“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” Acts 13:22

I can think of no greater epitaph than to be known as a man after God’s own heart. This was God’s accolade of David, not just man’s. Wow! There are many reasons why David fits this description, but the one I would like to share with you is this: David lived by a Code of Honor. Let me explain.

Perhaps the first thing that came to your mind was the fact that David had refused to exact retribution on King Saul. After all, this is the very person who had attempted to skewer him with a spear and who had relentlessly pursued David in order to snuff out his life. David felt horrible just for cutting off the skirt of Saul’s robe! Because of honor, he dared not stretch forth his hand against God’s anointed.

Or perhaps you thought of 1 Samuel 30 when David’s family and all his possessions had been taken away by the marauding Amelikites. David’s men found a sickly Egyptian slave in the field as they were in hot pursuit. These same men knew David honored outcasts, for he had taken them into his cave when they were a mess (in debt, in distress, and discontented, 1 Sam 22:2) and had turned them into true warriors. So they “brought him to David” (v.11). David took the time to stop for this foreigner, giving an unvalued man bread, water, a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. What was David’s reward for showing this slave honor? The Egyptian showed David the way so that he was able to recover every member of his family and his army’s as well, not to mention all that had been plundered.

The story continues. David originally had 600 soldiers, but 200 of them were too exhausted to fight. The 400 strong ones felt justified in demanding full rights to the spoil. They had, after all, risked their lives while the others probably had a grand picnic and a nice long snooze. David would hear none of it. The strong and the weak would share alike in the spoils. Sounds to me like the same spirit which inspired the Apostle Paul to write these poignant words about the Body of Christ:

“Those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think are less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor.” 1 Cor 12:22,23

David, like Paul, knew that showing honor to everyone is the heart of God.

This morning I read two successive stories from David’s life that magnify his honoring ethic. In 2 Samuel 9, David woke up one day, then probably after a sweet time of worship in the presence of God, decided he wanted to show the kindness of God to a survivor from the household of Saul. Remember, this is the man who had sought David like a flea and hunted for him like a partridge (1 Sam 26:21). He found one. Mephibosheth was crippled. He had been five years old when he father and grandfather had died in battle on the same day. This was also when the accident that left him disabled occurred—his nurse dropping him as they fled upon hearing the crushing news. So what does David do to this one at a time when disabled people were stigmatized, and kept secret? He brought Mephibosheth to the palace and gave him a permanent seat at his own table, next to the princes and princesses of the Kingdom. David showered him with honor.

Even the rulers of rival nations could qualify as objects of honor in David’s eyes. In the next chapter, 2 Samuel 10, David recalls a time when the King of Ammon had been gracious to him. So he sends an entourage to show kindness to his son Hanum after his dad died. Though the show of honor was repelled, David did not show honor only when honor was appreciated, rewarded, or returned. He honored because he was a man after God’s own heart. It was natural, spontaneous for David. I pray it would be so for me!

Beloved, we live at a time and in an hour when honor is under pernicious attack. Honor for our institutions, honor for our leaders, honor for our traditions and for our laws. Honor is a part of the everlasting song of heaven (Rev 4:11). Honor is the way of the Kingdom. Let it be the code by which we, His subjects, live our lives and bring Him glory…and honor. Amen.