A Man After God's Own Heart
Acts
When God, who looks upon the heart, looked
upon David's heart, he said, here is "a man after mine own heart."
Though I have read that statement hundreds of times, I never cease to be
astonished by it. Every time I read it my heart cries out, "God, give me
such a heart!" I want to be that kind of man. While I live in this world,
I want to live as a man after God's own heart. What did God see when he looked
on David's heart? He saw...
A HEART MADE NEW BY HIS GRACE - David was
born with a bad heart, conceived in sin, shaped in iniquity, straying from his
mother's womb (Psa. 51:5; 58:3), just like all other men. But God gave him a
new heart. He was made a new creature by grace. This new heart was...
A BELIEVING HEART - When he was yet a
young man, David committed himself to the Lord God. He believed God, and it was
imputed to him for righteousness (Psa. 31:5, 14; 32:1-5;
A BROKEN, CONTRITE HEART - Read Psalm 51.
It is the song of a brokenhearted,contrite man. David's heart was not broken
because he had been caught in his sin, but because he had committed it, because
he had dishonored God whom he truly loved. He saw his sin in the light of God's
holiness and in the light of his great mercy in forgiving sin by the blood of
Christ. As soon as he heard God's prophet say, "The Lord hath put away thy
sin" (II Sam.
A SUBMISSIVE, OBEDIENT HEART - We see this
in the way he responded to the persecutions of Saul, the death of his son, the
revolt of Absalom, and the cursing of Shemei. Believing God, David was patient
before him, submissive to his will, content with his providential rule, and
obedient to his Word. Therefore he possessed...
A PEACEFUL, CONTENT HEART - Read his last
words (II Sam. 23:5), and see a man at peace with God. David enjoyed the peace
of redemption and the peace of reconciliation, the blessed peace of knowing
God!
Don Fortner