How should a man be a real man that fears God and how should he live as a man?
Thank you for your excellent question. Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ should desire to live to please the Lord. You mentioned the word “man” 3 times and immediately I thought of King David who is referred to by God as “a man after mine own heart” (see Acts 13:21-22). We shall meditate on four reasons why God was able to speak of David in this way.
As we study the life of David (in 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 1st & 2nd Chronicles, and many Psalms) we see that he was not perfect. In fact, he was once guilty of adultery and murder (2nd Samuel 11:2-4 and 14-15, 17). When I first read this, I thought to myself, “How could God call David ‘a man after my own heart’ when he had committed those horrible sins?” But then I learned that when David was rebuked for those sins by Nathan the prophet he immediately REPENTED and CONFESSED before Nathan that he had sinned (2nd Samuel 12:1-13). I would encourage you to read Psalm 51 where we have David’s “private confession of his sins before God.” David was known for REPENTANCE and CONFESSSION OF HIS SINS throughout his life, as we see in Psalm 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” This, dear friend, is one of the “true marks” of a “true man (or woman)” of God who fears Him and desires to live for His honor and glory. One brother in the Lord once said to me that “a spiritual man is not one who never sins, but one who will repent and turn from his sin when the Word of God is presented to him.” He then directed me to Proverbs 1:23 where God says, “Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.” We see similar words in Proverbs 13:18, “Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but HE WHO REGARDS A REBUKE WILL BE HONORED.”
Now that we have considered David’s failures (and his heart being bowed down in REPENTANCE and CONFESSION), let us now dwell on David’s successes that also contributed to him being “a man after God’s own heart.” If we take these to heart, we will surely know how we can “live as a man (or woman) for the glory of God.” David was a man who:
1. WORSHIPPED the Lord…We see this clearly in Psalm 113:1-3, “Praise the LORD! Praise, O servant of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD! Blessed by the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the LORD’S name is to be praised.” Though David failed at times, he was characterized by “PRAISING the Lord.” We too should be known as WORSHIPPERS. The fact is God desires our worship more than anything else. The Lord Jesus told a woman of Samaria, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the TRUE WORSHIPPERS will WORSHP the Father in spirit and; for the Father is seeking such to WORSHIP HIM.” (John 4:23).
2. COMMUNED with the Lord…In Psalm 42:1-2 and 63:1 David wrote, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts after You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Worshipping the Lord leads to having fellowship with the Lord! The more we are occupied with the glory of God and worship Him, the more we will desire to be in His company. If we truly realize that this world has nothing to satisfy our hearts, we will come to realize that the Lord alone can satisfy our “thirsty souls.” Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). If we habitually come into the Lord’s presence, our souls WILL BE SATISFIED. Communion with God will include “talking to Him in PRAYER.” David expressed this beautifully in Psalm 5:1-3, “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, for to You I WILL PRAY. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” We will then anticipate “hearing from the Lord,” as we shall consider next.
3. DELIGHTED in God’s Word…David said, “I shall DELIGHT myself in Your STATUTES; I shall not forget Your WORD” (Psalm 119:16; NASB). The “Word of God” was part of David’s “communion with God.” He read it habitually to “learn more of God” and to “be guided by Him” in everything he did. Thus, he also wrote, “Make me know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day.” David was known as a DEPENDENT man who “waited on the Lord” for guidance. Are we known as those who look into His Word daily to delight in His Word, to learn more of Him and to be guided by Him in every aspect of our life?
I could go on to give other examples of godly men (and women) throughout the Bible but David furnishes us with a “model example” of what should characterize us in order to be a “real man (or woman) after God’s own heart.” Because these things were true of David, he was also a “true servant” of the Lord, but it was worship, communion and delighting in God’s Word that prepared David for service. This, dear friend, is what will prepare you to “live as a man for the glory of God.” (DO) (572.1)