Sermon: After God's Own Heart
#1733B
Ronny H. Graham
Given 04-Nov-23; 35 minutes
description: As we read the stories of the luminaries throughout the pages of the Bible, we can take some comfort that they, like us, were part of the weak or base of the world (I Corinthians 1:27-31). Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Job, and Elijah all had significant faults or "chinks in their armor." Perhaps the most enigmatic figure is David, whom God referred to as a man after His own heart (I Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) in that he was totally committed to God's ways, demonstrating fidelity to God's Law. Though he certainly broke all of God's Ten Commandments, he also repented continually, cognizant of the fear of losing God's Holy Spirit (Psalm 51). Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, David's grandson, was the only human who ever survived temptation without yielding to sin (Hebrews 4:15). God the Father chooses whomever He pleases, bringing us to His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to create in us a new heart—one that will be a heart after God's own heart.
transcript:
Sometimes those of us who have been in the church for a long time, perhaps overlook or maybe never really give it much thought that many of those in the church today just might have never had any contact with the Worldwide Church of God. And with some, maybe never even hearing of it at all. It used to be in any given conversation, even in the world with various people, they would recognize the Worldwide Church of God and even more so, the name Herbert Armstrong. But that is not the case anymore. Worldwide is gone and very few remember HWA.
Now those of us who speak will begin telling some of our war stories and when you start seeing blank stares, you can tell that something is off. And for me, it is probably the speaker. Levi and I were talking a few weeks ago and he said, "I don't remember anything about Worldwide." And why should he? He was three months old when we left. The same goes for our girls. They were very young when we left and remember very little.
The Church of the Great God is now coming up on our 32nd anniversary in January and much of what we went through in Worldwide is a distant memory, and for many others, no memory at all, except of course for hearing of our war stories.
Now, Ali and I had quite a few serious trials, mainly with the ministry, as the church began to slip into apostasy. And were certainly glad those days were way behind us. Similarly, the Church of the Great God has been around now for almost 32 years and we have some members that not only never heard of Worldwide, but maybe never even had a religious background at all. While talking with someone a while back, I found that this was the case, at least for this individual, and coming into contact with the true church was really the first experience with religion.
This is certainly not a bad thing, but I began to realize that even though the first 14 years of my life were spent mostly in the Baptist church, we were taught as children the many stories of the Bible that many others, maybe, not even yet have heard. In our house you did not miss church on Sunday for any reason and you also did not miss Wednesday night prayer meeting. We did not even get off the hook when we went to grandma's, which her house was two hours away. She too would drag us to church on Sunday. She had a 200 acre farm and as a young boy I could certainly find a lot better things to do than go to church. But we also knew you did not tell grandma no. I can look back now and see that those lessons that were taught in Sunday school were quite helpful in being taught the many beneficial stories of the Bible.
Now, I think we are all aware that the Bible was written for our learning and I think it is safe to say more importantly, the end time church. Many of the people in the Bible maybe never even saw or read one, maybe not even knew that their life histories would be documented as examples for the rest of us. And as I was writing this, the book of remembrance mentioned in Malachi 3:16 came to mind, and I wondered, are our lives being documented to be used in the Millennium? That is a scary thought.
Some of you may recall that in my last split at the Feast, we looked at some of the fears that Moses seemed to have as God began to call him, instructing him in the job that He had given him to do. Moses attempted to try every excuse in the book to get God to send someone else. And he actually irritated God to the point of anger.
Now, many of the personages in the Bible who went on to do great works for the rest of us to learn from, did not start out that way. They were human just like us and many had some of the same problems. How many times have we looked into the Bible and said, "I'd really like to be like Joshua." Joshua never seemed to falter. Or Josiah who took control and destroyed the pagan altars. What about Samson who slew a lion with his bare hands? What about Samuel? This is not male exclusive. What about the likes of Deborah, Ruth, and Esther? What about Mary? How about Jael? Now there is a brave woman who knew how to wield a hammer! There are also women in the Bible of great faith and some did amazing things.
The stories of these characters in the Bible are there for us to take heed and hopefully learn from. Many are examples of what we should do and probably many more that we should not. How many times do we look at the examples before us in the Bible as untouchables? And perhaps some are, but also in many ways they faced some of the same problems we do. They were human just like us. Even Jesus Christ Himself was tempted in all points, as we are, yet without sin, as it says in Hebrews 4:15.
