September, 2008 ARE YOU a MAN (OR WOMAN) AFTER GOD S OWN HEART

October, 2008

DO YOU HAVE THE HEART OF DAVID?

By Alan Jay Binger

Would you like to be a man (or a woman) after God’s own heart? In the Scriptures, the Lord has given us an example of a man who demonstrated His heart. That man was David:

“He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony

and said: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own

heart, who will do all My will’”.

(Acts 13: 22)

But what was it about David that made Him a man after God’s own heart? We are going to examine numerous characteristics about David which demonstrate why He was a man after God’s own heart. As we look at them we will get a clear picture as to how we can also be a man or a woman after God’s own heart.

1) David praised the Lord continually: It was David who said: “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1) He also said: “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day.” (Psalm 71:8) And in Psalm 145:2-3 David proclaimed:

“Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your Name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.”

2) David was full of thanksgiving: It was David who said: “I will praise the Name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.” (Psalm 69:30) and “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High.” (Psalm 92:8) He also wrote: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name.” (Psalm 100:4) And David exhorted the people of God: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For his mercy endures forever. Oh, gives thanks to the Lord of Lords! For His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1-3) And in numerous other verses throughout the Psalms, David makes similar proclamations to thank the Lord.

3) David put his full trust in the Lord: It was David who penned the following words: “Trust in

the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourselves also in

the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also

in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:3-5)

4) David always looked to God for help: Although David was often confronted with big problems

And challenges, He knew He could always go the Lord for help. That is why he could say:

“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” (Psalm

146:5). And again he proclaimed: “The Lord is my strength and shield; My heart trusted in Him,

and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7)

And again: “Our soul waits for the Lord, He is our help and our shield.” (Psalm 33:20)

5) David loved the Word of God and meditated in it day and night: It was David who wrote:

“Blessed is the man… [whose] delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1: 1a, 2) He also said: “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:9b-10)

6) David was careful to speak in accordance with God’s Word: David prayed: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) He was so concerned that he would only speak the right thing, that he said that “I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” (Psalm 17:3b) And: “I said: ‘I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue, I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me’.” (Psalm 39:1) But David did not trust in his own strength to speak the right things. Rather, he prayed: “Set a watch, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

7) David had a repentant heart: After David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, and then

having her husband, Uriah the Hittite murdered, there came a time when David was confronted with his

sin by Nathan the prophet and he repented. In Psalm 51, we see a true picture of what a repentant heart

looks like. Verses 3-5 show us the proper attitude we need for repentance: “For I acknowledge my

transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this

evil in Your sight; that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.”

And when David numbered the people, even though it was against God’s law, he realized that what he

had done was wrong: “And David’s heart condemned him after he had sinned by numbering the people.

So David said to the Lord: ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away

the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.’” (II Samuel 24:10)

8) David sought after God’s wisdom: “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden

Part You will make me to know wisdom.” (Psalm 51:6) It was David who instructed Solomon to “incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry to for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom…” (Proverbs 2:1-6) David also told Solomon: Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For her proceeds are better than profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious that rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.” (Proverbs 3:13-15)

9) David was obedient to authority: As a youth, David did what his father Jesse instructed him to do.

In fact, the reason David had the opportunity to kill Goliath was because he had gone to the battlefield at the direction of his father to bring his brothers-who were in the army-provisions that he had prepared for them. “So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him.” (I Samuel 17:20) We learn from this that when we are obedient to our parents or the authority the Lord has placed us under, that the Lord can use this obedience to put us in the places He wants us to be so that we can be used for His glory. David was also obedient to the authority that the Lord had placed over Israel-King Saul. So even when Saul was chasing after him trying to kill him, David would not take Saul’s life even though he had several opportunities to do so. Thus, when David’s men urged him to kill Saul when Saul was in the cave where David and his men were hiding, David said: “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” (I Samuel 24:6) And on another occasion, when David and Abishai went down to Saul’s camp after the Lord had caused Saul and his men to fall into a deep sleep and Abishai asked David for permission to kill Saul, David responded: “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” (I Samuel 26:9) But how many of us have “stretched out our hand against the Lord’s anointed” as it were, by speaking against (or doing something against) a leader in the Body of Messiah because we disagree with them or for some other reason? We all need to learn more to have the heart of David where obedience to authority is concerned. So much confusion and division in the Body can be avoided when we have this attitude.

