“David: A Man After God’s Own Heart”

(Sunday Morning June 21st, 2009)
 

Selected Scriptures  (1 Samuel 13:13-14)

 

O.S.  As We All Know, Today is Father’s Day; and So, With This in Mind, I Want Us to Examine Some Things About One of the Greatest Men Who Has Ever Lived

 

->      And King David Really Was a Great Man of God

 

->      In Fact, He Was Such a Great Man of God That Sixty-Two Chapters in the Word  of God are Devoted to Describing His Life

 

->      By Comparison, Abraham, Who Was Certainly a Great Man of God, Who is Called “The Father of the Faithful” and “A Friend of God”

 

->      Abraham’s Life Story Occupies Fourteen Chapters in the Word of God

 

->      Moreover, David is Mentioned Numerous Times in the New Testament as Well

 

         . He is Mentioned in the First Verse of the New Testament, Because Jesus is Referred to There as “The Son of David”

        . He is Also Mentioned in the Last Chapter of the New Testament, Because Jesus is Referred to in Revelation 22:16  ”…the root and the descendant of David, the bright                  morning star."

 

          . In All, David is Mentioned 58 Times in the New Testament

          . 16 Times in Matthew, 7 Times in Mark, 13 Times in Luke,  2 Times in John, 11 Times in Acts, 3 Times in Romans, Once in 2 Timothy,  Twice in the Book  of Hebrews and             Three Times in the Book of the Revelation

 

->       Over and Over Again, David is Mentioned, Because He Truly Was a Great Man of God

 

->       But of Course, He Was Just a Man

 

->       And He Wasn’t a Perfect or a Sinless Man

 

->       David Made Some Mistakes, and Some of Them Had Some Very Far Reaching Effects Upon Him, and Upon His Family and Upon the Entire Nation of Israel

 

Ex.    On One Occasion, for Example, David Took a Sinful Census of the People

 

->      Now, God Had Commanded Moses to Take a Census in the Past (Num 1:1-3; Num 26:2);  So, It Was Not the Census Itself That Was Sinful

 

->       The Problem Was That It Was Motivated by Satan According to 1 Chron 21:1, and It Was Not Conducted in the Way God’s Law Prescribed (Exod 30:12,16)

 

->        And as a Consequence of This Sin, God Sent a Plague, and This Sinful Census Resulted in the Death of  70,000 Israelites (2 Samuel 24:1-17)

 

Ex.     Then, of Course, Most of Us are Familiar With David’s Terrible Sin of Adultery  and Murder and How This Sin Effected Him, and His Family, and the Nation

 

->       If David Had Lived in Modern Times, I’m Sure That the Media Would Have Had a Heyday With All of That

 

->       He Would Certainly Have Been Vilified, and Probably Imprisoned for Life

 

->       But I Find It Interesting That God, When He Gave His Assessment of David’s Life, Did Not Allow This to Negate All of the Good That He Had Done

 

1 Kings 15:4-5 (Turn and Read)

 

->       When I Read Those Two Verses, I Thought of How Different God is in the Way That He Judges a Man Than We are

 

->       We Tend to Focus on That One Tragic Mistake That a Man May Have Made in His Life, or That One Flaw in His Character, and We Make That His Whole Life

 

->       But God Saw This as the Exception to a Life That Had Otherwise Honored Him

 

->       No, Listen, Even Though David Made Some Terrible Mistakes in Life,  He Was Still a Great Man of God

 

->        And God Continued to Use Him, and God Never Put Him on the Proverbial Shelf, Because God Could See David’s Heart

 

->        And God Knew That David Was a Man Who Loved Him, and Who Wanted to Know Him and to Please Him

 

->         In Fact, the Bible Says That This is Why God Chose Him, and This Makes a Study of David’s Heart Something That is Well Worth Our Time

 

I.  David Had a Pure Heart

 

->    The Heart, Biblically Speaking, Refers to the Innermost Part of Our Being Which is Able to Desire, and to Discern, and to Dedicate Itself

 

->     And This is Why God is Very Interested in What Goes on Within All of Our Hearts

 

->     This is Why in Proverbs 4:23, the Bible Says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (NIV)

 

->     And This is Why in 2 Chronicles 16:9, the Bible Says “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose          heart is loyal to Him” (NKJV)

 

Q.n = Isn’t That an Encouraging Verse of Scripture?

