A Man After God’s Own Heart

Posted on February 3, 2010 by
Filed Under OT History, What I'm Studying... | Leave a Comment |

Last night we were studying about the early exploits of Saul as king over Israel.  It is amazing to watch the transition that takes place between when he is first introduced in scripture and just a couple of chapters later when he is acting in a rebellious manner against God’s will.  In 1 Samuel 9, Samuel anointed Saul to be King over Israel.  At that time it appears that Saul thought Samuel was making a mistake.  He pointed out that he was from the smallest of the tribes, and that his family was smaller than any other (1 Samuel 9:21).  Later, when it came time for Saul to be publicly appointed as king, he hid himself among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22-24).  Unfortunately, this humility would not last.  In 1 Samuel 13, Saul foolishly offered a burnt offering to the Lord, something that he was not permitted to do.  He rationalized his actions away, determining that the circumstances required him to act without authorization from the Lord (1 Samuel 13:11-13).  Saul’s rash actions cost him the kingdom.  Samuel declared that God would take it away from him, and give it to another.  God had sought out another, one “after His own heart” that would receive the kingdom from the family of Saul (1 Samuel 13:14).

This is our first introduction to David, though he is not mentioned by name here.  In Acts 13:20-22, the apostle Paul identifies David as the king who was raised up to replace Saul, who was a “man after God’s own heart.”  This indicates that Saul was not the type of man that exhibited these same characteristics.  Even though he had very humble beginnings, he soon lost that trait, and became a very haughty man.  This designation does not indicate that David was perfect.  Scriptures record for us sin in his life.  However, this trait was expressed by the way in which David dealt with the sin when confronted with it.  If you compare David’s reaction with Saul’s you can see a stark contrast.  Saul, on more than one occasion, made excuse for his sin, even going so far as to blame others.  David on the other hand took responsibility for his sin.  In 2 Samuel 12:1-12 we have the account of Nathan’s rebuke of David following his sin with Bathsheba. In verse 13, David responded with a simple confession as to his guilt:  “I have sinned against the Lord.”  Contrast that with Saul’s reaction when he was rebuked by Samuel in 1 Samuel 13:11-12:

And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

Notice that Saul blamed the people, and he blamed Samuel, and he blamed the Philistines.  He never got around to blaming the person that was at fault:  himself!  Saul had the same problem in 1 Samuel 15, when he gave a laundry list of excuses for being disobedient to God!

This illustrates one of the differences between one who is “after God’s own heart” and one who is not.  Surely the question to us must be:  Which one am I?  Do I have a heart like David’s, or a heart like Saul’s?  This can be answered by our reaction to rebuke that comes from the word of God.  Do we respond by coming up with excuses for our own disobedience, or do we humble ourselves before God, confess that we have sinned, and then  show repentance by our actions?  I am afraid that our tendency is to be a bit more like Saul than David (at least at first).  It may take some prodding to get to the point that we are willing to make true changes in our lives.  I hope that we will eventually be honest enough with ourselves to recognize when we fail God, and be willing to make changes.  The more excuses we make, the harder it is to ever get back to doing the right thing.  If everything is someone else’s fault, we will never open our own hearts up to correction.  May we train ourselves to be more like David, and as such become people “after God’s own heart.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

Related Posts:

Comments

Leave a Reply