So, for the rest of this split, let us take a look at one of these personages in the Bible that quite possibly is the most notable after Jesus Christ, and that would be David. Now, when we hear the name David, there is probably several different ideas that pop into our head as a product of Sunday school. My first thought is David and Goliath. Many others would probably think of David and Bathsheba or who could forget about all the psalms that David wrote that we sing every week.
David is unique in many ways. But while God referenced others in the Bible as friends, such as Abraham and later on His disciples, as well as others He called sons, uniquely so He says of David that he was a man after His own heart. You can find that in I Samuel 13, verse 14. You can go ahead and turn there and we will go ahead and read it. But have we ever given much thought to what this really means?
I Samuel 13:14 [breaking into the relieving of Saul of his duties of kingship] "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."
Samuel is there talking to Saul and he tells him that He has taken the kingdom from him and gave it to a man after His own heart. Just keep that in mind as we begin to look at a few examples as to why God says this.
Before we begin, I came across another instance in relation to the heroes of faith and some of those that had the same kind of fears. Right here in I Samuel in chapter 16:
I Samuel 16:1-2 Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." But the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.'"
Samuel had been serving God in the Temple since childhood under the leadership of Eli, the priest at that time. But we see here God gives him a command to go to Bethlehem and the first thing Samuel says is, "I can't go, Saul will kill me." Now, Samuel is one of the heroes of faith listed back in Hebrews 11 and had grown up in the Temple, but he too still had fears.
I bring this up to hopefully give us some encouragement that we are not alone when we have doubts or fears. But on the other hand, we can be confident that God's purpose will be done and if we are given a job to do, we can have the faith that God will not forsake us. God's calling of the weak and the base applies throughout the Bible, not just us.
Now, the first introduction of David in the Bible we find in I Samuel 16, which we saw with Samuel being afraid of Saul. But he did indeed heed the instructions of God and we find Samuel had made his way to Bethlehem, into the house of Jesse, telling him why he is there. Let us read a part of this as we begin to explore the man after God's own heart. Jesse introduces Samuel to seven of his sons, having them pass before him as Samuel waits for God to choose.
I Samuel 16:10-13 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here." So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
Probably, as any man would in those times, and possibly now, Jesse began presenting his sons from the oldest to the youngest. Back in verse 6, when Samuel first saw the oldest son, Eliab (we did not read that one), but he said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him!" He was the oldest and he already served in the army under Saul. But Samuel was taken by what he saw and God tells him, "Do not look at his appearance."
After Samuel had seen the seven sons of Jesse, he asked, "Is this all your sons?" Now, it is not clear how old David was, but it is clear that his father never dreamed that his youngest son would be the one that God would choose. It was normal in those days for the youngest to tend the sheep and that was the job given to David and he was out in the fields tending the sheep. So Jesse calls for David and God answers Samuel, "Anoint him."
Now, David is described as being ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. It is not known if being described ruddy was that he had red hair (I could not find a definitive answer on that), or that his skin was red, perhaps tan from working in the fields. With his bright eyes, the margin in my Bible says that he was beautiful, but he was nothing more than a shrimpy little teenager, or so it seems. That is one thing else you cannot hardly find, a definitive age.
If we read through the story, we find that Samuel came, anointed David, and then left; and David went back to tending the sheep. No big deal. You are anointed king, go back to your job!
Now, one more very significant thing that we see here is that it was at that point that, in verse 13, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." And perhaps equally so or I should say, tragically so, it was from that day forward that God's Spirit no longer dwelt with Saul.
David, the most unlikely candidate from a man's perspective, even his own father, was anointed King of Israel with just the family around, without all the pomp and circumstance we just witnessed with Prince Charles. (I guess it is King Charles now.) And of course, if we are correct, King Charles sits on David's throne, still in existence as God promised David later in the Davidic covenant.
Now moving forward, it is really unclear what David's next move was or the exact timeline of what he does next. In the rest of chapter 16, it does seem David soon goes to serve Saul, playing music to soothe Saul's mind when the troubling spirit came upon him. But then reading on a little later in the battlefield, it is not really clear that Saul even knows who he is. On over in chapter 17, it does say that David went back and forth from serving Saul and still took care of his father's sheep. So maybe Saul did know him after all before the Goliath episode. Sometimes we really never know the exact unfolding of events.
