With
respect to King David, the Psalter reads as follows:
He chose his servant David, and took him from
the sheepfolds; from tending the nursing ewes he brought him to be the shepherd
of his people Jacob, of Israel, his inheritance. With upright heart he tended
them, and guided them with skillful hand. (Psa 78:70-72 NRSV)
The Hebrew
translated as "upright heart" is כְּתֹם לְבָבוֹ refers to a heart with integrity;
the LXX phrase ἐν τῇ ἀκακίᾳ τῆς καρδίας refers to a heart that is innocent and
without guile.
What is
interesting is that, notwithstanding being fallen (including
losing his initial justification due to his murder of Uriah and adultery with
Bethsheba, requiring a re-justification), King David and his
"heart" is spoken highly, not negatively, of. Why is this
interesting? Many Calvinists and others with a deficient anthropology views the
"heart" of man as always being something to be spoken negatively
about (e.g., Jer
17:9) However, Scripture often speaks highly of the "heart" of man (see The biblical understanding of "heart"). Such is the danger of embracing false theologies such as Calvinism--it results in way too many troublesome texts for one's theology, in this instance, one's anthropology.