 

->     Now, When the Prophet Samuel Came to Bethlehem, and Then, to the House of Jesse, He Saw Eliab Who Looked Physically Impressive, and Samuel Came Close to Making a          Terrible Mistake  

 

->      But Fortunately, God Intervened, and He Said This to Samuel, He Said,  “…Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for               God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  (1 Samuel 16:7)

 

->       Now, This Does Not Mean That a Person Has to be Ugly and Unimpressive to be Able to Serve the Lord

 

->       In Fact, We are Told in 1 Samuel 16:12 That David Was “…ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance” You See, David Was Not Ugly; David Was Handsome,             But the Point is That His Physical Appearance is Not What Was Important to God; It Was His Heart

 

->       Now, One of the Ways We Can See What It Means to Have a Heart for God is by Way of Contrast

 

->       And Since King Saul, Unlike David, Had a Corrupted Heart, We Can Learn Some Important Things About This Subject by Studying His Life  

 

1) Saul Was Concerned About Externals

 

->  He Was, Without a Doubt a Physically Impressive Man

 

->  We are Told in 1 Samuel 9:2 That,  From His Shoulders Up, He Was Taller Than Any Other Man in Israel

 

->  So, We Can Learn From This That We Should Always Beware of Tall Men

 

->  Not Really  

 

->  The Real Problem is That Saul Developed an Extremely Independent Spirit, and He Was Going to do What He Wanted to do Whether Anyone Else Liked It or Not

 

->  And This is Caused Him to Disobey God and to Usurp the Authority of the Priest

 

->  He Was Supposed to Wait Seven Days Before Going Into Battle, on the Seventh Day Samuel Was Due to Arrive to Offer a Sacrifice to the Lord, But Saul Got Impatient

 

->  He Didn’t See Samuel Coming; So, in Total Disregard of the Direct Commandment of God, Saul Offered the Burnt Offering Himself  (1 Samuel 13:1-14)

 

->   And We Know This Pattern Continued, Because in 1 Samuel 15, We Can See That Saul Disobeyed the Lord Again

 

->   He Had Been Specifically Instructed by God to Utterly Destroy All of the Amalekites Including Their Livestock

 

->   But Saul Did Not do That

 

->   He Took the Animals for Himself, and He Didn’t Even Kill the King

 

->   And How He Behaved After This is Very Revealing

 

->   Because When He Saw the Prophet Samuel Coming, He Tried to Make Light of It All, and He Tried to Claim That He Had Been Completely Obedient

 

->   In 1 Samuel 15:13, the Bible Says  “Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ‘Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."

 

St = Of Course, Saul Knew That He Had Not Been Obedient, and Samuel Was Not About to Play Along and Ignore His Pretense; And So, Samuel Said to Saul,“…' What then is               this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"  (1 Sam 15:14)

 

->     After This, Saul Tried to Suggest to Samuel That He Had Really Just Saved these Animals in Order to Sacrifice Them to the Lord

 

->    But Again, Saul Knew That He Was Lying and so Did Samuel

 

->    And Then, After All of This, on the Surface, It Sounds as if  King Saul Had Repented

 

->    But if You Will Look Carefully, I Believe We Can See Where Saul Was Really Coming From

 

1 Samuel 15:24-26 (Turn and Read)

 

Q.n = So, What do You Think?  Do You Think Saul Was Genuine and Sincere?

 

Ans = I Think That It is Obvious That His Primary Concern Was His Image

 

->     He Wanted Samuel to go Back With Him and to Act as if He Was Supportive

 

Pt =  Saul Was Only Concerned About Externals

 

->      With Saul, It Was All About His Public Image, His Persona, and How He Looked in the Sight of Men

 

->      In Fact, He Was Not All That Different From the Pharisees in Jesus’ Day Who Were Very Interested in Appearing to be Religious

 

->      And Make No Mistake About It, the Common People Were Impressed

 

->      But Not Jesus

 

->      Jesus Could See Right Through All of That, and He Knew That They Were Phoneys, and That is Why, on One Occasion, Jesus Said to Them; He Said, “ You hypocrites,                  rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE  HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY  FROM ME”   (Matt 15:7-8)

 

2) David Was Concerned About Internals

 

   a. He Was Humble

 

   -> Some of God’s Sentiments are Expressed in Psalms 89:20 Which Says

 