There are a couple of things here that begin to give us some insight into David's character in I Samuel 17. Let us go ahead and read that one since Doctor Maas left me so much time.
I Samuel 17:17-20 Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back the news of them." Now Saul and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to fight and shouting for the battle.
We find that David's father Jesse had commanded him to take provisions through the army and see how his brothers were doing. Now, this may not seem like a big thing, but it tells me that David was obedient to his father. He was also responsible enough to find someone to take care of the sheep, and he follows his dad's commands without hesitation. When David arrived at the camp, his older brothers accused him of being a neb nose and just wanted to get in on the battle. It sounds like David's brothers were a lot like Joseph's, if you recall that story back in Genesis.
Now, Goliath had been taunting the army of Israel for 40 days and 40 nights by the time David arrives, with the soldiers fleeing for the hills from this 9 foot giant. As David began talking to the terrified soldiers, he could overhear Goliath ranting. Let us read a part of this here.
I Samuel 17:25-26 So the men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel." Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
What do we begin to see here as David listens to the men of Israel? We find in verse 25 a list of rewards that will be given to the man that defeats Goliath. And David asks, "What shall be done for this man?" David's response is not that he is concerned about the list of rewards. It is like, "What you mean to tell me? That this uncircumcised Philistine is defying the armies of God and you were afraid of him?" David was indignant that the army that represented God on earth would be afraid of this uncircumcised Philistine. David was ready to jump at the chance to take him from the earth. He was not concerned about the rewards from Saul. He was more concerned about upholding the name of God.
Now, remember not much time had passed since he had been anointed king and David quite possibly is still a teenager—and still a shrimp. But his knowledge of God is such that I think it is safe to say that David had been taught from birth to fear God and none other than by his parents.
As the story continues, David does indeed face Goliath. Let us go ahead and read a couple more verses here in I Samuel 17.
I Samuel 17:45-46 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come at me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."
David was not fighting for the rewards offered by Saul, but to uphold the name of God so that all the world would know that there is a God in Israel.
Now, at this point in David's life, there does not seem to be an ounce of pride or arrogance as he went at the Goliath encounter wholeheartedly, with total faith in God. Even though Goliath was possibly 4 to 5 feet taller and who knows how much more he outweighed David, David had no fear, it seems. His faith was in the right place.
Before we get back to the idea that David was a man after God's own heart, there is another episode that confirmed that David was indeed a humble servant of God without pride. Now, this story occurs in I Samuel 25. We will read part of it, but we do not have time to read it all. I will try to summarize it for you.
There was a scoundrel by the name of Nabal, whose men had been in the land of Carmel shearing their master's sheep, and David's men voluntarily followed them, keeping them safe and not allowing any of their property to be stolen. So David sent some of his men after, it does not really say how long, he sent some of his men over to Nabal's camp and asked if he would give them something to eat for that day. Nabal was a very rich man, but he was rash with them and turned them away.
Now, this is one of those times where David acted in haste and was prepared to wipe out Nabal and all the males in his company. But Abigail, Nabal's wife, after hearing what her greedy husband had done, made haste to prepare a feast for David and his men and she went out to meet them before they got there. Now, let us pick up the story in I Samuel 25.
I Samuel 25:23-28 Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at his feet and said: On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my Lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days."
I Samuel 25:32-33 Then David said to Abigail: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand."
Abigail makes a very telling observation in verse 28. She says that "evil is not found in you throughout your days." It sounds like she knew quite a bit about David and she knew that there was no evil in him. She also knew what he was about to do; and avenging himself was wrong and would be against God's will.
Now, what did David do? David did what every woman wants. The greatest king that Israel had ever witnessed listened to Abigail and heeded her advice, even telling her that she had been sent by God. David could have made a grave mistake that day. But instead he took advice and listened to a woman, which is very hard for a proud man to do, practically impossible. Ali reminded me to be careful because Adam listened to Eve and we know Abraham listened to Sarah. So be careful, men. But you can listen.
Maybe what she saw in those bright eyes of David was that there was no pride, evil, or guile. Now, incidentally, God took vengeance on Nabal and he died 10 days later. Does God pay attention to how people treat His elect? You better believe He does.
