Key Scripture: Acts 13:22 "And when God had removed Saul, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.”
Last Sunday we learned that there is a difference between seeking God’s heart and seeking His help. We concluded that:
Those who have God’s heart, have God’s help.
This morning I want us to look at the heart of the man David. God testified that David had a heart like His heart. A heart that would inspire and motivate David to do accomplish everything God wanted done.
God’s heart is always a heart of love, a heart of forgiveness, mercy, kindness and care. Despite the moments of frustration, anger, hurt, disappointment and even acts of rage, the heart of God always wins over judgment, condemnation, criticism and rejection.
If God is ever moved to punish or correct, it is because He has been given no other choice and then He quickly moves to accept repentance and forgives with His tender mercies. David wrote that God would not keep His anger forever nor would He treat us according to our sins but He takes pity on us as a Father, caring for and encouraging his children. (Psalms 103)
God chose David because of David’s heart … his outlook on life … the platform and perspective from which David viewed the situations, disappointments and challenges of everyday life.
God could be assured that when the dust settled in David’s life that David would come down to a very predictable decision, choosing what was right, honest, merciful and kind. That in the end David would be Godly, like God, in his judgments and in his actions. God trusted that in the end, David would do all God wanted him to do.
It appears that God is willing to endure and wipe away all of the mistakes of a person who is neither motivated nor captivated by fear nor by selfishness but by God’s heart. So, lets look at this man whom God chose to use as a poster boy for His own heart.
No challenge in David’s life was greater or longer lasting than his relationship with King Saul.
If you are familiar with the story you will remember that the prophet Samuel anointed David to be King over
Saul grew jealous of David’s popularity and decided to kill him. After several attempts David fled from Saul’s presence and remained a hunted man in exile for many years.
1 Samuel 26
23 "May the LORD repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed.
24 "And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the LORD, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation."
During those hears of living on the run in caves and desert places David had several clear chances to kill the King. However David demonstrated the depth of his character and trust in God when he declared that he would not put forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, but rather he would trust God to deliver him and bring him to his destiny. (1 Samuel 24:6; 26:9; 26:23)
It was immediately after one such encounter when David decided that he needed to get completely away from Saul’s grasp. We pick up this story in:
1 Samuel 27 NKJV
1 ¶ And David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of
2 Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of
3 So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow.
4 And it was told Saul that David had fled to
5 Then David said to Achish, "If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?"
6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of
7 Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.
So David moves to the city of
In those days Ziklag was a city located approximately 17 miles Northwest of Beersheba.
* Ziklag was originally inherited by the tribe of
* Later in Joshua 19:5 we see Ziklag re-allotted to the tribe of Simeon.
At some point Ziklag came under the control of the Philistines and was eventually given to David by King Achish as a place of residence and refuge for him and his renegade band of 600 men and their families where David lived for one year and four months.
* The name Ziklag means ‘winding’.
During this one year and four months David falsely presented himself as an ally of the Philistine king. He continued to lead his 600 men against the enemies of
After the one year and four months Achish decides to go to war against Saul farther north in the Jezreel valley and he invites David and his band or warriors to go along and be his personal guard.
Saul assembles the armies of
It was at this point that the military commanders of the Philistine army approach King Achish and demand that David be sent home, back away from the battle for fear that he might get into the heat of the fight and change sides to help
The next day, when David and his men approach Ziklag it is evident that something is wrong. Upon arrival they find that their sworn enemies, the Amalekites, have raided the South and destroyed Ziklag, burning it to the ground and carrying off captive both of David’s wives along with all of the wives and children of David’s 600 men.
Both David and his men were so distraught that they wept until they could weep no more. Then, in anger David’s men spoke of stoning him for the loss of their sons and daughters.
David however, with his wounded spirit, standing all alone, makes a decision that only a man after God’s Own heart can manage to make in such a time as this:
1 Samuel 30 KJV
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
With this encouragement David set out to pursue the Amalekites and recover all that has been taken. David’s men began to follow him but many were too tired and distraught to continue and so 200 stop at the brook Besor. They just can’t go on. (Interesting to note the name ‘Besor’ means ‘Cheerful’. At times people cannot go beyond cheerful, what makes them happy or feel good, to pursue the destiny. However David and 400 of his men were able to go beyond the cheerful moments of life to accomplish the will of God.)
Sure enough David found the Amalekites, rescued every person so that not one was lost, gained much spoil and killed almost every one of the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 30:24 … The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All shall share alike." (NIV)
When David returned with the spoil and the people those men who went with David to the fight did not want to share with those who stopped at Besor. David however, established a custom in
Two days after David returned to Ziklag he received a messenger who told that King Saul and his three sons, including Jonathan, had lost their lives in the battle against Achish at
Finally, there is no one left to pursue David … no one standing between him and his rightful place on the throne of Israel … now … all his troubles are over … what a great day to rejoice!!!!!! NO!
No? No! Not for a man after God’s own heart. There will be no rejoicing today … not over the death of the King and his sons.
Rather, David tore his clothes, wept and mourned and refused to eat due to the loss of this great man, the anointed of God, King of Israel, David’s master, lord and king.
At that point David was moved with grief and wrote the ‘Song of the Bow’ as a befitting passionate cry for the relationship he had with those whom he so respected and dearly loved. He commanded this song be taught to all the children of
2 Samuel 1 NKJV
19 "The beauty of
20 Tell it not in
21 "O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
22 From the blood of the slain, From the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 "Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.
24 "O daughters of
25 "How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places.
26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.
27 "How the mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war perished!"
Sure enough David is crowned King in the process of time and reigns for forty prosperous years. Although David is never seen as perfect, in fact far from it, nonetheless he is always a man after God’s heart.
What makes a man able to weep at the death of an enemy … it’s because he is a man, a man after God’s own heart who treats his enemies like God treats enemies … just like Jesus said …
Matthew 5 NKJV
44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Today I challenge you to make the choice to change your perspective on how you think and feel about those who may be standing in the way of your success. Those who may hate you, spitefully use you, wrongfully accusing you or persecuting you.
Love covers a multitude of wrongs.
Take upon yourself the heart of God and decide that you will be more:
* Loving
* Forgiving
* Merciful
* Kind
Don’t let life, friends or family matters discourage you, distress you and defeat you.
Let God fight your battles and you will always have the victory.
