*⁠\⁠0⁠/⁠*

A few other people in the church and outside of church have told me this.
Does David’s humanity and his imperfections bother you?
Yes they do bother me!

In fact one person during Bible study told me: you don’t think you have anything in common with David?

I said: you mean, do I kill people? Cheat on my wife and then ask God to kill my boss when he doesn’t give me a raise?
No! I got nothing in common with David!
When I see the story of David all I get is: Don’t be like David!

One time, decades ago I also asked the priest during Bible study.
Why is this man even in the Bible? Why aren’t we in the Bible?
We are in the Bible - he said - our story begins in the book of Acts.
That was a good answer.

So yes , I look for people who don’t do any insane things so they can realize they need to repent. And even when they realize they need to repent they don’t act like children after they repent because they are spoiled, which is also a small expression of an ego still buried down inside.
I like people who have lived a relatively “good” life and their faith doesn’t shake when faced with hardships.

I like family men and humble people , someone like Peter is someone I connect with and I especially like believers who have unquestionable faith like many saints in history, including women who were not murderers, cheaters or vengeful towards their enemies.

St Thecla is one example.

A few other people in the church and outside of church have told me this.
Does David’s humanity and his imperfections bother you?
Yes they do bother me!

In fact one person during Bible study told me: you don’t think you have anything in common with David?

I said: you mean, do I kill people? Cheat on my wife and then ask God to kill my boss when he doesn’t give me a raise?
No! I got nothing in common with David!
When I see the story of David all I get is: Don’t be like David!

One time, decades ago I also asked the priest during Bible study.
Why is this man even in the Bible? Why aren’t we in the Bible?
We are in the Bible - he said - our story begins in the book of Acts.
That was a good answer.

So yes , I look for people who don’t do any insane things so they can realize they need to repent. And even when they realize they need to repent they don’t act like children after they repent because they are spoiled, which is also a small expression of an ego still buried down inside.
I like people who have lived a relatively “good” life and their faith doesn’t shake when faced with hardships.

I like family men and humble people , someone like Peter is someone I connect with and I especially like believers who have unquestionable faith like many saints in history, including women who were not murderers, cheaters or vengeful towards their enemies.

St Thecla is one example.

A few other people in the church and outside of church have told me this.
Does David’s humanity and his imperfections bother you?
Yes they do bother me!

In fact one person during Bible study told me: you don’t think you have anything in common with David?

I said: you mean, do I kill people? Cheat on my wife and then ask God to kill my boss when he doesn’t give me a raise?
No! I got nothing in common with David!
When I see the story of David all I get is: Don’t be like David!

One time, decades ago I also asked the priest during Bible study.
Why is this man even in the Bible? Why aren’t we in the Bible?
We are in the Bible - he said - our story begins in the book of Acts.
That was a good answer.

So yes , I look for people who don’t do any insane things so they can realize they need to repent. And even when they realize they need to repent they don’t act like children after they repent because they are spoiled, which is also a small expression of an ego still buried down inside.
I like people who have lived a relatively “good” life and their faith doesn’t shake when faced with hardships.

I like family men and humble people , someone like Peter is someone I connect with and I especially like believers who have unquestionable faith like many saints in history, including women who were not murderers, cheaters or vengeful towards their enemies.

St Thecla is one example.

This is the same Jesus who pointedly mentioned that there were many Jewish lepers in naaman's day, but only naaman was healed.

But the scariest part is not when you keep knocking on the door and God does not open it. The scariest part is when you knock on it so long that God opens it and then you realize it should have stayed closed.

I have learned to not be too insistent about what I think I want when I'm talking to God.

Sometimes I think of prayers I've prayed in the past and almost shudder when I think they could've been answered the way I wanted them to be at the time!!

In an attempt to get this thread back on track...

I do like David's pragmatism in that incident you cited. When God said the child was going to die, David did everything he knew how to do to beg God to spare the boy... While the boy was still alive. But after the boy died David shrugged, got up, took a bath and had a bite to eat. God did not give him what he was begging for, so he moved on with his life. He didn't turn bitter against God because God didn't give him what he wanted.

Yes, let's continue.
This also rubs me the wrong way a bit too. Which is similar to the story of Job.
So your family members are what ultimately? Statistics?

You lost your wife and kids so now you go and get a new wife and kids?
I would personally never do this. I know it's wrong to say 'never' and you should never say never but i feel very strongly against this.
Could be the culture, could be the way i was raised, could be how i understand devotion or it could be many other things.

But while surrendering to God is unquestionable for me i would find it very hard and i mean extremely hard to marry another woman or have other kids. I just can't even process the idea.

This is also why i think God speaks to us differently because we are all unique and He has given us an almost endless menu of spiritual inspiration where we can go-to and relate.

