After God’s Own Heart

And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee 1 Samuel 13: 13,14.

The world is in dire need of role models. We need to see individuals, especially leaders that are worth following. The church should be full of them, but they have the same problem or worse. Many are the headlines that report the horrible scandals involving priest and high-ranking church officials. It is almost as if there is nowhere to turn to and witness people of integrity.

The Bible has many of them. These people were not perfect, but if we study them, we will see that they lived a life that will inspire us to do better. They were by no means perfect, but through their faith we are encouraged to press on and not give up.

Of all the people in the bible, the only one said to be "after God’s own heart" was David. David was a poet, musician, a great warrior and proved to be a great king. In friendship, he was loyal to the end. In fact, no matter what he did, he was faithful. That’s why he spent long hours keeping his dad’s sheep. That’s why he faithfully became Saul’s musician and servant, and when he had the opportunity to kill Saul, he refused to out forth his hand against "God’s anointed".

David was nothing more than a shepherd boy. Outwardly, there was nothing outstanding about him. If you lived next door, you probably would not have known that Jesse had a son named David. You certainly wouldn’t have recognized him to be a chosen vessel of God.

But God sees things that we don’t see. God watched David doing his everyday household chores. He saw him running behind those pregnant sheep. He saw how faithful and diligent he was in protecting those smelly animals, and whatever God saw caused Him to say, "That’s my king; He will obey me; I want him to lead my people."

In 1 Samuel 8:5, we see the people asking Samuel for a king so that they could be like the other nations. That has always been a problem with people. They want to be like everyone else. They want to be popular; to look the best and have the most. The people of Israel tried to use Samuel’s sons as an excuse to get what they wanted. But Samuel’s sons had nothing to do with it. They had already made up their minds.

But there is no excuse for forgetting about God. No matter what we do, we can never forget about God. He has faithfully brought you this far, and he will not forsake us. God had always been a provider for the people of Israel, and when you are a provider, you have to balance out want and needs. That’s is how we learn what is important and what is not. It is how we learn to wait with faith and patience, and how to believe and trust God when the going is tough.

When Samuel heard the people’s request, it hurt him deeply. So he prayed about it. And the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee 1 Samuel 8:7-8. God gave them exactly what they wanted.

Saul was the people’s choice. He was tall, dark and handsome. That’s how people choose leaders, by how they look and how talented they are. They are more concerned about their image than God’s.

By the time David was born, Saul had been king for ten years. It didn’t take long for him to become a thick headed, bad tempered psychotic capable of fits of uncontrollable rage. When David reached his teenage years, the nation of Israel was drifting away from God, and their king was a big disappointment.

Even though people forget about God, God never forgets about them. So God found someone "after His own heart."

What does it mean to be a person after God’s own heart? I believe it means that our life is in harmony with the Lord. The things that are important to God are important to us. The things that burden God also burden us. When God says, "Go to the right", we go to the right. When God says, "Stop. This is wrong. I want you to change it", then no matter who doesn’t like it, we stop.

Any person that is deeply spiritual ought to have a heart that is sensitive to the things of God. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth, that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His 2 Chronicles 16:19. It says "completely". No skeletons in the closet; no dirt swept under the rug. If you do wrong, it grieves you so much. You want God to be pleased with all you do.

Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected Him... Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for myself among his sons 1 Samuel 16:1.

Jesse had no idea that God had spotted a king among his sons. You see, God sees things even daddy cannot see. David was simply doing what his father told him, but God saw Him.

We often think the simple tasks are unimportant. We consider things like preaching and teaching to be great. But God looks at why we do what we do. He is into things like details and motives. David greatest works were not on the battlefield, but at home doing his everyday task. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds... So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by his skillful hands Psalms 78: 70-72.