David, A Man After God’s Own Heart / Part 1

Part 1 – David’s Heart

Since God calls David “a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14 NKJV ), it behooves us to study David’s heart to see what is in it that is like God’s heart.

After the flagrant disobedience of King Saul, Samuel announced to him, “Now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart ... For the LORD does not see as man sees: for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 13:14,16:7). The Lord looked at David’s heart and found a man after His own heart, not because he was sinless, but because his heart was single.

Saul was a double-minded man: he tried to gain honor from the people and the Lord at the same time, and it could not be done. Saul worried about outward appearance: “Honor me now, please before the elders of my people and before Israel” (1 Sam. 15:30). Saul set his heart on receiving honor before the people, and he lost both that and the honor that comes only from God. David set his heart on God and sought to honor him, and God honored him in a singular way.

David sought no honor for self but only for God. He prayed, “Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; yes let him trample my life to the earth; and lay my honor in the dust.” And he closed that prayer with his desire that God alone might be glorified: “I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High” (Ps. 7:5,17).

Cultivated Heart
As we read the Psalms, we discover that David cultivated his heart: “I will praise You, O LORD with my whole heart” (Ps. 9:1). “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD” (Ps.19:14). “My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped” (Ps. 28:7). “My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King” (Ps. 45:1).

David’s heart was patient and restrained. He never took matters into his own hands to force the fulfillment of his destiny. He would receive the throne, not only in God’s way, but also in God’s time. On several occasions he restrained his men who advised him to kill his arch enemy, demon-possessed Saul. He twice refrained from taking advantage of Saul when he fell into his hands (1 Sam. 24,26). Whatever God sent, David accepted with praise and thankfulness.

David’s heart was sensitive. When he cut off a corner of Saul’s robe in the cave, his heart troubled him (1 Sam. 24:4-5). The highest joy of man comes from cultivating the most important part of man, the heart. When the heart is pure, then the eyes are opened to see God wherever He may appear.

Steadfast Heart
David said, “My heart is steadfast, O God ... I will sing and give praise” (Ps. 57:7). He wrote this psalm when he was hiding in the cave, a fugitive from the wrath of Saul. His fixed heart signified a pre-meditated and pre-determined habit of praise. His heart was neither frightened nor fluttered, but fixed and firm. His praise under these circumstances depended on something more than temporary euphoria and fluctuating circumstances. It was praise built upon principle, not impulse; praise which had penetrated the warp and woof of his being; praise that had become a way of life, a full-time occupation. David praised God while both his throne and his life were in jeopardy.

Integrity Of Heart
David possessed a heart of integrity – singleness of heart, which is the opposite of a divided heart. It was this integrity that made him a successful king; and it was the lack of integrity that corrupted Saul. God rejected Saul from being king, but “He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds ... David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart” (Ps. 78:70,72). Integrity of heart was David’s passionate concern: “Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity” (Ps. 7:8). “Let my integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You” (Ps. 25:21). “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity (Ps. 26:1). “You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your face forever” (Ps. 41:12).

This integrity of heart is maintained by being honest with God, others, and ourselves, and by seeking to honor God alone. As we study David’s biography we see a man who sought to live openly and honestly before God. He never prayed what he did not mean. If he was afraid, sick or discouraged, he admitted it. In one of his psalms, David cried, “Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked” (Ps. 55:2-3). David was in the cave when he wrote, “I pour out my complaint before Him, I declare before Him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path” (Ps. 142:2-3). Imagine complaining to God! David was honest with God and this maintained his integrity. He was a man after God’s own heart.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8). When the heart is pure, then the vision is clear, and man will see God. Since nothing is higher than God, then seeing God must be the highest joy that we can experience. Seeing God is the highest blessing possible to man. Saul’s repeated disobedience blinded him to God, circumstances, Samuel, and David. But David saw God in creation and circumstances because he had a pure heart and a single eye. In Psalm 29 the glory of the Lord is revealed in a thunder storm; David watched a storm as it swept over the mountains, but he did not simply see a storm – he saw God in it. The thunder was His voice (Ps. 29:3-9). The rushing water was His throne. Instead of showing fear as he saw the trees breaking under the wind and the rising rivers, David shouted, “The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood, and the LORD sits as King forever” (Ps. 29:10).

