Although David failed God, his family and potentially his kingdom; his response was endearing to God.  While his sin resulted in the death of his son; God eventually blessed him with an heir to his throne.  Solomon would become a king and God would give him honor and riches so that there would not be anyone like him among all kings.  God would also make the promise to David that there would always be a king from his lineage on the throne (2^nd Sam 7).  That lineage would also include Jesus; enough said. 

David was truly a Man after God’s own heart and this was displayed in the great times like killing the giant Goliath as well as in the darkest times like this death of, he and Bathsheba’s son.  So, we looked at a comparison of the responses of Adam and David, when they failed.  We see that it lines up perfectly with David’s WHIP (Worship, Humility, Integrity and Prayer), that we discussed last time.  David demonstrated more character than the man that was created in the very image of God; and demonstrating yet another reason why he was known as A Man After God’s Own Heart.