For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.  Acts 13:36

The life of David in the Bible is a picture of how humans can do both wonderful and terrible things. David was full of faith and grace, made in the image of God, yet he still sinned, just like us. David’s life gives us insight into how to find and follow God’s purpose in our lives.

David was a shepherd, unexpectedly anointed as king. He knew hardship, heartache, and failure. In one famous scandal, he stole another man’s wife and then had her husband killed. Despite his sins, God called David a “man after His own heart.”

In Psalm 37, David wrote about things he’d learned.  He recommended four actions to us.  To stay focused on God and His purpose in your life, trust, delight, commit to, and rest in God.

First, “Trust in the Lord and do good” (verse 3).  Doing good isn’t simply saying the right words but living with integrity. Two, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (verse 4).  Do appearance, influence, ability, or power delight you? Those things deteriorate, but our good God grants us gifts money can’t buy.

Then David said, “Commit your way to Him. “Trust in Him, and He will bring to pass what you really desire” (verse 5).  David didn’t manipulate God into getting what he wanted. Instead, he yielded his own will to God’s. Finally, David concluded, “rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him” (verse 7).  Don’t want to waste your life?  Take these four pieces of advice from David!

 

Resource reading: Psalm 37:1-8