1 Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.
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A servant after God’s heart
In Samuel 13:14, apparently, the man after God’s heart points to David. But in the Bible, we can find at least two serious sins David have committed: the first one is in 2 Samuel, chapter 11, David committed adultery with a very beautiful woman—Bathsheba, and set a trap to kill Bathsheba’s husband—Uriah, so that he can marry Bathsheba. Another one is in 2 Samuel, chapter 24; David counts the fighting men of Israel for his own glory, not because of God’s command. David committed serious sins, in 2 Samuel, chapter 11:27, after David’s adultery, “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord”. Why God called him “a man after his own heart” before He selected David? God is omniscient, He never makes something wrong. In Isaiah 64:7 “No one … or strives to lay hold of you” But from Bible we can find: although David committed sins, but he always grasped God, his life always looked God as the Lord. Isaiah 42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight, I will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” Luke 3:22 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am very pleased.” In the two verses, the servant and the son is Jesus Christ, who is the only one after God’s heart completely. But Jesus is God, He is not a sinner. In the Bible, David is the only sinner God commented him as “a man after God’s heart”. God was the center of David’s life, he never had exceptions on God’s decision, and he always obeyed God. After he committed sins, always he was conscience-stricken and repentant before God. He looked God as God, so God gave him a fabulous comment. We should imitate David’s attitude toward the sins, toward God, so that we can have possibilities to be a person after God’s heart. And we should be watchful every minute, because from David’s weakness of committing sins we can learn a historical lesson written in blood: his secret adultery and murder caused his four sons’ death, his ten concubines were raped by his son Absalom in the sight of all Israel; his counting the fighting men caused seventy thousand Israelites’ death.
