Heart Exam

In Acts 13:22 we are told that David was a man after God’s own heart.  I want to be like David.  I want my kids to be like David.  In His grace God allows us to get a glimpse at David’s heart.  We essentially have a lot of David’s thoughts and prayers recorded for us in the Psalms.  We have the privilege of reading his journal as he struggled with walking with God.  Paul tells us in Romans 15:4, we have this for our instruction.
In Psalm 63 there is a series of phrases that captures Paul’s heart attitude toward God:

• Verse 1:
• “I shall seek You earnestly”
• “My soul thirsts for You”
• “My flesh yearns for You”
• Verse 8:
• “My soul clings to You”

There is a committed focus here.  It is hard to ignore.  It is an MRI of David’s heart.  It is echoed over and over again in the Psalms.  Psalm 27:4 leaps to mind, David is after “one thing,” the face of God.  It brings to mind Curley’s philosophy in “City Slickers,” (one bad word but hold on…):

That is really what Paul is saying in Philippians 3:8 – “rubbish” is the sanitized translation of the Greek.  Paul’s attitude here mirrored David’s.  Look at Philippians 3:7 – 15, same heart.

I want that heart.  Jenny and I want our kids and grandkids to have that heart.  The only way I know to develop it, is to spend time with God in His Word, to be transformed by His presence, to seek Him hard in the Book.