And we just read of Saul's rejection. As we considered last week, he
was rejected for four reasons, all of which are so related. He was rejected because he took
credit where credit was not due. He was rejected because he bypassed
the priest. He took a shortcut. He was rejected
because he failed to take personal responsibility for his sin. And
he was rejected because he even vindicated himself for what he
did. And that's a recipe for rejection.
But God says, I've sought me a man after mine own heart. Now I want us to spend the rest
of our time thinking about that. a man after mine own heart."
This is what God was looking for. A man after mine own heart. And what higher commendation
can ever be given anybody than this? To be a man or a woman
after God's own heart. Don't you want to be that? a
man after God's own heart, a woman after God's own heart. What does
that mean? Like I said, I don't think there
could be any higher commendation of someone than that. And this
is something every one of us are to seek. We are to pray,
Lord, make me a man after Thine own heart. Make me, you know,
that's something I pray. Make me a pastor after Thine
own heart. The scripture actually speaks
of that. I'll give them pastors after mine own heart. I want
to be that, but more than anything else in this world, I want to
be a man after God's own heart. Now, what is that? To be a man
after God's own heart means you see things as God sees them. It really is that simple. If
I'm a man, if I'm a woman, after God's own heart, that means I
see things as God sees them. What's important to God is important
to me. You take God's side, even if
it means you have to take sides against yourself. You're on the
Lord's side. You believe what God believes. You rejoice in what God rejoices
in, if you're a man after God's own heart. You trust who God
trusts. You know, I love that passage
of scripture in Ephesians chapter one, where it says that we should
be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. Who first trusted in Christ?
God did. He trusted him with the salvation
of his people. And then Paul goes on to say,
in whom you also trusted. After that, you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. You love who God loves. And you love what God loves. and you hate what God hates. Now, that's what a man or a woman
after God's own heart is. They see things from God's perspective. Now, the Lord was talking about
David. Would you turn with me to 1 Samuel
16? Let's read some scriptures. This is when the Lord told Samuel to go into
the house of Jesse to find this man who was a man after his own
heart, verse six. And it came to pass when they
were come that he looked on a liab and said, surely the Lord's anointed
is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel,
look not on his countenance. or on the height of his stature,
because I have refused him, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth,
for man looketh on the outward appearance. Boy, isn't that just
so true? Isn't that what we do? We look on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and
made him pass before Samuel, and he said, Neither hath the
Lord chosen this. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by, and
he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Again, Jesse made
seven of his sons to pass before Samuel, and Samuel said unto
Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. Now, obviously, to Jesse,
David would not be the one God would choose. He didn't even
send him. David was back keeping the sheep.
David had no suspect. He didn't suspect that he would
be the one. He just stayed back. Verse 11,
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Here are all thy children. He said,
There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keeps the sheep.
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not
sit down till he come hither. He sent and brought him in. Now
he was ruddy and with all the beautiful countenance and goodly
to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint
him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil, anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit
of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose
up and went to Ramah. Now here we have the man after
God's own heart. Now, let's see where this is
seen. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 17.
This is when the giant had challenged the children of Israel, and everyone,
they were afraid of Goliath. And then David said, I'll fight
him. And look at Eliab, the oldest brother's response to David.
And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the
men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David and said, why camest
thou down hither? And with whom hast thou left
those few sheep in the wilderness? You're a nobody and a nothing.
I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart, for thou art
come down that thou mightest see the battle. Now, a man after
God's own heart is going to be criticized. He's going to be
criticized. It's always going to be that
way. David was criticized. But look what David said. He
was a man after God's own heart. And David said, what have I now
done? Is there not a cause? God's glory is at stake. Now,
this is the response of the man after God's own heart. Is there
not a cause? And look at the way he addressed
Goliath. Verse 41 of the same chapter.
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David. And the
man that bared the shield went before him. And when the Philistine
looked about and saw David, he disdained him. For he was but
a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. He was a pretty
boy. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that
you come to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David
by his God. And the Philistine said to David,
Come to me, and I'll give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
and the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine,
Here's the man after God's own heart. Thou comest to me with
a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield. But I come to
thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies
of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into mine hand. And I will smite thee, and take
thy head from thee. And I'll give the carcasses of
the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air,
and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may
know that there's a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle
is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. And it came
to pass, when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh
to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet
the Philistine. And David put his hand in his
back, and took thence a stone, and sling it, and smote the Philistine
in his forehead. And the stone sunk into his forehead,
and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed
over the Philistine with a sling and a stone. and smote the Philistine
and slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David. David,
the man after God's own heart, and we know that that is such
a beautiful picture of the gospel. If David wins, all of Israel
wins. If David loses, all Israel loses. David won, and all Israel won. The Lord Jesus Christ won, and
all his people won. Now, I'm going to give you everything
I could find in the Bible about what a man after God's own heart
is. I'm not going to spend much time
on any of these. I'm not giving them in order of importance.
