Heart? Head? These are often the two discerning filters that people use to make decisions – including life-changing ones. While some believe that feelings should lead the way and use their heart, others stick with logic and proceed with their head. But I have learned that there’s a better way – the biblical way. Through the life of David, God provides not only an example but another option.
We may remember him as the hero who crushed giant Goliath or the king who led his people to victory and the most prosperous times in the Bible. But we often forget that David was also an adulterer, murderer, and weak father figure. David followed his heart and his head, which often led to a path of destruction – for himself and his loved ones.
One spring night while Bathsheba was bathing on the rooftop, David caught a glimpse. His lustful urges drove him from admiration to impregnation while her devoted husband, Uriah, fought on the battlefield to secure David’s kingdom.
Next David’s head came into play when he schemed to bring Uriah home to sleep with Bathsheba to hide his adulterous actions. But this devoted soldier stayed with his men, resulting in David’s rage and a plan to kill him. As the story continues, we see David’s unraveling. Eventually he fled his kingdom at the hands of his own son, Absalom. David’s heart and his head both produced epic failures throughout his lifetime.
But God in his graciousness forgave David and gave him another chance – and another and another. David continually relied on his own feelings and logic to direct his life, and it just didn’t work. But each time he repented, and God continued to shower him with grace. David was a flawed hero, fallen king, and pushover father, but God called him a “man after his own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14 NLT)
What we can learn from David is that what we think and feel may be good indicators but not good decision makers – or dictators – of a course of action. What David learned through his many successes and especially his failures was: Don’t follow your heart or head. Instead, follow God’s heart.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 KJV)