A Man After God's Own Heart

2 Samuel 18:5

I want to use "Deal Gently For My Sake With The Young Man" as a starting point today. And let's look first at exactly what David means by GENTLY: It is a Greek adverb "'at" which means gentleness, softness, flowing: words you might not expect to hear from a man who had suffered so much from his own sons, Absalom and Amnon.

As we consider these scriptures, we want to remember that David was a man after God's own heart. He was surrounded by rebellion and especially in his own house. And one main "thorn" in his side was his children, Amnon and Absalom. David was tough as nails with those outside his family but after everything Absalom had submitted him to, his command was, "Deal gently with him for my sake!"

David was the eighth boy born to Jesse. His grandparents were Boaz and Ruth. There came a time when the Lord rejected Saul as king over Israel.

God sent Samuel (His prophet) to Jesse's farm to find Saul's replacement.

Jesse paraded the rejected seven. Samuel looked at the rejected seven. He knew God would not waste his time sending him here if there were no suitable king here. Therefore, there MUST be more sons than these seven! Saul called for David from the south forty. He anointed David king of Israel on the spot.

The Spirit of the Lord come upon David from that day onward. The Spirit of the Lord left Saul and an evil spirit came on him.

Saul had never heard of David. Saul was greately troubled by the evil spirit. Saul's servants reccommended Saul find some soothing music. They found David. They say that David invented 3,000 musical instruments.

When David would play for Saul the evil spirit would leave. David was already king but Saul didn't know it. Then came the mountain lion. Then came the great bear: the foxes: the preditors. And David defended his sheep. Then came Goliath. Then came the Philistines. And David defended these sheep also. The great shepherd had changed flocks.

It came to pass that David had 18 or 19 sons. They all had different mothers two of them were named Absalom and Amnon. Absalom had a sister named Tamar.

* Amnon raped Tamar, his half sister. Rape was a capital offense.
* Absalom killed Amnon, his half brother, because he had raped Tamar.
* Absalom fled, and went to a place called Geshur.
* David mourned for Absalom and Amnon every day.
* He was resigned to Amnon's death and now wanted to comfort Absalom.

A father's love knows no ending.

He brought Absalom back to Israel. Gave him a home. Food. Servants. Loved him. After All his blessings, Absalom now tried to overthrow his father David. Tried to take away David's throne.

But God said David's throne would last forever. And Absalom lost control of the rebelloion. He had to RUN! David's army had to find him.

His sentence should have been DEATH!

He was guilty of insurrection!

But the great heart of David kicked in!

2 Samuel 19:4 - 2 Samuel 18:5

When Jesus was on the cross He said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

During Jesus' life He was always being moved with compassion for the sick and oppressed. He healed their sick. He forgave their debts. He identified Himself with the good Samaritan.

And He has demanded that we have compassion for each other.

David had been treated very badly by his children but he could still say, "deal gently with him." This is a man after God's own heart! God has nothing but GENTLENESS for His people!

He says, "behold, I stand at the door and knock."

"Come unto me all ye that are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Friend, if your heart is touched by this story of a father's love and gentleness for his child, remember that YOUR heavenly Father has exactly the same heart toward you. The fact that you are feeling the way you are right now means that The Holy Spirit is drawing you.

I ask you to bow your head right now and tell Him that you want to spend eternity with Him. That you believe on His Son Jesus Christ and that you want to make Him the Lord of your life forever. If you do this sincerely, God will forgive your sins against Him and make you His child. You can spend eternity with the One Who gave His life for you.

If you don't quite understand exactly how to do this, please e-mail me at jcw@usa.net or call me at (918) 689-3492 and I will help you any way I am able. Remember: The bible says that The Holy Spirit of God will not ALWAYS strive with you.

I am praying as I write this for YOU as you read it.

(Please don't miss next month's Sermon) I would appreciate your feed-back on these monthly sermons. Thank You for visiting this page. Pastor James West