They're all equally important. But what is a man after God's
own heart? What is this heart that a man
or a woman possesses when they're a man or a woman after God's
own heart? Well, first of all, it's a believing
heart. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. A man or woman after God's own
heart believes what God says. You don't necessarily understand
it all, but you do believe it all. Whatever God says, you believe. This heart that is after God
is a broken heart. a believing heart, and a broken
heart. David said, a broken heart, oh
God, thou will not despise. A heart that's broken over sin. Now that is a man after God's
own heart. A heart that's broken before
God. What is a broken heart? It doesn't
work. It doesn't work, it's no good. I think this is so amazing
that the heart is at its best state when it's broken. Broken. Broken and a contrite
heart. A heart after God is a grieved
heart. The first time the heart of God
is mentioned is in Genesis chapter 6 verse 6 when it says his heart
was grieved when he saw the wickedness of man. His heart was grieved. The heart of God was grieved. A heart that's after God is a
heart that's grieved, vexed over sin. My sin, anybody's sin, because
all sin is against God. And a heart that is after God
is a heart that is grieved and vexed over sin. I love this description of Christ's
heart. When he gave us his description of his heart, he said, I'm meek. and lowly in heart." That's the
heart of Jesus Christ. Meek. Meek. Bows before whatever
God sends in His providence. Whatever God sends is good because
God sent it. That's what meekness is. Lowly. The Lord Jesus Christ is humble
and lowly. Oh, how beautiful humility is.
How ugly pride is. But a person after God's own
heart is meek? and they're lowly. That's just
what a heart after God is. Meekness before God and lowliness
before God. And this heart is the new heart.
We read of in Ezekiel chapter 36, a new heart also will I give
you. Now this heart that's after God,
it's not natural. It wasn't there upon birth. It's
the new heart given in regeneration. It's the new heart given when
God places a new heart in someone's being to where they love God. They believe God. They love his
gospel. It's a new heart. It's a heart
that was not there before. A new heart also will I give
thee. And that's the only way you can see things for the way
God sees them, is when you have this new heart that he gives. And when you have this new heart,
you really do see things from God's perspective, not of your
own. And you take sides with God. That takes a new heart. It's called in scriptures a pure
heart. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. This pure heart is also called
a clean heart. Create in me a clean heart, O
God. Now this is the new heart given
in regeneration. I love the way the Lord says
blessed are the pure in heart. They shall see God. The only
people who see God are those who have this pure heart. Now what is this pure heart?
Well, it's the new heart. And I tell you what, it has pure
views. It believes itself to be purely evil. The only way
you can see that about yourself is if you have a pure heart.
If you don't have this pure heart, you can't see yourself that way.
You can't see yourself as a sinner. It has pure views of Christ.
Christ is everything in my salvation. Salvation is purely by grace.
That's the attitude of the pure heart. God gets all the glory. That's the pure heart. That's
the heart that cannot sin. that doesn't commit sin, the
blessed are the pure in heart. And then it's called in the scripture
a circumcised heart. Romans 2, 29, he's not a Jew
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, not in
the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. God praises
this heart. that he speaks of. It's his gift.
It's his work. But he praises this heart. What
is a circumcised heart? Philippians 3.3, Paul said, we
are the circumcision, which worship God. We worship him for who he
is. We worship him in the spirit. It's only the new nature, the
spiritual nature by the Holy Spirit. There's no worship of
God apart from the Holy Spirit. I've said this several times
before, but I don't say, come worship with us. I say, come
hear the gospel. But only God can enable somebody
to worship, to truly worship. We are the circumcision. We worship
God for who he is. We bow before him for who he
is. We love all of his glorious attributes. in the Spirit and
we rejoice. And that word rejoice is we glory
in. We have confidence in. We rest
in Christ Jesus and we have no confidence in the flesh. Anything that has anything to
do with human nature, fallen human nature, anything that has
anything to do with me, we don't have any confidence at all in
it. Now that's what a circumcised
heart is. worships God in the spirit, rejoices
in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the flesh. And that is the
heart that's after God. Now this heart in scripture is
called a rejoicing heart, it's called a glad heart, and it's
called a merry heart. And you know, it makes me glad
that Christ is my salvation. It makes me merry and it makes
me rejoice to know that all that God requires of me He looks to
His Son for. It makes me happy that all things are working together
for my good and for His glory. You can't believe the gospel
and not rejoice. If you don't rejoice, you really
don't believe. Now, I'm not saying, well, I
need to rejoice. Somebody's saying, well, I'm afraid I'm not happy
enough. Well, you probably aren't, but don't even think about that.
You think about Christ, and you'll rejoice. You start thinking about
your rejoicing, and you'll start thinking something's wrong with
me. Well, that's what you ought to think. Anytime you look within, you're going
to have problems. I realize that. But oh, may the
Lord enable us to just rejoice in who he is. On three occasions,
David said, my heart is fixed. My heart is fixed. A heart after
God is a heart that's fixed. Fixed on Christ. Won't be moved
from Christ as all in salvation, as Christ getting all the glory.
