What did David really do that the bible called him “a man after God’s own heart”?
Let’s begin to answer your good question by reading Acts 13:21-22, “…they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” We might think that was an odd thing for the Lord to say because David was far from perfect. In fact, in his life, he had performed some terrible sins!
We see from 2 Samuel 11:2-4 that David was guilty of adultery. Having seen the beautiful Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, bathing on her roof, we read that “David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.”
We see from 2 Samuel 11:14-15 that David was guilty of murder. “And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. We then read in verse 17, “And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.”
The reason the Lord rejected Saul as king and chose David is given to us in 1 Samuel 13:13, “…Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God.” Saul was rebellious towards the Lord. David, in spite of his sins, did not openly rebel against the Lord’s will. Although he failed on occasion, the desire of David was to please the Lord. Let’s consider few examples of this:
- David waited on the Lord for His guidance. He wrote in Psalm 25:5, “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”
- David was a worshipper of God. He wrote in Psalm 113:1-3, “Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised.”
- David was a man of repentance. He wrote in Psalm 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”
- David realized his constant need of the Lord. He wrote in Psalm 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.”
- David delighted in the Lord and His Word. He wrote in Psalm 119:16, “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
”We, like David, will not always do the will of God because we sometimes walk in the flesh…although we shouldn’t. In spite of his failures, David’s heart kept him longing to please the Lord. We read in Proverbs 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” The difference between a righteous and a foolish man is that the righteous man refuses to be defined by his failures. He may fall. He may fall many times, but he continues to get up and seek the Lord for his life, even as David did. What about you, dear friend? Are you a man or woman after God’s own heart? (176.6)