When we look at all the stories of Gods’ people in the Bible, we see a mix of deeply flawed individuals that also possessed Godly qualities. Just look at the “Hall of Faith” chapter of the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, you will find a list of people who God used to do great things and they had strong faith to follow God through many challenges, but scripture records many of their flaws clearly showing even the most Godly people are sinners that struggle to always walk in righteousness. David is certainly one of the main characters that may come to mind when thinking of the righteous saints of old that scripture doesn’t hide their flaws but records them for our benefit.
Certainly murder would be at the top or near the top of anyone’s list of sins that are most evil, and David was guilty of that as he sent Uriah a man who his wife Bathsheba David was having an adulterous affair with, David sent him to the front lines of a bloody battle just so he could get rid of him so his sinful affair would not be discovered when Bathsheba became pregnant. That’s pretty bad stuff, murder and adultery in the same story. He also became power hungry as a king and disobeyed God by ordering a census out of pride instead of trusting God among other sins that are recorded David committing. Yet we see that God calls him “A man after my own heart.”
After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.’- Acts 13:22
What an amazing declaration from God that David was called “a man after God’s own heart” We may think how can such a great sinner be called this after we see the kinds of things that he is guilty of? It is true David was a great sinner, but he also was a great lover of God. He also was a great repenter. He also was a great follower of God that had passion to carry out God’s will as you see in Acts 13:22 the verse above. After all David wrote most of the book of Psalms which show his passion and love for God and his sorrow over his sin. Look at the kind of language David writes in some of the Psalms about His God.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me. – Psalm 63:1-8
What passion in David’s words as he as he proclaims God’s love and knowing God is better than life itself, and he meditates on God and His greatness. Surly that paints a picture of a man that is after God’s heart. When David looks at the beauty of creation and nature, he doesn’t like some men become just a lover of nature but he proclaims all the beauty of the heavens and trees and oceans and everything else points to the beauty of the one of created it all.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge. -Psalm 19:1-2
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? -Psalm 8:1,3-4
How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.-Psalm 104:24
You can see the amazement in David’s writings when he is looking around at creation and is astounded and in awe of God and His works. How many people take these things for granted. It led David to praise as it should all of us. When looking at the amazing complexity of his own body and how God created humans he says:
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.- Psalm 139:13-14
How about the love David had for the word of God? All we have to look at is Psalm 119 to see how David held the word of God in such high regard. Today we have nearly every translation of the bible at our fingertips in our phones and on our computers and beautiful published copies, and sadly many Christians neglect to get in the word on a regular basis and have passion for God’s words that he has given us. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God. (Deut. 8:3)
How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.-Psalm 119:9-16
Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.- Psalm 119:18-20
Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.-Psalm 119:29-37
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. -Psalm 119-97-105
What zeal in David’s writings in Psalm 119 about his love of God’s word, may we all who follow Jesus have that kind of passion for God’s truth. David shows he’s a man after God’s own heart. As well as being such a lover of God’s word, David shows that although he sinned in big ways, he was sorrowful over his sins and repented of his sins with Godly sorrow as he poured his heart out to God over his transgressions.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried upas by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. – Psalm 32:1-5
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.-Psalm 51:1-10
You can hear the sorrow over his sin in these psalms as David asks for God’s forgiveness and mercy and writes about the sorrow he felt when he fell into sin and was living the wrong way. He confessed his sins to God and wanted a clean heart to walk in God’s ways as sorrow over sin is a sure sign of a man after God’s heart.
After these examples of David showing his love for God and his awe for God by the things that God has created, and showing his love of Gods word and how he lives by Gods truth and meditates on God’s law, and writing about the sorrow he felt after his sins, we get a clear picture of why God calls David a man after His own heart. On this side of eternity, we will all fall way short of following God perfectly, but God sees our inner self and delights to see us sorrowful over sin and repent over it, and He sees if we have love for Him and His word, and if we truly desire to know Him and grow in our faith. May we all look at David as an example to us of how we should run to God when we fall short and how we should praise God by the amazing things He has created in nature and all of creation, and how we should draw near to God to spend time with Him and grow in our relationship with Him. All true Christians will desire to please Jesus with their lives and would be blessed to be called a man or woman after God’s own heart. Draw near to Jesus today.
– Ryan Kaplysh
Comments
One response
Wow that was amazing. I see how David was a man after God’s own heart. I too feel the same while praying for God’s forgiveness for the sins I have committed. I too want to live each day to please Him. David reminds us that God’s love will comfort us as we repent and pray for forgiveness. Thank you for this reminder that I am happy to live my life feeling I am a woman after God’s own heart.