10) David was bold and courageous: In I Samuel 17, we read the account of David and Goliath. This is

probably the greatest story of courage ever told. We learn how the Lord had taught David courage as a youth tending his father Jesse’s sheep when David told Saul: “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took the lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it…The Lord, Who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (I Samuel 17: 34-37) David was courageous because he always put His trust in God to deliver him and did not lean on his natural strength and ability. In Psalm 18:1-2 David proclaimed: “I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my Rock and Fortress and my Deliverer; my God and my strength, in Whom I will trust; My Shield and horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” And in later in the same Psalm he said: “For by You I can run through a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. As for my God, His way is perfect; The Word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For Who is God, except the Lord? And Who is a Rock, except our God? It is God Who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” (verses 29-32) David never lost a battle, because he always trusted God for victory. This complete trust in God gave him the courage to go forth, even when he was faced with overwhelming odds against him in the natural. All believers have many battles to fight, whether for ourselves, or on behalf others whom the Lord want us to set free. With the courage of David, we, too, can always have the victory.

11) David was not concerned with what others thought but only with God’s glory: In 2 Samuel 12-23, we have the account of how David brought up the ark to the City of David to put it in the tabernacle David had pitched for it. We read:

Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart…And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said: ‘How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!’ So David said to Michal: ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

(2 Samuel 6:14-16; 20-22)

Notice that David was only concerned with praising the Lord. He danced, leaped and whirled about with all of his might dressed in a humble linen ephod because he was rejoicing in the Lord and wanted to give Him glory for what He had done in enabling them to bring back the ark. And he did all of this in front of “all Israel”. Unlike most people, he was not worried about what others thought about his behavior. David’s only concern was that God would be glorified by his praises. If he had been afraid of what others thought about him, he certainly would not have been able to praise the Lord in such a free manner. He would have been more concerned about making a fool of himself or of being ridiculed or of losing respect. But as his exchange with Michal demonstrates, his sole concern was to honor the Lord, regardless of how much he had to humble himself.

12) David kept his promises: In I Samuel 20, there is a passage which deals with the relationship of David and Saul’s son, Jonathan. In the midst of the passage, we read about the covenant that Jonathan made with David:

“And the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. And you

shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may

not die, but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no,

not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the

face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David,

saying: ‘Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.’ Now Jonathan

again caused David to vow, because he loved him as he loved his own soul.”

(I Samuel 20:13-17)

Later on after Jonathan was killed in battle along with his father, King Saul, and David became king, there came a time that David said: ‘Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9:1) When David was informed that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, he sent for him and restored all of the land that Saul had owned, along with Saul’s servants to work it and bring in the produce. In addition, David invited Mephibosheth to eat at his table just like on of the king’s sons. David did all of this because he remembered the promise that he had made to Jonathan-that he would show kindness to Jonathan’s house forever. David went out of his way to honor this promise.

And in 2 Samuel 21:1-14, there was famine in the land because King Saul had killed the Gibeonites in violation of a covenant of protection that Joshua had made with them. When David asked the Gibeonites what they required to make atonement for Saul’s wrong, they responded that they wanted to hang seven of Saul’s descendants. David replied: “‘I will give them.’ But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.”

(2 Samuel 21:6-7) Again we see David keeping his promise to Jonathan-this time not to bless, but to protect.

Remember, when Jonathan made the covenant with David, he had said: “Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.” (I Samuel 20:16) This meant that the covenant between Jonathan and David could be enforced even against David’s enemies. So when the Gibeonites demanded that seven of Saul’s descendants be hung, David was able to invoke this promise to Jonathan and spare his son Mephibosheth. In the same manner that David took his promises very seriously, we must do no less. It might literally mean the difference between life and death.

13) David’s heart was open to the correction of the Spirit of God: It was David who prayed: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24) If we are to have the heart of David, we should pray this prayer regularly-and mean it. In so doing, we are giving the Spirit of God permission to correct whatever areas of our lives that need to be corrected, and to change anything in us that is displeasing to the Lord.

14) David was humble: One thing that was particularly noteworthy about David was his humility.

When David was promised the daughter of Saul as his wife, this is how he responded: “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?” (I Samuel 18:18) Shortly after David said that, the servants of King Saul, at the commandment of Saul, said to David: “Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.” To this David replied: “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” (I Samuel 18:22-23). What is remarkable is that David had recently slain Goliath and had been set over the men of war by Saul. In addition, the women of Israel had sung the following song as they danced in celebration of David’s great victory: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (I Samuel 18:7). In spite of having had such a great victory, having been promoted greatly by Saul, and being praised by the women of Israel (and probably the men, too), David did not let it go to his head. He remained humble and still considered himself to be “poor and lightly esteemed”. Instead of saying “I am somebody because of what I have accomplished” he said “Who am I, and what is my life…?” Likewise, regardless of who we are or what we may accomplish, we must always remain humble and not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We must always remember that anything we do accomplish is because of the grace of God at work in our lives and not because of any greatness in ourselves. David recognized this truth and we must always do the same because “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)