In Acts 13:22, the Bible describes David as a man after God’s own heart—a man who was obedient to God’s will. Think about that for a minute… What do we know about King David and how he lived his life? There are many positive attributes and exploits that we could list here, but for just a moment let’s think about some of David’s poor decisions. In fact, let’s just look at the bad decisions he made in 2 Samuel 11. In this one chapter alone, David is guilty of:
• Dereliction of duty
• Lust and voyeuristic behavior
• Adultery and sexual coercion
• Abuse of power
• Deception and conspiracy to coverup his sin
• Conspiracy to commit murder
How can a man who is guilty of all these things be referred to as a man after God’s own heart? We will consider that question as we walk through Psalm 51 and consider this topic—Prayer of Repentance.