Now, as we begin to address the question that we began with, let us go back to I Samuel 13, verse 14 and we will read that scripture again.
I Samuel 13:14 "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."
Even though we have only scratched the surface regarding David's character, if we read through the entire story of David, we find that under David's kingship Israel rose to prominence like it never had before—and maybe even to this day. Who knows? We will also find that David loved God, he loved His law, he was faithful, he was honest and thankful, he was devoted to God. David had godly character, which was certainly shown when he had the perfect opportunity to eliminate Saul, not once but twice. But he declared that he would not lift his hand against God's anointed.
Now, Saul had tried to kill David numerous times and David, in his godly integrity, decided to wait on God. He could have seized the kingdom right then and there, but he could not lift his hand against Saul. And when he did cut the edge of Saul's garment, he was deeply repentant. And even though David sinned greatly at times, and he probably broke all ten of God's commandments, he probably repented more than anybody in the Bible—but was his heart like God's heart?
Oh, yeah, there is one more thing about David too. He never participated in any idolatry. A lot of Israel's kings participated in idolatry but not David. But was his heart like God's heart?
At first reading many interpret this verse saying that David's heart was like God's heart. But then there are probably just as many who say that David's heart could not have been like God's heart because of his sin. Now, there are several arguments from the differing sides and we will consider a few of them.
First, the Hebrew word used for heart here simply means complete or mature. This brings to mind Matthew 5:48 where it says, "Be you perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect." Now, even though we are now looking at the Greek in Matthew which is here rendered" perfect," we see the same idea as shown in I Samuel with the word "heart" here. The word perfect means complete or mature. And I say this because the question arises, "How could David be a man after God's own heart?" And equally so, how can we be perfect as God? The Father in heaven is perfect. It is a very tall order.
Now, the scholars have decided that there is a dilemma. I know you probably did not expect that, but that is what scholars do. There is a dilemma with the wording of this verse and it is with the phrase "after His own heart." The dilemma is that some believe this to be a prepositional phrase used adjectively, modifying the noun, which here would be "man," indicating that David's heart was like God's. The other idea is that the phrase is used adverbial and modifies the verb "sought" or in some translations "chosen." If it is indeed adverbial, it puts the emphasis on God's choosing rather than man.
As I said before, the great minds are divided.
There is also another idea which comes from the Acadian dialect, which is an extinct ancient language used in Mesopotamia at that time, and it says that this is a common phrase used by deities which indicates that it is their choice. Now, given the context of the chapter in which we see Saul was the product of what the people wanted—the people's choice—David was one whom God chose.
Now one question for our translators is, why did they not refer to David's own writings?
You can go ahead and turn to Psalm 51. We will get there for our last scripture in a moment. But you know, I actually had someone tell me one time that they knew all of the Bible. They had heard all of the sermons. There was nothing more that the ministry could teach them. There was nothing more for them to learn. I was dumbfounded. God's wisdom is infinite. Paul says in I Corinthians 2:9, it has not even "entered into the heart of man what He has planned for those who love Him." I was so upset about this, I went to Ali's mom. This has been many years ago, and I asked her, knowing that she knows the Bible front and back, "What do you think about this?" She said, "Well, this person is on their way out of the church."
David knew very well what it was like for someone to lose God's Spirit. He had witnessed it in Saul. In Psalm 51 he is begging God not to take His Spirit. Brethren, we are all at differing levels of understanding. Some may know the Bible from front to back. Some may know all the stories. Some may not know any of the stories. Some may know where the book of Nahum is.
Even though we are from all walks of life, the same God the Father chose us, the same God that chose Moses, Samuel, and David, watched over them and worked with them from before the foundation of the world, is the same God that has called us. Jesus says in John 6:44 that, "No man can come to Me unless the Father draws him." How many really believe that we have been called by the Most High? There is no greater Being. How great is our calling?
Now, let us go to Psalm 51. There are so many places we could have gone with David. But I think this one really shows his heart.
Psalm 51:1-11 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Like I said, there are so many places we could have gone, but Psalm 51 shows clearly David's heart; and he answers the question: Does he have a heart like God? He says no, because he asked God to create in me a clean heart, one that submits to God, and works with Him as He desires.
God the Father chooses whomever He pleases, bringing us to the Son of David, our Savior Jesus Christ, to create in us a new heart—one that will be a heart like God's own heart.
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