Biblical Leaders: David
David is a biblical leader that we could go a lot of different directions when it comes to leadership principles. We know David to be gracious, patient, and courageous, just to name a few of his attributes. David was known as a “man after God’s own heart” and while there are a lot of theories by people way smarter than I am, I believe it speaks more to God’s character than it does to David’s.
What is it about this shepherd boy turned giant killer turned musician turned king that so many of us are drawn to?
In the dining room at our house we have our family mission statement as well as our vision statements that we look to do life by as a family. One of those vision statements, and probably the one we come back to the most, is “fess up when you mess up.” In my opinion, that’s the attribute of David that makes for a great leader.
In 2 Samuel 11, we see a picture of a bored king sitting on his couch when he should have been out with the army. There’s a leadership lesson in that, be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there but I digress. David wasn’t and then he stumbled upon a woman bathing. Not only did he stumble across her bathing but he had to have lingered and then inquired about who she was. This all led to an affair, a pregnancy, and a murder. David, a “man after God’s own heart,” had lost his way and took advantage of his position as king. Even though scripture doesn’t explicitly say, I can't imagine David not wrestling with some guilt on the heels of all of this. Then through the darkness of it all God sends the prophet Nathan to have a conversation with David.
Nathan tells a story about two men that kindled David’s anger. Nathan’s response to David was,
“You are that man!” (2 Samuel 12:7)
In that moment David, just like all of us when we come face to face with our bad decisions, had a choice. It’s a choice to own our mistakes, apologize, and make things right or to dig our heels in and stand our ground. One will lead towards trust from those we lead and the other will lead the opposite direction. David took ownership to what he had done and confessed to his sins.
The best leaders know when they are the problem and when they need to apologize. In our house we say “fess up when you mess up” and it sounds good with a nice little rhyme but it works! No matter your leadership role; your home, ministry, job , organization, or just hanging with your friends the best thing you can do at times is to own your mistakes and lead by example.