A Man After God’s Own Heart

Subject: A Man After God’s Own Heart

Acts 13:22 “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ’I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”

Today I want to compare the lives of two men, Saul and David. Saul was a man rejected by God, David was a man who would reign with God’s anointing upon his life, and become a predecessor to Jesus. Why did God reject Saul and yet anoint David. What sins did Saul commit that caused him to fall from grace, while David ruled with God’s blessing? What does it take to be a man after God’s own heart?

There is one thing we can be sure of and that is neither Saul nor David were perfect men. The Bible makes it clear and exposes the sin of both men. Yet Saul was rejected as king, and David was not.

The difference, I believe was in their heart. Saul sinned, because he had a heart that sought after his own benefit and to please himself. David, despite struggling with personal sin, had a heart to please God and not himself. David is described again and again as a man whose heart was after God’s own. David’s desperate desire to serve God, despite struggling with sin, is probably the reason that more space in the Bible is dedicated to him than any other character, including Jesus. There are many other characters that could be described as after God’s own heart such as Joseph, Joshua, Daniel, Paul, and of course Jesus. I believe David is designated “As a man after God’s own heart, because in spite of so many sinful failures, he still managed to seek after God. Most of us find examples like David easier to relate to than other Biblical heroes.

One theologian, Dr. Benson’s observes on this point that "When it is said that David was a man after God’s own heart, it should be understood, not of his private, but of his public, character. He was a man after God’s own heart, because he ruled the people according to the Divine will. He did not allow of idolatry; he did not set up for absolute power. He was guided in the government of the nation by the Law of Moses, as the standing rule of government, and by the prophet, or the Divine oracle, whereby God gave directions upon particular emergencies.

Whatever Saul’s private character was, he was not a good king in Israel. He did not follow the law, the oracle, and the prophet; but attempted to be absolute, and thereby to subvert the constitution of the kingdom. Another difference between Saul’s reign and David’s reign can also be seen in the way they dealt with their personal enemies. Saul spent much resources and times chasing after his perceived enemy David for personal satisfaction. Saul was willing to put national security in jeopardy for his personal pursuit. He was not a good king. David always sought the nation’s highest good. That’s probably the meaning of David’s being a man after God’s own heart.

Acts 13:22 “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ’I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”

It was David’s heart that caused God to punish him, rather than reject him. David was punished, and very severely at times, but God was still able to use him mightily because his heart was after God’s. Saul was majestic and looked every bit a king on the outside, David was a king from the heart. When God chose David, what was it about his heart that he recognized as being like his own? Today I have picked out three of the main characteristics that David possessed, and Saul lacked, that caused God to give him the title, “a man after His own heart”. David was a man after God’s own heart because David trusted rather fearing men, David walked in humility rather pride, and David willingly repented and confessed his sin rather than covering them. David knew how to trust, how to walk, how to repent and when to fight.

(1) David trusted God, rather than fearing men, (2) David walked in humility rather than pride, (3) he knew how to repent, (4) finally, David knew which battles to fight. I want to use these things as a check list, to see if we too have a heart after God’s own.

1. David Trusted God, Rather Than Fearing Man.

David had learnt to trust God as a shepherd. Little by little he had taken on greater challenges. He was so protective of his father’s flock that he was willing to take on a lion and a bear in order to save them. When it came to Goliath, he didn’t cower in fear like the rest of Israel, because he feared only God, and he had learnt to trust Him.