Developing A Heart like David’s
- Guido Kuwas
- Feb 20, 2020
- 4 min read
After removing Saul, He made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22
This morning I was meditating on the heart of King David in the Old Testament.
David had something that God liked in him. His heart. David’s heart was attractive to God.
A man after my own heart may be better translated as “a man according to My own heart”. God found a heart in David that was similar to His own heart.. Wow!
When that heart begins to worship it says things like,
I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 NLT
David sticks out among the Old Testament prophets and kings because of his passionate love for God. He loved God so much that He couldn’t keep that love on the inside:
Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 2 Samuel 6:14-15 NIV
When Mical, his wife (Saul’s daughter), voiced her contempt for David’s exuberance, he said,
“It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honour.” 23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. 2 Samuel 6:21-23
That is how a heart according to God’s own heart speaks – unashamed for showing his passion for the Lord.
This pleases the Lord immensely when we have a heart like that:
A heart that just loves God for who He is;
a heart that just wants more of Him;
a heart that obeys quickly…
That last bit is also a key element of a David’s heart. If your heart fights against God every time He asks you to do something and you only do it after He repeatedly asks you to – that is ok but that is not a heart according to God’s own heart.
This heart of David (quick to obey) manifests even when he sinned grossly before God when he committed adultery and murder (Bathsheba/Uriah) – see 2 Samuel 11 and 12.
When confronted with his sins by the prophet Nathan, David’s reaction was quick and thorough:
“I have sinned against the Lord.” (No fight, no excuses!) - 1 Samuel 12:13
and:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion; blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:1-2,10-11 NIV
God loved David because he didn’t make excuses or blame someone else (as was the custom of the previous king Saul.)
Because of his heart God chose David to be the name that is often mentioned in the same breath as the name of His son Jesus:
“Jesus, the son of David..”
Because of this heart a portal of blessing was opened over his descendants long after David had died and became the standard against which every king was measured (2 Chron 7:18, 17:3, 28:1 etc)
Our children and grandchildren need us to open portals of blessings over their lives!
It seems to me that David’s attitude of heart enabled God to be extremely merciful towards him even if he wasn’t perfect in every way (because he was quick to repent every time, remember?)
Now, you may say, “… but I don’t have that kind of heart. I fight a bit before I surrender to God. I don’t have a passionate love for him sometimes.”
What I’ve learned about walking with God is that some things are gifted to us (the things that come naturally or easily to you – your strengths) but other things don’t. But that doesn’t mean we just have to accept that. We can ask God for the things that we lack.
Paul encourages us (in the context of spiritual giftings) to “eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 14:1.) This means we are allowed to eagerly go after the spiritual things we lack. Jesus promised us that those who seek will find.
Seeking to develop a heart according to God’s own heart will attract God’s mercy when we fail, will enable us to quickly repent to avert disaster , to obey quickly to save our own and the lives of others (1 Chron 21:16) and to walk into everything God has destined for us.
In spite of Davids shortfalls but because of his heart, he walked into the destiny God had for him to become the king against which every other Israelite king was measured and the one whose descendant (Jesus) will reign forever as God promised David in 2 Sam 7:16
We can start with repenting for having a heart that fights against God’s will for us. (That is called rebellion) and asking God to create in us a heart according to His own. A heart that beats in tune with His heartbeat; that wants the things He wants; that weeps for the things that make Him weep and desires the things He desires for us.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73 NIV
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