A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART

God, who "looketh on the heart", looked on David's heart and declared, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart" (Acts 13:22). When I read that statement of our God about his servant David, my heart cries, "Father, give me that kind of heart." But a question immediately arises: When the Lord looked upon David's heart, what did he see?

He saw A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART (Ps. 51:1-17). David's heart was broken, not because he had been caught in his sin, but because he had committed the sin. It was brought down with contrition not only because of what he had done, but also because of what he was. He saw his sin in the light of God's holiness and in the light of God's mercy in blood redemption through Christ, and his heart was broken before the Lord.

The Lord saw in David A BELIEVING HEART (Ps. 31:5, 14). David believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. He trusted God for the forgiveness of sin through a Substitute (Ps. 32:1-5; 130:1-8). He trusted God's rule of all things in providence, declaring "My times are in thy hand", and "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." And David confidently trusted the Lord's immutable faithfulness. He said, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up."

When God looked upon David's heart, he saw A HEART OF SUBMISSION to the will and the rule of his Lord. This is beautifully exemplified in the death of his son (II Sam. 12:20). Every believing heart is a submissive heart. There are no exceptions. Submission to God's providence is not a prayerless, effortless, lazy, in-different fatalism. It is bowing to the will of God with willingness and confidence.

As the Lord looked upon David, he saw a man with A LOVING AND DEVOTED HEART (Ps. 116:1). His heart was

full of love, devotion, adoration, and praise to God. He loved all that God is and all that God had done. He was devoted to the Word, the will, the worship, and the work of God. And David's heart was fall of love to men as well. Who was ever more loving, kind, and generous to men than David was to Mephibosheth?

And the Lord saw in David A COMMITTED HEART. Cost what it may, David was committed to his God, committed to his cause, committed to his truth, committed to his people, committed to his worship, and committed to his glory. The attitude of his heart, throughout his life, was expressed in his youth. He was willing to go out to face the giant Goliath, who had blasphemed the name of God, saying, "Is there not a cause?" (I Sam. 17:29). There was nothing half-hearted about David. He was a faithful, loyal, dedicated, dependable, committed servant of God in his generation.

This is the kind of heart David possessed; and God said, "He is a man after mine own heart." But David did not have this heart by nature, and he did not develop it by discipline. Grace had made him a new creature in Christ. Grace had given him a new heart. Grace had made David a man after God's own heart.