Psalm 23 makes it clear that David saw God in the circumstances of his life. For David life was not a series of accidents, but appointments. The Shepherd was in control. Even when David strayed and circumstances were painful, he still saw God restoring him and refreshing him. When David looked back, he saw God: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” And when he looked ahead, he saw God: “And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Ps. 23:6). When he looked around, even when going through the dark valley, David saw God: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Ps. 23:4). It’s significant that in verses 2 and 3 David refers to the Lord as “He” but in verses 4 and 5 he changes this to “You.”

When man starts to see God, he also starts to see what God sees and begins to see himself in the light of God’s glory. Spiritual sight leads to spiritual insight. He not only sees himself in a new light, but he also sees others in a new light. The eyes see what the heart loves. If the heart loves God and is single in this devotion, then the eyes will see God. Nothing robs the heart of spiritual vision like sin. King Saul’s repeated disobedience blinded him to God. Because David had a pure heart, He saw God in creation and in circumstances.

The most important part of our life is the part which only God sees. He knows whether or not our heart is pure. He wants it to be pure, for only then can we see Him, and in seeing Him we enjoy all that He is and receive all that He has.

Courageous Heart
The proximity of the Philistines and the enmity of Saul afforded David the opportunity to display his moral and physical courage. Before he met Goliath, his courageous heart had been evidenced through his victory over the lion and the bear. His challenge to the giant revealed a heart confident in God, and devoid of fear. His composure – except for one or two occasions when his faith faltered – in the face of the constant assaults of his implacable foe, evidenced an inner serenity and courage which won for him the devotion of the whole nation.

Humble Heart
There are several examples of a humble heart in David’s life. He said to King Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king”(1 Sam. 18:18). After the Lord made a covenant with David, he said, “Who am I, O LORD God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” (2 Sam. 7:18). David never used his position to promote himself; he let God do the promoting in His time and in His way. “David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him” (1 Sam. 18:14).

Andrew Murray said that “humility is not thinking meanly of yourself; it is simply not thinking of yourself at all.” Humility means you accept yourself, others, circumstances, and God’s will for your life. A humble man has a right attitude toward things. A proud man is possessed by things, while a humble man possesses things and uses them for the good of others and the glory of God.

Humility is an attribute of God the Father: “Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?” (Ps. 113:5-6). Jesus “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8). The Holy Spirit’s humility is evidenced by the fact that He lives within poor sinners, saved by grace. David’s humble heart made him a man after God’s own heart.

The sin of pride has ruined more lives than any other sin. It’s the sin God hates most, the sin which led to Lucifer’s downfall and made him the devil. It’s the sin that cost Saul his character, his throne, and ultimately his life. Humility is the grace that made David a king; he got his kingdom by being nobody.

Meek Heart
Most people have the notion that meekness is weakness. But meekness is not weakness, but power under control. Nobody could accuse Jesus of being weak and timid. He was the most courageous man ever to walk on earth, and yet He said, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Mt. 11:29 KJV).

David had a meek heart. His greatest victories were not with his hands but with his heart. Twice his enemy Saul was put into his hands (1 Sam. 24,26) and David had the power to kill him, but he kept his power under control. Like Christ, David was meek. Another episode reveals his meekness in greater measure. One of Saul’s men, Shimei, cursed David and threw stones at him (2 Sam. 16:5-8). Abishai, David’s nephew, offered to kill Shimei, but David said, “Let him alone, and let him curse.” That is controlled power – meekness.

Saul would have killed David had he caught him in the cave; he would have killed Shimei too. Both David and Saul had power, but David’s power was controlled; he was meek. He used his authority to build up people; Saul used people to build up his authority. Saul wanted to kill his son Jonathan over a trivial matter, just to show the people how powerful he was (1 Sam. 14:36-45). But David was willing to die for his own son even though Absalom was a rebel who plotted his overthrow (2 Sam. 18:33).

David cultivated his heart; it was single, courageous, patient, humble, sensitive, meek and forgiving. Indeed he was a man after God’s own heart.

By Maurice Bassali

Next month – David and God