The Wicked Heart

2Sam 1-4 David is anointed king, but Saul’s followers seek to continue his reign through intrigue and deceit. They murder one another through misplaced judgment, yet David seeks the face of God. As we read these chapters, we are confronted with the truth of Jer. 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The answer is that God knows; He examines people’s hearts. That is why Jesus came and why men need the gospel message.

Our world is no different than it was in the time of David. Men seek misplaced vengeance; they murder and seek to murder. Only Jesus can solve this dilemma. We watch the war in Ukraine, and we can see that what happened long ago in David’s time is happening again now. What goes around comes around, so the sages said. Jesus said to go and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything he has commanded. Jesus said we will be known by obeying this one command: love one another.

The men in the time of David did not love, and men today do not love. May we search our hearts and find where we are failing in that command.