Blog 13

A man after God’s own heart

By Ps Nelson Koh

(1 Samuel 13: 7-14; Acts 13:22)

                                                       preached at CACV on 06 May2012

 

Introduction

I wonder how you would like to be called “a man after God’s own heart?” Sounds great doesn’t it? It certainly would be, especially if we’re referring to God’s heart…all pure and holy!  Why then was David called “a man after God’s own heart”?

Well, it all began with Samuel’s rebuke of King Saul who had just offered burnt and fellowship offerings ahead of his arrival at a place called Gilgal. This was what Samuel then declared to Saul in 1 Sam 13:13-14, “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”  Wow! That’s the price Saul had to pay for disregarding the Word of the Lord’s prophet and anointed one, Samuel.

David, as we know was chosen above and apart from 7 of his apparently good-looking older brothers in 1 Sam 16. Who would have thought that God would have chosen the youngest boy – ruddy and fine in appearance and handsome – but only a boy minding the sheep! But God looks at the heart and not the outward appearance! God looks at the inner disposition and character, not the outward show! God looks at the potential and the future, more than just the present.  So Samuel anointed him with oil and from that day the Spirit of the Lord was upon David!

Then you might say “What?” You mean God chose this guy called David? Wasn’t he the one who lusted after Bathsheba and committed adultery with her? He certainly was! Wasn’t he the one who manipulated and arranged for her husband to be killed at the front-line? He certainly was. Wasn’t he the one who should have been leading his men and the battle-front but instead remained in the palace while his men fought and slept in the open fields? Yes, indeed! Wasn’t he a bad father, who, after his son Amnon had raped his half-sister, did nothing about it? O yes, he was. Wasn’t he the one whom Joab, his commander said “You love those who hate you and hate those who love you” (see 2 Sam 19:1-7), when he failed to go to war and encourage his men to attack a city called Rabbah, while he mourned for Absalom? He certainly was!

So how could this scoundrel, this murderer and adulterer, be ever considered, let alone be called a man after God’s own heart?

Well, there are several reasons for that but firstly, it’s important to note that:

David suffered the consequences of his sins

Firstly, on the matter of Bathsheba, David had to pay dearly for his liaison with Bathsheba. God caused the first son from the adulterous relationship to die. (2 Sam 12:18)

Secondly, for his sin of murder, he was told by the prophet Nathan that the sword will not depart from his house. Sure enough, his sons came to violent deaths. Amnon was killed by Absalom in 2 Sam 13:28-29 and Absalom was killed by Joab as he hung with his head caught among a branch of a tree (18:14). Adonijah, David’s son after Absalom died at the hands of Solomon in 1 Ki 2:25.

Thirdly, the prophet Nathan prophesied that David’s wives would be given to one close to him and he will lie with them in broad daylight. Sure enough, Absalom lay with his father’s concubines on a roof in full sight of all Israel, as in 2 Sam 16:22.

Besides these, David was driven out of his palace in Jerusalem and was relentlessly pursued by his son Absalom, who conspired to snatch the throne from his father.

God is a holy and righteous God and David, paid dearly for each one of his sins. Likewise, we are reminded that God is our loving heavenly Father, full of love and mercy but he hates sin and though He forgives us when we confess our sins, we are not immune to suffering the consequences of our sins…that is what a righteous and loving God will do to us.

Back now to the question “Why was David called a man after God’s own heart?”

Well, it’s often said that “THE HEART OF THE MATTER IS THE HEART!” Here’s why…It has all to do with the condition of David’s heart! How was David’s heart like?

1.    He had a Repentant Heart

 

After committing adultery with Bathsheba, Nathan confronted David. Here we see the repentant heart of David. Many people when confronted with their own sin would either kill the messenger, deny responsibility or blame someone or something else. Not so with David.

 

This is what he said to Nathan in 2 Sam 12:13, “I have sinned against the Lord.” That’s all…one simple sentence. He did not deny, defy or blame someone else. He just repented deeply and this comes out in Ps 51.

 

In v4 he said “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” Then in v7 he added “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I’ll be whiter than snow.” “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” V10-11.

 

Nathan then replied “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” He could have blamed Bathsheba for bathing in the open, the servants for bringing her to him or some other excuses but he didn’t. He was always ready for correction. Whenever he sinned, he was quick to repent. He had a teachable and malleable spirit.

 

After he heard that his son from his adulterous relationship had died, he simply got up from the ground, washed himself, changed his clothes and then went to the house of God to worship. He paid for his sins – yes, God was harsh but he submitted himself totally to God’s discipline. He did not kick or squirm. His desire was always to please God.

 

2.    He had a Humble, Broken and Contrite Heart

 

He confessed his sins with a contrite heart and declared that the Lord does not delight in sacrifices but “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Ps 52:17

 

We see this too in Is 66:2 “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” And in Is 57:15 we have, “…I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,…”

 

In 1 Sam 17:58, after overcoming Goliath, Saul asked “Who are you?” David replied – the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. He remained humble and did not say that he was a hero or the chosen one. David saw victory after victory, but he always attributed it to God.

 

To be broken is to have a healthy dissatisfaction of self or disappointment with self. David knew and acknowledged his moral failure. Only with a broken and contrite heart can one see one’s own wretchedness and acknowledge one’s own need for God. In Ps 16:2 he said …”You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.”

