Even if you haven’t been a faithful Bible reader or church attender you’ve heard about David.

At the very least you know about David and Goliath. You’ve heard a sermon, perhaps, about slaying the giants in your life. 

If you were in church in the late 70s and 80s, you experienced that story as I did–on the magical apparatus that was flannel graph:

Just seeing that picture brings a tear to the eye, doesn’t it?

But back to David. David was said to be a man after God’s heart, which as best I can tell means he was trying to draw near to God and mirror the character of God. But then you read David’s story and go, “Wow, if he can get that title, there’s hope for me yet!”

I say that because David’s family was jacked up. His family makes all of our families look like the Cleavers.

We’re talking rape, incest, mutiny, murder–these are some of the issues that arose in his family.

Then there’s David himself, the adulterer, liar, conspirator, coward, murderer, and again, liar.

…A man after God’s heart?

That’s why I say there’s hope for you and for me. The redemptive grace of God is such that no matter our yesterdays God is for us today. He desires to work in us and through us today and the next day and the next.

God’s arm of hope is not like that of a T-Rex…just a bit too short. No. He is called the God of hope. And if we are His children, what does that make us?