For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10
One of my favorite heroes of the faith is the king of Israel, King David. I love David because he was an average guy with average problems who discovered the secret of faithfully keeping his heart pure before God.
David was the youngest son of an average Hebrew guy called, Jesse and a shepherd of his father’s sheep. Being a shepherd in the Middle East was a very humble job. Nevertheless, we read how David did his job to the best of his ability, even risking his life for the sheep. However, David was soon to become the shepherd of Israel as the greatest king his people would ever know.
As we read David’s story, we notice that he was less than a perfect guy. Becoming a great warrior-king meant that he would be responsible for the deaths of many people through the acts of war. Also, on one occasion we read that David fell in love with another man’s wife and married her, after sending her husband to his death on the front line.
David committed adultery and murder! Yet, we also read that David was called, “A man after God’s own heart.” In fact, it is from David’s lineage that we received the Messiah and savior of the world. Thankfully, David came to repentance for his sins, which in itself, proves his heart. The acts of David’s hands may have been dubious, but his heart was right before God.
I believe that God looks at the heart and not the hands. In other words, I believe that salvation is realized in the heart before it plays out through the hands. Faith and grace are qualities experienced in the heart as we believe Jesus died and rose again to free us from sin. However, Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak. Consequently, although we are justified by faith in the heart, our hands (or mouths, as the case may be) act out our salvation by confession.
King David was not a perfect guy, but his heart was right, and he knew the power of repentance. David knew that he was nothing, had nothing and meant nothing but for the grace of God. David was made righteous by faith in God’s forgiveness but walked in the integrity of his salvation. He knew that purity of heart precedes purity of hand.
Like King David, O Lord, I choose to walk in integrity and uprightness of heart before you and pray for opportunities to put my faith into practice
“O God, forgive me for trying to earn good points with you. I realize now that you look at my heart before you see the things I do with my hands. Help me to live out my salvation with a pure heart. Help me to be sure that I’m not doing good works to be seen by others or to somehow, earn righteousness while my heart is corrupt. May my good works only come from you working through me. Like King David, O Lord, I choose to walk in integrity and uprightness of heart before you and pray for opportunities to put my faith into practice. Amen.”