Unless it's a reaction against people you know who idolize David somehow (which I also don't get, but I know they exist too.)

It's mainly this. And it also comes from different cultural backgrounds. To put it into terms that this audience might relate: You know the feeling that you get when you see Catholics pray to Mary?
That's the feeling i get when i hear David.

But i thank you and others for your comments and inspirations on this discussion which began with Healing, Trust, Your will be done, and gratefulness.

In an attempt to get this thread back on track...

I do like David's pragmatism in that incident you cited. When God said the child was going to die, David did everything he knew how to do to beg God to spare the boy... While the boy was still alive. But after the boy died David shrugged, got up, took a bath and had a bite to eat. God did not give him what he was begging for, so he moved on with his life. He didn't turn bitter against God because God didn't give him what he wanted.

Eli, have you considered how David treated Saul? David had mercy Saul even when Saul continued to betray him. David showed his good will towards him And let him live many times though he could have killed him anytime. Then even when Saul died David mourned his death. Isn't that what God does for us?

Then there's the part where Saul's daughter looked down from the window and hated David for praising the Lord. Is that not what the the unsaved does to God and his servants without just cause?

David was a man of war but I like to think that the people he killed was divine justice that those people were evil in the sight of the Lord? otherwise wouldn't have God have sent someone like Jonah to save them? Or perhaps God knew the wicked would multiply too quickly.

It's mainly this. And it also comes from different cultural backgrounds. To put it into terms that this audience might relate: You know the feeling that you get when you see Catholics pray to Mary?
That's the feeling i get when i hear David.

But i thank you and others for your comments and inspirations on this discussion which began with Healing, Trust, Your will be done, and gratefulness.

Eli, have you considered how David treated Saul? David had mercy Saul even when Saul continued to betray him. David showed his good will towards him And let him live many times though he could have killed him anytime. Then even when Saul died David mourned his death. Isn't that what God does for us?

Then there's the part where Saul's daughter looked down from the window and hated David for praising the Lord. Is that not what the the unsaved does to God and his servants without just cause?

David was a man of war but I like to think that the people he killed was divine justice that those people were evil in the sight of the Lord? otherwise wouldn't have God have sent someone like Jonah to save them? Or perhaps God knew the wicked would multiply too quickly.

Say, have you ever read Sherlock's story, The Adventure Of The Crooked Man? If you have never read it before it's a short story, and... without spoiling the plot twist... it mentions something you will be positively chuffed about.

Have you thought about that it may not be God who calls David that but it’s the Jewish people?

Perhaps to show us again how spiritually low some people can get?
For example, knowing their mindset back then who they were and what they were expecting, it shows us how some people are stuck IN Text or IN Books.
Some people want to show their outward glory and the Jews were expecting a military leader like David or other kings in their past history to crush the Romans.

But when Christ came and showed them that they need to focus first on the spiritual level, they rejected Him despite Him doing miracles on the physical level !

So perhaps there’s another angle to this and it’s also why the Bible speaks to us differently through time and cultures.

And yes, ultimately I tolerate David because I realize that he must be someone important in God’s plan in order for God to speak to us through time and cultures through his story which we understand and process differently based on times and cultures.
To teach us morals lessons and focus on the important part that The Kingdom of God is not of this world as Christ said.
So we’re not going to find any glory here in Kings and Queens.
Glory is when He is with us and we are with Him.
Ultimately we are all important in God’s plan.
Not just a person in the Bible like David.

Which is why I get more edification from people who surrender their ego to God because it shows the essence of what Christ taught us here.
Mind over matter.
Early saints including the apostles themselves are some of the highest people in my view because not only they faced death for Christ but torture!
Because dying is easy, but being tortured in the flesh for days and months and NOT losing faith IN Christ is hard.
Mind over matter.

I'm coming back to this point because I finally pinpointed what it was that bugged me about it.

I would caution you to be wary of overstating your case. It wasn't the Jews at large who made the claim. Samuel said God chose a man after his own heart.

Now this phrase HAS been inflated, quite a lot, and enshrined a good bit. People have blown it up into something quite different from what Samuel meant. (Example: it doesn't necessarily denote David REMAINED a man after his own heart, or that he was ALWAYS such.)

But I think your argument is also trying to make the phrase something it was not. It was in fact directly from Samuel, the prophet of that day. It wasn't just general sentiment among Israelites. To deny it completely you'd have to make a case that Samuel was deliberately misrepresenting God, that God told a lie or that God made a mistake.

Yes my sentiment wasn’t fully explained and I apologize. I also agree with you to a certain degree.
I’d rather not discuss it further because this is the part where Western Christianity has a heart attack.
It’d be the same as discussing Salvation.

But I have made myself clear that I don’t believe in Sola Scriptura so that should tell you quite a bit about where I stand with interpretations.