David (Part 2) A Man After God’s Own Heart
David (Part 2) A man after God’s own Heart – what it is.
(By Ben Fronczek)
Last week we started a series of lesson on what it means to be a man (or woman) after God’s own heart, which is part of a larger series of lesson I would like to do on David.
First of all, in the last lesson, I talked about an individual that was not a man after God’s own heart, and that being Saul, the first Jewish king. What was his problem? He was more concerned about doing things his way, the way he wanted and not necessarily the way God wanted things done. Simply put he was out right disobedient by not obeying God’s will for him, and by disobeying the Holy laws God put forth in the Mosaic covenant. And when Saul was confronted with his sin, he made excuses and tried to blame others. He claimed he was sorry, but in all reality God could see something different in his heart. Maybe God saw that he was more sorry about getting caught than he was about disobeying God’s will.
Then we read where Samuel is instructed to go and anoint another who would eventually take Saul’s place. In Bethlehem, the little town where Jesus the Christ was born more than one thousand years later, lived a man named Jesse, who was the grandson of Ruth. Jesse had eight sons, and God told Samuel that He would choose a successor to Saul from among them.
God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem and offer a sacrifice, and invite Jesse to be present. He told Jesse to have his sons pass in front of him, that he might see them.
The first son was a tall, handsome man, and Samuel thought he must be the one who was to rule over Israel. But God told him that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Then one by one seven sons of Jesse were brought forward, but Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
It think the lesson in this for us is that we need to remember that God is more concerned about what’s in our heart than with how we look, what we say, or do.
Then Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons; and Jesse replied that he had seen all except David the youngest, who was in the fields, tending the sheep. Samuel ordered David to be brought to him. The text described David as “ruddy with a fine appearance and handsome features.” The Lord told Samuel to anoint him, for this was the one He has chosen.
Many years prior, God had prepared another shepherd boy for a special work in connection with His chosen people, Joseph. And now He had selected David, another shepherd boy, to rule over them. The same was true for Moses having spent 40 in the wilderness shepherding before God sent him to Egypt.
The Bible says little of what happened to David immediately after than memorable day, but we can assume he went back to his flock and continued to take care of them. How much he was affected by the ceremony through which he had passed, we do not know, but we are told this: “The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.”
David grew up strong and brave, not afraid of the wild beasts which prowled around and tried to carry away his sheep. All alone most of the day and with not much else to do, he probably practiced throwing stones with his sling, until he could strike the place he aimed for.
He also must have loved music and learned to play the harp during this period, because shortly after he is called into the kings service to play for him We read that after Spirit left Saul, another spirit tormented him, and music help make him feel better and David was chosen because of his talent.
This young man was to be the one to replace Saul, the one God considered a man after His own heart, and now he got to see the inner workings of the royal palace.
But the Question I posed in the last lesson was, “How could David be considered a man after God’s own heart knowing what we know about him?” We read that he went on to become a man of war spilling blood, and later he would also go on to commit adultery and murder?
His story can be read 1 and 2 Chronicles and 1 and 2 Kings. Even in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul is speaking before the men of Israel, tells them about God’s feelings for David. Speaking first of King Saul the Apostle Paul states, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’” (Acts 13:22). Maybe this was the key!
Where we find the most about his character and heart is actually seen the book of Psalms. There he opened up his life for all to examine. David’s life was a portrait of success and failure, and far from perfect. But what made David a cut above the rest was the fact that God was almost always at the center of his Heart. He did his best to obey Him.
When we look at his story, you soon realize that all David’s early life was a preparation for kingship. Beginning as a shepherd was certainly training for one who would one day shepherd the flock of God, Israel. Then he has time to learn the inner workings of the royal court.
If David was divinely destined to be a king, is it possible that he also was destined to first be a shepherd? Or did God leave the first thirty years of David’s life up to chance?
Or was the Lord just killing time waiting for David to grow up and reach the right age to fulfill his divine destiny to be king, or was he meant to learn something from that early life in the wilderness?
We can apply this to ourselves. Often, what we perceive as wasted periods of time in our life are actually part of God’s training process—periods that prepare us for His ultimate purpose for our lives. These period of time may just be divinely determined. God can use these period of time to mold us in ways we may not understand at the time.
So how did God prepare David for the big challenges he would face one day as king? Just as you may have guessed. He used the same method He used to prepare Israel to take Canaan and the same method He used to train Jesus’ twelve disciples, and ever us. God permitted small difficulties, one after the other, to challenge David as a shepherd. He was tested over and over; and so are we.
We know that as a boy David had an opportunity to exercise his faith when he fought with a lion and a bear to protect his flock (see 1 Sam. 17:34-36). Could God have stopped that lion and bear before they got near enough to stalk David’s sheep? Of course He could have, but He didn’t because He was preparing David for the greater challenges that He would ultimately face.
David’s next trial recorded for us in Scripture was a giant one—literally! It wasn’t so much his skill with a sling and stone that brought down Goliath. Rather, it was his faith. Every challenge we face can serve as a stepping stone in our personal growth. It all depends on if we will trust God or not.
And that’s the first thing we need to be a man or woman after God’s own heart; First of all, David had absolute faith in God.
Nowhere in Scripture is this point better illustrated than in 1 Samuel 17 where David as a young shepherd boy fearlessly confronts and slew the Philistine giant, Goliath. Shortly before the duel, we see direct evidence of David’s faith in his words to King Saul. Read 17:32-37 “3 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
David was fully aware that God was in control of his life, and he had faith that God would deliver him from impending danger. How else could one venture into a potentially fatal situation with such confidence?
David knew early on in life that God was to be trusted and obeyed. But it’s one thing to talk the talk, but quite another to walk the walk. David did both. After talking the talk before Saul he boldly went out and confronted Goliath. And then the giant Goliath curse him on the battle field David approached the giant, listen to his confident words starting in verses 45-50.
“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LordAlmighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that thehttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+27%3A1-6&version=NIVre is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lordsaves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.”
From these verses, we know exactly why David had so much courage and how he was able to approach Goliath with such confidence. It was because his confidence, and courage, and strength was fully grounded and based on his faith in God’s protection. That’s faith in action! David’s faith pleased God, and he is rewarded for it with success.
There was nothing wishy washy about his faith. He didn’t kinda believe and hope one minute and doubt the next. He absolutely trusted the Lord. If you are going to be a man or woman after God’s own heart that’s the kind of faith in God that you need to have. I’m not only talking just about saying the right words, it’s more about what you REALLY believe in your heart. David believed and proved his faith in God that day.
As you read David’s psalms, over and over they declares David’s faith in the Lord. Read a few examples Psalm 3:1-6, 16:7-11, 23, 27:1-6, 34,…
David learned to trust and have faith in the Lord early on in life. The more he leaned on the Lord and saw the Lord active in his own life, the more faith he had. As little challenges were overcome by faith and trust in the Lord, it strengthen him for even greater challenges that would come later. I believe this is how we grow as a Christian; from one act of faith to another.
Continually putting faith in the Lord is an essential part of being a man after God’s own heart. The same will become true for us. We not only need to believe in God and His deliverance from the bottom of our heart, we also need to back that up with steps of faith as David did so long ago.
You say that you believe and trust God. Good.
Do you believe in Him enough to help you overcome a particular challenge or maybe a particular sin or bad habits in your life? Do you believe in Him enough to step out by that faith to do something you’ve never tried before, maybe something His Spirit is prompting you to do? I challenge you to stand firm in your faith in God and you too like the Apostle Paul will be able to say, “I can do all things thru Christ who give me strength.” And then you will have taken your first step in becoming a man or woman after God’s own heart!
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com