        "I have found David My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him”

 

     -> Of Course, a Servant is Someone Who is Concerned With Exalting Someone Else; a Servant is Concerned About Making Others Look Good

 

    -> And That’s What David Was Like, He Was Not Out to Exalt Himself

 

     -> His Desire Was to Exalt God and to Exalt Others

 

     b. He Was Honest

 

     -> In Psalms 78:72, We Learn Some More About Why God Choose David; the Bible Says “So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,  and guided them                  with his skillful hands”

 

      -> That Word “Integrity” is Very Important, Because It Refers to His Honesty and His Character

 

     -> Someone Has Said That Our Character is What We are When No One is Looking

 

      c. He Was Holy

 

      -> And by This, I Simply Mean That David Pursued Holiness

 

     -> David Expressed This Desire in Psalms 19:14 When He Said,

 

           “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer”

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Ill:  Diamond Ring = Small Pure Diamond as Opposed to a Larger Flawed Diamond

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Pt =  Saul Was Concerned About Looking Good on the Outside, But David Was Concerned About Being Good on the Inside

 

App:  Now, the Sad Fact is, Especially in This Country of Ours, That Most People are More Concerned About Externals Rather Than Internals

 

Q.n = Wouldn’t You Agree With That?

 

->       Abraham Lincoln, for Example, Was a Great President, But I Strongly Doubt That He Would Have Been Elected in Modern Times

 

->       Lincoln Was Often Described as Being Awkward and Slow of Speech; And So, He Probably Would Not Have Been Able to Project Himself Very Well

 

Q.n = What About You Mr Voter? Or Mrs Voter?

 

Q.n = Do You Vote for Someone Because of How They Look on the Tube? Or How Well They Project Themselves?  or is It Their Character That Matters to You?

 

Q.n = What About You Young Person or Single Adult?

 

Q.n = Do You Have Some Kind of Arbitrary External Criteria Regarding Who You Will go Out With? (Ex. She Has to Weigh Less Than 125lbs.  He has to be a hunk)

 

->       You Know, That Could Cause You to Make One of the Biggest Mistakes of Your Life

 

Q.n = What About You Husband or Wife?

 

->      Maybe as She Gets Older Your Wife Doesn’t Look Like Miss America Anymore or Maybe Your Husband Doesn’t Look Like Tom Cruise

 

->      Maybe Its Time for You to Stop Putting so Much of an Emphasis the Physical Appearance of Your Spouse and More of an Emphasis on What is in His or Her Heart

 

Q.n =  What About You as a Parent?

 

Q.n =   Are You Trying to Raise Your Children to Honor and Glorify God and to be Good?  

 

Q.n =   Or are You Really More Concerned About Them Looking Good?
 

Q.n = What About You Mr. Employer?

 

->       And Oh How I Pity That Pastor Search Committee or That Church Staff Search Committee That Puts Their Emphasis on the Externals

 

->       Oh Listen, God is Concerned About What is in the Heart, and We Should be Also

 

II. David Had a Passionate Heart

 

1) He Had a Passion for His God

 

-> David Was Excited About Who God is, How Awesome God is; and Yet, How Intimately God Cares for and Loves Each One of Us (Psalms 8:3-4)

 

->  But Not Only Was There Something in David That Could Get Excited About Who God is and How God Loves Us, There Was Something Within David That Could Come to a              Boil When God’s Glory Was on the Line

 

->  And That is Why David Could Not Stand By and Allow the Giant Goliath to Continue to Insult His God

 

->  While Everyone Else, Including King Saul, Stood There Watching and Listening to This Nine Foot Tall Baal Worshipper as He Came Out & Insulted & Blasphemed the                Living God Day in an Day Out, David Couldn’t Stand It for Even a Minute

 

->   And David Began Walking Through Their Ranks, Because He Wanted to Know

 

Q.n = How Can You Continue to Sit There and Listen to This Pagan Insult Our God?

 

->    The Philistines Worshipped Baal, and Baal Was a Common Housefly; Baal Was a Dung Beetle, and This Was Kind of a Primitive Form of Evolution

 

->    They Believed That We All Evolved From the Housefly, the Dung Beetle

 

->    And Implying That This Dung Beetle Was Mightier Than His God Was More Than David Could Take -  IT JUST GOT ALL OVER HIM

 

->    And I Believe That IN HIS HEART, David Didn’t Care Whether He Lived or Died, Something Had to be Done About This

 

->    Because This Dung Beetle Worshipper Was Insulting the Name of His God!

