1 Samuel 13:14

1 Samuel 13:14

This expression clung to David, as "The Friend of God" became the title of Abraham. Yet no words have given rise to so many fierce invectives; none perhaps carry on their front more serious difficulties. We must remember in connection with this title and David's apparent unworthiness of it: (1) That it is plain by a reference to the context that the title "after God's own heart" was only comparative, not absolute. By the side of Saul, David was the man who attracted the favour of God. (2) The title was given him in his early days, before his life had become overcast with the cloud of sin and error. (3) David's repentance was far more deep than appears on the surface of the narrative. (4) It is most necessary to bear in mind, in considering the career of David, the severity of punishment which followed upon David's sin.

R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions,p. 67 (see also Contemporary Pulpit,vol. iii., p. 364).

References: 1 Samuel 13:14. R. D. B. Rawnsley, A Course of Sermons for the Christian Year,p. 300. 1 Samuel 13:19. J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College,vol. ii., p. 31. 1 Samuel 13:19; 1 Samuel 13:20. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. viii., p. 342. 1 Samuel 13:20. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,p. 62.