A Man After God’s Own Heart–Part One

 

     As the apostle Paul was tracing God’s scarlet thread of redemption from the Jewish patriarchs to Jesus while preaching in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisdia (Acts 13:14ff), he quotes God’s description of David: “a man after My own heart who will do My will” (v. 22).  What an astonishing description!  What extraordinary praise, especially in a book devoid of flattery and hyperbole.  As detailed in the books of First and Second Samuel, David was not sinlessly perfect; he was, however, sincerely passionate. 

     From Psalm 40 we learn that this man after God’s own heart was:

  • Patient in his trials. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps.  He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord” ( 1-3).  David looked to God with prayerful trust and confident expectation.  The adverse circumstances of life—the horrible pit and the miry clay—began with a cry and ended with a song.
  • Wholehearted in his faith. “Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (vv. 4-5).  Faith in Jehovah was not one of David’s strategies for life; it was his strategy for life.
  • Prompt in his obedience. “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened.  Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.  I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart’” (vv. 6-8).  Unlike his predecessor—King Saul—who thought that sacrifice was better than obedience (1 Samuel 15:22), David’s mindset was completely opposite.

      If an inspired writer were to describe your life, could the phrases “patient in trials”, “wholehearted in faith”, and “prompt in obedience” be used with accuracy?

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Author: jchowning

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