 

->    And So, David Marched Out There, and He Confronted Goliath, & He Said to Him, “…' You come to me with a sword, a spear, and 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 taunted”  (1 Samuel 17:45)

 

Q.n = You Know, That Fact Had Never Entered Goliath’s Mind Before,  But It Was About to,  Wasn’t It?  (Literally)

St = We See This Again When David Brings the Ark of the Covenant Into the City of Jerusalem.

 

->     The Ark Represented the Presence of God, and David Had a Desire to Bring the Ark Into the City of Jerusalem

 

->      And David Got Excited About This, He Even Danced in Front of the Ark as It Was Brought Into the City, and He Gave Away Steaks and Candy (2 Samuel 6)

 

->      We See This Again Much Later in David’s Life When He Expresses a Desire to Build a Temple for God

 

->      In 2 Samuel 7:1-2, the Bible Says,“ Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,  2 that the                king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains’”

 

->     Now, I Believe That the Timing of This Tells Us a Lot About David,  Because David Was Enjoying Some Leisure

 

->     The Bible Says That the LORD Had Given Him Rest on Every Side From All His Enemies

 

->      Now, Let’s be Honest, How Many of Us in Our Leisure Would be Thinking About Glorifying God by Building a Temple for Him

 

Q.n = When You’re Sitting at Home on Your Couch, Do You Think About God? Do You Muse About How You Can Serve God or Honor God?

 

->      Now, It is True That God Did Not Allow David to Build the Temple, Because He Was a Man of Bloodshed, a Man of War

 

->      But in 2 Chronicles, We Find the Rest of the Story, and We Discover That God Gave David a Very High Compliment

 

->     Listen to What Solomon Had to Say About This in 2 Chronicles 6:8; He Said,  "But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My          name, you did well that it was in your heart’”

 

->      And Then, God Went on to Promise David Some Wonderful Blessings (Elaborate)

 

St =   You Know, There are Many People in Our World Who Have Set Out With Some Great Spiritual Aspirations Only to be Redirected by the Lord

 

->       Perhaps, They Have Tried to Become Missionaries, or Pastors, or Music Ministers

 

->       But for Whatever Reason, They are No Longer Doing This

 

->       Maybe They Were Rejected by a Mission Board

 

->      Or Maybe They Discovered That Vocational Christian Ministry Was Not Right for Them, or Maybe They Even Faced Failure Repeatedly in These Endeavors

 

Q.n = How do You Feel About People Like This?

 

->      Well, This is What I Believe God Would Have to Say About People Like This; I Believe God Would Say to Them  “It Was Good That It Was in Their Heart, Because There               are Many Who Would Never Have Even Had Such High Aspirations Pertaining to God’s Glory”

 

->      There are Many Who Would Never Have Even Considered Doing Such a Thing

 

->       And in Their Time of Meditation, and Prayer, or Leisure, Such a Thought Would Never Have Even Crossed Their Mind

 

->       By the Way, I Can See How This Message Applies Very Directly to What  We are Seeking to Accomplish With This New Church

 

->        I Realize That Most of You Wouldn’t Even be Here if Your Own Personal Image is What You Were Concerned About

 

->        If Your Main Concern Was Your Own Personal Image, or Making Business Contacts, or Something Like That, You Would Probably be Trying to Promote Yourself at One             of the Largest Churches in Town

 

->        But I Can See How, if Someone’s Heart is Right With the Lord, They Would Actually Desire to be a Part of What We are Doing

 

->        Because the End Result of This Will be a New Church, a New Church That I Pray Will Honor and Glorify the Lord for Many Many Many Years to Come

 

->        A Church Where the Word of God and the Gospel Will be Preached, a Church That Will Provide Meaningful Programs and Support Missionaries

 

2) He Had a Passion for His People

 

-> In 2 Samuel 9, We Find David at Leisure Again; We Find Him Meditating & Musing

 

-> And This Time, He Begins to Think About His Old Friend Jonathan

 

-> And He Begins to Remember a Blood Covenant That He Had Made With Jonathan When They Were Young

 

