What is odd, downright uncommon, is to hear about God testifying on behalf one of His followers. How could Perfection ever testify, or put it another way, give witness tfor imperfect people? How could Holiness personified ever testify about unholy people. I would not have believed it myself if I had not read it earlier today.
If you thumb through your Bible and take a look at some of the giant characters God used you will discover all failed in some way. Abraham lied to protect himself. Moses tried to steal some of God's glory which cost him going into the promised land. Joshua feared. Elijah battled depression. Jeremiah wept because nobody listened to his words from the Lord. Peter denied Jesus. Paul did not have grace for John Mark for a season. Nobody is perfect.
How could God ever testify on behalf of any of His servants. Sinful servants on top of that. People brag on other people. Sometimes they brag of themselves. What about God doing so? God is in His nature truth. What He says about someone will be truth.
Here it is. Read it for yourself before I try to unpack it.
Acts 13:22 (ESV)
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Did you catch it? "Of whom he testified..." Who is the "he" referring to? God. So this is what God testifies about David. Two things. He was a man after God's own heart. What does that mean? The word "after" means to follow close behind. David was a man who followed close behind God and His heart. David passionately pursued God. [Ps 42:1] [Ps 63:1-3] [Ps 63:8] I believe there was not a thing or a person David desired more than God.
God also testified that David would do all of His will. The word "all" means the whole, every part, complete. That does not mean that David did so perfectly. He was willing to do all of God's will. David was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. He had two glaring problems that showed up often. I believe he had a temper. I also believe he had a lust problem which manifested himself in adultery.
What I found stunning today is that when God testified about David He did not bring up the adultery. That is one of the most famous parts of David's story. Yet God did not even mention it. Why? I believe because of three beautiful verses David penned under God's inspiration.
Psalm 103:10-12 (ESV)
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
God not only forgives, but He chooses to remove sin from us. He chooses to deal with us in steadfast love. He did that for David and and He does that for us.
I think there are two takeaways from this truth. First, how deep and steadfast is the love of God even for imperfect sinners. His grace is sufficient. His mercy is unfailing. I hope that really sinks in today. It is a truth we banter around a lot but I am not sure we fully understand what it means. The sacrifice of Jesus for our redemption all born out of love.
The second, if God can forgive those who fail and fall into sin can't we also? None of us are in a position to throw stones. We need to look at the logs in our own eyes before trying to get splinters out of our brother's and sister's eyes. It is true love covers a multitude of sins. As we have been forgiven so ought we to forgive others when they fail.
What is God's testimony of you? What witness does He give about you? May we adjust our lives accordingly to what we long for Him to truthfully say about us.
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