I never thought about it before, but our culture talks a lot about our HEARTS. For example: If we want to have an intimate and personal talk with someone, we say that we want to have a “heart-to-heart”. If we’ve had a really good day, we might say that we are feeling “Lighthearted.” If we know of someone who has NO compassion for others we might describe them as being “heartless,” and we refer to truly evil people as being “black-hearted.” But courageous people are “brave hearted.” And Saintly folks have “hearts of gold.” We call our deepest hurts - “heartaches.” And jilted… LOVERS …are call “brokenhearted.” But when we love somebody deeply, we say we love them “with all our hearts.”
So our culture uses the term HEART to describe many of our characteristics as a people.
Now, in our sermon this morning we’re going to focus on God choosing David because he was a man after His own heart. “He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.” Psalm 78:70-72
So God chose David. But why? Well, Acts 13:22 says that God declared ‘I have found David - the son of Jesse – to be a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
Now, that’s a good thing. Ever since the Bible was written - true believers have wanted to be men and women after God’s own heart. And obviously, that kind of person pleases God, and so that’s what I want to do. I want to Please God by being a person who is “after God’s own heart”.
BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Well, it means that we are determined to do whatever God wants. We are committed to obeying him - no matter what! We have decided to do ALL God’s will. God said He had found David “… to be a man after (His) own heart, who will do ALL (His) will.” Acts 13:22
Now, one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is II Chronicles 16:9. It says “The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” God’s LOOKING for someone! He’s looking for someone who’s fully committed to doing ALL God’s Will. In fact, He might be looking for you! God is ACTIVELY seeking a person whose heart is fully devoted to Him. He is looking for YOU… and YOU… and YOU.
And once He finds the person He’s looking for, God says He will INVEST in that person’s life. He will be committed to invest in that person by strengthening their lives. And, He’s looking for someone who will commit themselves to Him FIRST. And then, when that person commits to God, then God will commit Himself to them!
Now, in the Old Testament God confronted a King named Saul (the 1st King of Israel) and He told Saul “Your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart (talking about David) and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." 1 Samuel 13:14
So, God was going to replace King Saul with David. BUT WHY? Well, because David was a man after God’s own heart - and Saul WASN’T. Saul had failed to do what God commanded him.
What did Saul do wrong? Well, Israel was at war with the Philistines, and the Philistines showed up in force. They had 30,000 chariots and 6000 horsemen and their troops were like the sand on the seashore (there were a bunch of them). And the people of Israel were frightened, and Saul realizes he could lose this battle.
But the Prophet Samuel had told Saul that God wanted him to wait until SAMUEL got there, and Samuel would offer up a sacrifice to God as an appeal to God for His help in the coming conflict.
“Saul waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, "Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings." And he (King Saul) offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come in the days appointed,… I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering." And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which He commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart.” I Samuel 13:8-14
What had King Saul done wrong? Well, he didn’t do what God asked him to do. All he had to do was wait on Samuel… But he didn’t! He became impatient and decided to take things into his own hands.
ILLUS: You see Saul lived by an old proverb – “God helps those who help themselves.” Have you ever heard that? I’ve known many Christians who tho’t that phrase was somewhere in the Bible. I mean… it sounds so “righteous”. DO YOUR PART! DON’T WAIT FOR GOD TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOU! IF YOU DO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT God will help you because… (well) YOU did what YOU thought was right.
But, of course, the phrase God helps those who help themselves ISN’T in the Bible. In fact, it’s actually a pagan teaching. It comes from Aesop’s fables. The story goes like this: “A Wagoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. He came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper the wheels sank. So the Wagoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong. O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress.” But Hercules appeared to him, and said: ‘Man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help them that help themselves.’” (Dave Redick, The Benefits of Being Christians, A sermon series from Romans 8, Part 5: “God For Us” {found on the internet})
IT’S A PAGAN TEACHING! It tells us: Don’t wait on God. You don’t need Him. You can do this yourself. Just get up and put your shoulder to the wheel and push your way out of your troubles.
And that was Saul’s theology. God was OK… (PAUSE) but if God didn’t SHOW UP, then well, Saul would do what he had to do even if it meant disobeying one of God’s inconvenient commands. You see - Saul felt trapped. He was running out of time and his troubles were more than he could bear. So, he did what he felt he had to do.
Someone once said: “Whenever we place a higher priority on solving our problems than on obeying God, we are immoral.” – Larry Crabb
Saul believed that God would help those who helped themselves, and so he put a higher priority on solving HIS own problems than he did on obeying God. In other words, Saul was NOT a man after God’s own heart.
But somebody else was! And that somebody else was David. Acts 13:22 tells us that God declared ‘I have found David - the son of Jesse – to be a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ You see, God does NOT help those who help themselves. He helps those whose hearts are fully committed to Him - those who decide to DO ALL of His will. And David was that kind of man.
So now – how did DAVID become a man after God’s own heart? What did he do that made him a better man than King Saul? Well, he became a man after God’s own heart because of how he SAW God.
ILLUS: Did you realize that how you think about God - how you SEE GOD - determines your attitudes about everything else in your life. It’s true! There were a couple of sociologists from Baylor University who surveyed almost 4000 adults and they asked people about their views about God. What they discovered was - that the way these people pictured God determined their attitudes on just about everything else in life. Everything…from economics, to justice, to morality, war, natural disasters, science, politics and love. What people think about God shapes how they viewed everything in life. (from sermon by James Merritt)
So (if that’s true) what did David think about God that shaped his life? Well, 1st David saw God as his protector and when faced with impossible odds, David believed God would deliver him from danger. Do you remember the story of David and Goliath. David shows up at the camp of Israel just as Goliath comes out mocks Israel. And David says “I’ll fight him!” David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear WILL DELIVER ME from the hand of this Philistine” I Samuel 17:37
God’s my protector… God will deliver me. That’s how David viewed God. And, because he believed THAT he didn’t fear the giant that everyone else did.
In addition - David saw God as his constant companion. David said to Goliath, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 1 Samuel 17:45
David was declaring - I’m not fighting for me, I’m fighting for God. In fact, I think David saw situations like facing Goliath (or the lions or the bears) and he looked on it like an adventure. There was an excitement he’d feel every time David stepped up and served God. He was facing challenges SIDE BY SIDE with God.
You see, I don’t think that David would ever would have said “God helps those who help themselves” because that would have left God out of the picture. Then it would have been all about David… not God. I don’t think it would ever have occurred to David to think that God would be impressed with David’s intelligence, or his skill, or his strength – because - for David – it was all about God. God was the HERO for David, and David got to be the sidekick. He got to bask in the presence of a God Who did mighty things, and all David had to do was show up.
So everything David did focused on God. God was the center of his entire life. And David would never by happy until he himself was at the center of God’s will.
CLOSE: I ran across an interesting comment someone made about being at the center of God’s will. Apparently, that person did some research on this idea, and they said “IF you want to be at the center of God’s Will, you should take a look at the center of God’s WORD.” All you have to do is look at the verse that is exactly in the middle of Scripture - and that verse is Psalms 118:8. Just read it and follow the advice you find there: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (NKJV) You do that, and you’ll be in the center of God’s will. You put your trust in God, you make HIM your hero - then you just SHOW UP and watch to see what God can do in your life.
And that’s how you become a man/woman after God’s own heart.
INVITATION
