A Man After His Own Heart

1 Samuel 13:13-14 says, 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 for ever.  14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

We know that Samuel was speaking about David. Well the Bible tells us quite a lot about David. He was a shepherd, he was a mighty warrior, and he was a musician and a ladies man.

But was David holy and sinless enough to be a man after God’s own heart, the Bible tells us that no one other than Jesus Christ was ever able to live a sinless life. In fact the Bible gives many details of David’s life and quickly dispels the idea that he was holy enough to be a man after God’s own heart.

Some bible scholars believe that the meaning appears to be a bit different than how it is translated in English. The phrase “after his own heart” they believe was referring to the act of God choosing rather than to the man. And “after his own heart” means “according to his (God’s) own choosing” which is intended to be a contrast to Saul who was the choice of the people of Israel.

They strongly believe that verse could be more easily understood if it were translated into English as “God has sought out a man according to his own choosing. No matter the opinion we hold about that verse, there are certain qualities that set David apart from the rest in the Bible. Starting from when David was anointed King, Samuel that God sent to anoint a new King for Israel, was looking at outward appearance but God was looking at the heart, I believe there was something God saw in David’s heart that made God to choose him, does it mean that David had a good heart?

1 Samuel 16:7-13 says 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, k“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have 3refused him. lFor 4the Lord does not see as man sees; for man mlooks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the nheart.”  8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  10Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”  11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the osheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not 5sit down till he comes here.”  12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was pruddy, qwith 6bright eyes, and good-looking. rAnd the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!”  13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and sthe Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

After all the attempts by Saul to kill David failed, David still never touched Saul on many occasions when his life was given into David’s hands, because in David’s eyes he was the Lord’s anointed. It goes a long way to show how very beautiful was David’s heart; indeed he has very great reverence for God. He cannot touch the Lord’s anointed. Saul had done David so much evil, but David continued to honor him. He did not seek revenge or did not take advantage of the circumstances. He honored Saul because he honored God. Many would have ended Saul’s life at the least opportunity but David did not.1 Samuel 24:1-7 saysAfter Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.  4The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he saida to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ ” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.  6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”  7 With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

David had another chance to end Saul’s life in1 Samuel 26 but refused to do it, 1:11saysThe Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”

2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search there for David.  3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he saw that Saul had followed him there,  4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.a

5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.

6 David then asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”

“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.

7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.

8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?  10 As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.  11 But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”

After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover up the sin, God sent Nathan to him to confront him with his sin. But look at how David reacted:   13 kSo David said to Nathan, l“I have sinned against the Lord.” We see the real heart of David in this incident. Many people when confronted with their own sin will want to kill the messenger or deny responsibility, or blame others. Look at Adam, that immediately blamed Eve When God asked him if he had eaten of the tree of which God commanded not to eat; he denied responsibility when he was fully aware of the implications of his action. Genesis 3:11-13 says He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”  12 The man said, d“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, e“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

One thing stands out, that is David was a great man of God in many respects and extremely flawed at the same time and God’s point is that he chose David (with all of his flaws) to be the king over his people and to be in the line that would bring about the Savior of the world. It is evident that God loves us with all our flaws and forgives the person who accepts responsibility for his/her evil and is genuinely penitent. Obvious there several lessons to be learned from what happen to David.

Righteousness does not immune one from the attacks of Satan.

Righteousness does not immune you from temptation.

God exposes the righteous person who yields to evil