I'm sure I

am not the only person to have been a little bit amazed

on more than one occasion by the Scripture's reference to

David as a man after God's own heart.

Do you know what I think it

is that made David so special to God? Bear in mind,

now-I am no learned Bible scholar, I have never

claimed to be an expert on Bible truths-but to the

heart and eye of this observer it would

seem that God was touched

man. He was real before God, and he left for us some of

the most beautiful and inspiring real writings which have

ever been penned.

What is real? What am I

talking about? What does it mean to be real?

I suppose we could take a

look back at the life of the man as described by various

biblical writers. Such an overview would probably support

my statement, but I think there is no better way to

illustrate what I mean than by taking a look at some of

the writings left by the man himself.

"Why are you in

despair, O my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope

in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my

countenance and my God."

Let's think about what

David is saying here.

A man appears to be asking

himself why he is depressed, why he is discouraged or

downcast. I can almost see his face before me as I read

his words. His eyes do not meet mine as I look at him. He

stares off into the distance as he wonders how things

could have gotten in such a mess.

"Where is God?"

he wonders to himself for a brief moment. But he knows

God is near. He doesn't feel like God is near, but he

knows it because he has learned that God is greater than

his feelings.

He recalls the faithfulness

of his God in times past.

His heart aches. It is

filled with unanswered questions. His mind wonders and

wonders and wonders.

He longs for an end to the

ramblings and rumblings which are going on within him.

Truly he is disturbed within his soul.

All his being questions the

goings on around him and within him. Yet, amidst it all

he recalls the faithfulness of God.

But, do you know what makes

David different from so many of us today? You know what

makes him special to me? Why I think he found such favor

with God?

Because he was open and

honest with his Heavenly Father, and it appears to me

that he was rather open and honest with those around him,

too. What he was, what he felt, what he thought showed. I

suspect God found that refreshing in David as I suspect

He does in us today.

Why is it so hard for us to

be real today? Why do we live so hard and fast? Too hard

and too fast to take time to care and be cared about.

I don't have the answers. I

seem to only have questions this week. Sometimes the best

thing we can do, however, is to ask the right questions?

Being open and honest with ourselves and others is a

beginning.

Do not misunderstand me as

I write of being real, of being open and honest...

I realize there are duties

which call and sometimes we must suppress or deny for a

time the feelings or emotions which rise within us. We

must simply perform the tasks which lay before us and do

the work which is required of us each day.

So be it.

But the next time a friend

asks, "How are you?" Perhaps we could try being

truthful.

And the next time we stop

to pray, perhaps we could talk to God for a while about

our feelings, our real feelings, those feelings we are so

often ashamed to admit to before Him or others.

Pause this week to read a

few of David's Psalms. The man after God's own heart knew

how to let it all out. He knew how to express himself

before God and man.

Honest expression may be

the key to finding the peace we seek in times of great

emotional turmoil. To recognize our feelings and find a

healthy and acceptable way of expressing them is good. To

recognize that God is greater

than our feelings and to

express our gratitude for His faithfulness (no matter how

we feel) in and through all the events or circumstances

of our lives is even better...

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