-> And Then Suddenly, He Gets an Idea, and He Says “…' Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness  for Jonathan's sake?’” (2 Samuel 9:1)

 

->   And to Make a Long Story Short, David Found a Man by the Name of Mephibosheth Who Had Become Crippled When He Was a Child as His Nurse Fled in Fear

 

->   Most Kings in That Day Would Purge Their Kingdom of Anyone Associated With the Previous Dynasty; So, Mephibosheth Thought It Was Curtains for Him When a Royal           Chariot Pulled Up in Front of His House in a Place Called Lodebar

 

->   But to His Surprise, David Welcomed This Crippled Man Into His Home; He Gave Him Land and Servants, and He Allowed Him to Sit at the Kings Table

 

->   And There is Some Beautiful Biblical Symbolism in All of This

 

->   Because All of This Came to This Man Mephibosheth, Who Had Suffered a Fall, Who Would Have Been Considered an Enemy, Not Because He Deserved It

 

->   But Because of a Blood Covenant That Had Been Made Between David and His Friend Jonathan

 

->   You See, This is Really a Picture of Our Condition, and How God’s Grace Has Been Extended to Us

 

->   BUT NOW, LET’S BE HONEST AGAIN AND ANSWER THIS QUESTION

 

Q.n = How Many of Us in Our Times of Meditation, and Prayer, and Leisure Spend That Time Thinking About How We Can Help Those Who are Less Fortunate Than We are?

 

Q.n = This Tells Us Something About What Was in David’s Heart, Doesn’t It?

 

St = David Also Had a Desire in His Heart for Solomon His Son, and the Generation That Was to Come After Him, and That is Found in 1 Chronicles 28

 

->    There is a Lot in 1 Chronicles 28 About How David Had Made Preparations for the Building of the Temple

 

->     And There is a Lot in the Next Chapter About How David Gave an Extravagant Sacrifice for the Building of the Temple

 

->      But in Verses 8-9, We are Told Something About David’s Desire for His People and for His Son Solomon

 

->      Listen to What He Said, He Said,  "So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing  of our God, observe and seek after all the commandments           of the Lord your God  so that you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you  forever.  As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father,                 and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts,  and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you  find           Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever”

 

->      You See, David Wanted to See His People Serving God

 

->      He Wanted to See God’s Kingdom Established, and He Wanted His Son Solomon to Have a Heart for God.

 

Pt =   Someone Who Has a Heart for God Wants to See God Glorified

 

->       They Want to Serve God, and They Want to See Others Serving God

 

->       And Someone Who Has a Heart for God Wants to See the Influence of God Increase in the World

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App:   Now, I Don’t Think It Would be Right for Me to Finish This Sermon Without Pointing Out That Things Did Not Always go Well for David

->       David Spent a Great Deal of His Time in Obscurity, and He Certainly Faced Some Times of Great Difficulty (Elaborate – Hunted Down by King Saul)

 

->       But Ultimately, He Was Blessed, Because He Was a Man After God’s Own Heart

 

Invitation:  

 

->  Well, in Closing, I Just Want to Say This  

 

->  It is True That David Was a Great Sinner, But It is Also True That David Was a Great Repenter

 

->   And the Reason God Did Not Take David’s Life or Put Him on the Shelf Even After He Had Committed Some Horrific Sins Was Because David Got His Heart  Right With God        Again

 

->   In Psalms 51:10, He Expressed His Desire When He Said,

 

       “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me”

 

->   And the Good News is That God Did That for David, and God Can do That for You

 

->    Because God Offers Grace and Forgiveness to All of Those Who Will Humble Themselves and Seek His Grace

 

->    David Knew This Too, and That’s Why He Went on in Psalms 51 to Say “ For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt                    offering”

 

Q.n = What do Those Represent?

Ans = The Externals

 

->     David Goes on to Say “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not  pleased with burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are (Listen) a broken
             spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise”

 

->    This Means That, Regardless of What Sins You Might Have Committed in the Past, God Will Forgive You if You Will Come to Him in Humility

 

->    And the Promise That the Prophet Ezekiel Gave Us Was That Someday God Would Give a New Heart to All of Those Who Will Turn to Him  (Eze 11:19)

 

->    Which Simply Means That if You Will Turn to Jesus Christ Today and Receive  Him as Your Personal Lord and Savior; God Will Give You a New Heart