After His own heart

After His own heart

The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. – 1 Samuel 13:14

2 Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose heart is completely His.

Businesses are well aware of what it takes to recruit the best possible candidates for their job openings. The overriding critical factor in recruiting is finding people who will succeed and stick around. Finding individuals that are the best fit is paramount.

Companies are on the lookout for individuals who are most likely to produce the best results in a given position. Behind the scenes, this requires careful and strategic planning. Bad hires are costly and create all kinds of collateral damage. It is essential to find people that have not only abilities to optimize performance but also those that share the company’s values and objectives.

The Father is in the Redemption Business. His purpose is to make Himself known. He provides essential Truth so that all people might make the best possible decisions and follow Him. The Father never looks at resumes. If not resumes, what does He look at? He looks at hearts! He disregards outward appearance entirely. He knows the heart of each person.

Psalms 44:21 [God] knows the secrets of every heart.

When He makes a selection, no interviews are required. He never consults with current team members to obtain their opinions or preferences. When He has to let someone go and replace them, He does so at His own discretion.

Acts 13:22 God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, “I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.”

The Father had already identified Saul’s replacement, a man after His own heart. “This phrase does not refer merely to David’s piety or private and personal character virtues. Instead, it refers to David’s commitment and service to the Father. David was zealous to serve the Father. Saul was a trainwreck of a King. He had failed to obey the Father’s instructions and commands (James E. Smith).

REFLECT & PRAY

The Father has a special place in His heart for those that are entirely His. It is of greater importance for a child of the King to have a special place in God’s heart rather than merely that the Father has a special place in their heart.

Father how I long to be a man after Your heart. Oh Father, I want to have a special place in Your heart even more.

INSIGHT

What does the Father desire most from the children of the King? The Father looks for those who put His interests before their own.

What are the characteristics of a person after the Father’s own heart? The answer unfolds in the Scriptures. Such individuals are blameless, innocent, faithful, pure, humble, courageous, and fearless. They are characterized by integrity and spirituality. They are all in and willing to do everything the Father desires. Consider David’s self-description.

2 Samuel 22:24-29

 24 I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin.

 25 The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence.

 26 “To the faithful, you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.

 27 To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked, you show yourself hostile.

 28 You rescue the humble, but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them.

 29 O LORD, you are my lamp. The LORD lights up my darkness.

The Father seeks those after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).This thought may be expressed as “a person whose desire is to serve the LORD” or “the kind of man he wants” (UBS). But there’s a problem with human hearts, and the Father alone can see through the facades that people hide their hearts behind.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

 9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

 10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives.

Thus the Father instructed Samuel on what to do as he sought the next king of Israel.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

2 Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

How can any child of the King draw close to the Father and become a person whose heart is fully His? David shows us the way.

“David has a heart attuned to Yahweh’s will and purposes” (Walton). Any of us can do the same if we so desire. As we observe and ponder David’s qualifications, any of us can choose to be like him.

Seek to be blameless, innocent, faithful, pure, humble, courageous, and fearless. Determine that your life will be characterized by integrity and spirituality. And most of all, devote yourself to being willing to do everything the Father asks of you.

Seek to avoid being like Saul in his disobedience. When he was confronted, he was full of excuses and seemingly had several valid reasons. “Brushing aside Saul’s excuses, Samuel condemned the king’s actions as those of a fool. No line of reasoning, however compelling, could ever justify disobedience to the Lord. Saul had disobeyed the Lord’s “command” (1 Samuel 13:13) and had to suffer the penalties” (Robert D. Bergen).

However, there is an unexpected twist regarding “God’s own heart.” This is a two-sided coin.

1 Samuel 16:7 The LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

A more literal translation of the last sentence is: “For the LORD sees not as man sees, for man sees according to the eyes, but the LORD sees according to the heart.”

“God is not limited, as humans are, in his point of view. He is not deceived by outward appearances. He sees a person’s heart. . .. That is, when God sees, he does not just see things with the eyes, as we do, taking in only impressions. God sees according to his heart. That is, God’s point of view is determined by his own will and purpose. He sees according to his own intentions, his heart” (Woodhouse).

“The expression ‘a man after [God’s] own heart’ has entered Christian jargon, usually as a statement about the qualities of the person. In 1 Samuel 13:13, however, the expression is literally, ‘The LORD has sought for Himself a man according to his own heart’ . . .. This is about the place this man had in God’s heart rather than about the place God had in the man’s heart. It was a way of saying that God had chosen this man according to his own will and purpose” (Woodhouse).

Indeed, the Father had a special place in David’s heart. However, of greater importance, David had a special place in the Father’s heart.

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© Dr. H 2022