 

To be broken and contrite is to say “I’m only a sinner saved by grace.”

 

God doesn’t look so much at our capabilities or our sacrifices but whether we have a humble, broken and contrite heart for God is close to the broken-hearted (Ps 34:18); and he longs to lift up those who are bowed down. 
 

3.    He had an Obedient and Willing Heart

We read in 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.”

Wow! David was willing to do whatever God called him to do! WE may do things for God, but God desires for us to do everything He wants us to do…not what we want to do.

There are many portions of Scripture where God shows us that He wants to use us e.g... In Eze 22:30-31 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”

Many of us may have done many things but it may not be what God wants us to do. We need to do the right things the right way. Are we willing to be men and women after God’s own heart? Then we need to listen and do the right thing God’s way.

David knew that he was not to touch the Lord’s anointed. In 1 Sam 24, even though he had the opportunity to kill Saul, when Saul pursued him at the crags and caves of En Gedi, yet he refrained from doing so. Instead he cut off a corner of Saul’s robe as evidence. And he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should lift a hand against the Lord’s anointed.” Later he shouted to Saul from afar “may the Lord judge between you and me…so my hand will not touch you.” He knew when and how to refrain from touching the Lord’s anointed. Hence, David did the right thing the right way!

David always kept to the Lord’s commands. In 1 Ki 15:5 we have “For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life – except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.”

What else did David do?

·         He constantly inquired of the Lord

·         He loved the Word of God – “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Ps 119:97)

·         He wrote many psalms

·         He loved to pray – I love the Lord for he heard my voice; I will call upon Him as long as I live.” (Ps 116:1-2)

·         He loved unity as in Ps 133:1

·         He hated every false way (see Ps 119:104)

 

4.    He had a Passionate Heart for God

 

David was passionate for and about God. John Orthberg, in his book “Growing a heart for God”, describes David as having a heart of wild abandon. Everything he did was superlative – unabashed, unashamed and unafraid…he loved God with a wild abandon. Once, while he and his men brought up the ark to the City of David, he danced half-naked before the Lord. We find this in 2 Sam 6:4 “David, wearing a linen ephod danced before the Lord with all his might,…”  He did it much to the disgust of Michal, his wife and Saul’s daughter.

 

David was never half-hearted. He loved God unreservedly and unconditionally. He wrote in Ps 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

 

How is your love life for God today? Do you love Him unreservedly and unconditionally? Many things can rob us of our love for God. Do you whinge at every little setback or discomfort. The bible says in Pr 4:23, “Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

 

David was also big-hearted and very generous. Look at how he treated Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth in 2 Sam. David demonstrated his kindness because of his promise to Jonathan. In so doing, he reflected and pointed towards God’s grace, love and mercy. He did not hold back, but was always generous, gracious and free-spirited.

 

5.    He had a Devoted and Worshipful heart

Oliver Newton John once sang “I’m hopelessly devoted to you…” David was hopelessly devoted to God. In Ps 86:2 he said “Guard my life, for I am devoted to you…” In Ps 9:1 we have “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart…” In Ps 86:11 he prayed “…give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

To be devoted is to have an undivided heart for God. Although David had committed serious sins, his heart was never divided when serving the Lord. In 1 Ki 15: 3, we read of Abijah, King of Judah, a descendant of David “He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord, his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.”

David was full on for the Lord. We are often divided in our devotion…distracted by the cares of the world. David was focussed. This comes through in the psalms he wrote. For instance, in Ps 139, he said “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

He had a great intensity in his devotion to God. He spoke to God as a close friend and confidante. He knew God deeply. In Ps 32:7 he said “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

David was a great worshipper of God and a great musician too. Many of his psalms turned out to be songs of praise and worship. For instance, we have Ps 57:11 “Be exalted O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” Ps 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”

He introduced what is known as Davidic worship. It is a mode of worship that involved song, music and dance. In 1 Chr 16:4-7, David ordered a new priesthood to minister praise and worship before the Lord. The people ministered before the ark, which was previously forbidden.

Here was a new boldness in God’s presence…the priesthood no longer came before the presence of the Lord with animal sacrifices but with song and dance, praise and thanksgiving. It was a precursor to the new life and worship of the church, whereby there is no longer the tent of the tabernacle but we ourselves are now the tabernacle flowing in praise and worship. We may ask ourselves “Are we a tabernacle of worship?”

           Close

David made many mistakes in his life. He HAD FAILURES but was NOT A FAILURE. He was SINFUL but NOT SIN-FILLED, in the sense of being sin dominated. He was a sinner, but paid for his sins big-time. When confronted, he quickly admitted his sins, was genuinely repentant, paid the price and moved on.

He had a heart which was teachable, malleable, humble, obedient, broken and contrite…all these are beautiful before the Lord. If we would allow Him, He can also make all things beautiful in His time,

The Lord doesn’t look at our capabilities, our successes or our failures as much as he looks at our person and our character. He is drawn not so much to our sacrifices but to our brokenness.

David was passionate for the things of God, was totally devoted and had an undivided heart which came through in his generosity, grace, and as a worshipper and servant of the Lord.

For these reasons, David was called a man after God’s own heart.

Amen.