My heart is fixed, oh Lord. my heart is fixed." And you can
bet David knew the only reason it was fixed was because God
fixed it. It wasn't like he was giving himself any credit there,
but truly a believer can say, my heart is fixed. I'm looking
nowhere but Christ. May the Lord deliver me from
ever looking anywhere else. And then David said, thy servant
hath found in his heart to pray this prayer. A heart after God
is a praying heart. They pour their heart out before
God in prayer. And then David said, When thou
said, Seek ye my face, my heart said, Thy face, O Lord, will
I seek. A heart after God seeks the very
face of Christ, His presence, His blessing. I want to seek
his face. I want to know him. I want to
find him. That's what a heart after God
is, is a seeking heart. And then a heart after God is
a worshiping heart. David said, my heart standeth
in all of thy statutes. Do you stand in all of the Lord?
Do you stand in all of his word? Well, a heart after God stands
in all of him. That's what worship is. He is
All together, lovely and glorious. And then David said, my heart
is inditing a good matter. And that word inditing, I didn't
know this until I looked it up, that word inditing means bubbling
over. Bubbling over. He said, I'm speaking
of things which I've said touching the king. And when the Lord gives
you the grace to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and see his
kingship and his greatness and his glory, your heart bubbles
over. A heart after God is a bubbling heart that bubbles over concerning
Him. And then it's called in the parable
of the sower, that heart that received the word, the Lord called
it an honest and a good heart. Now what is an honest heart?
The closest you and I are ever going to come to honesty is when
we confess that we're nothing but sin. Now that's the closest you and
I are ever going to come to honesty. That's what an honest... I love
that scripture, blesses he whose transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered, blesses the man whom the Lord will not impute
sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile, there's no deceit. They come into God's presence
honestly, as sinful, needing His grace, needing His mercy. And that's the good heart. That's
the heart given in regeneration, honest and good. It was the Lord's
description of it. And this heart that's after God
is the depository of the word. David said, thy word have I hid
in my heart that I might not sin against thee. the depository of the Word. And whenever God's Word is hid
in the heart, this is what's going to come out of the heart.
Listen to this. David said in Psalm 40, and these are actually
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy righteousness have I not
hid in my heart. Somebody that's hid God's Word
in their heart is someone who's not going to hide His righteousness. That's His righteousness. His righteousness is the only
righteousness there is. His righteousness, His law-keeping,
His obedience is my obedience before God. His righteousness
is glorified in the Gospel. Now, if you've hid His Word in
your heart, if it's there bringing forth fruit, this is what's going
to come out. His righteousness, not your righteousness. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and what? His righteousness. And all these
others shall be added unto you. And this heart that's after God
is a fearing heart. David said, unite my heart to
fear thy name. The fear of God, the respect,
the reverence, the awe of God that makes you afraid of sin.
That's what the fear of God does. It makes you afraid of sin. And
it makes you afraid, scared to death to look anywhere. But Christ
alone. That's what the fear of God does.
And David said, Unite my heart to fear thy name. And David said
also, Let my heart be sound in thy statutes. It's a sound heart. Sound by grace, safe and sound. It's the real thing. And I love
what David said in Psalm 131. He said, Lord, my heart is not
haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I exercise myself
in great matters, nor in things too high for me. A man after
God's own heart is not haughty in heart. He doesn't have lofty
eyes. He's lowly. And then we read
in the New Testament of singleness of heart, serving the Lord from
the heart, having one purpose, his honor and his glory. And we read of a crying heart. My heart crieth to thee. That's what a heart after God
does. It cries after Him. Like that Syrophoenician woman,
they said, send her away. She crieth after us. No, she
wasn't crying after them. She was crying after Him. And
that's what a heart after God always does. It's crying after
Him. And it's also a smitten heart.
In 2 Samuel 24, we read where David's heart smote him. Does your heart ever do any smiting
of you? You do something, you think something, your heart smites
you. It levels you to the dust. That's
the new heart given by God's grace. It's a smiting heart.
David's heart smote him. And you know, this heart is also
a failing heart. What do I mean by that? Well,
let me quote the scripture from Psalm 40. David said, My iniquities
have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're
more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. And that's the prayer of everybody
after God's own heart. And then we read in the book
of Hebrews where the writer to the Hebrews says, let us draw
near with a true heart, a true heart, not a phony false religious
hypocritical heart, but a true heart, a loyal heart, loyal to
God, loyal to his word, loyal to his people. Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith. And the last one that
I would mention is a burning heart. You remember there in
Luke chapter 24 when on the road to Emmaus after the Lord, He
said, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Scriptures
have said. Ought not Christ to have suffered
and be raised from the third day? And then the Scripture says
He began to open to them and expound to them all the Scriptures
concerning Himself. appeared to them and left, they
said, did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to
us the scriptures? Oh, when the Lord opens to us
the scriptures, how our hearts burn. You know, somebody, I was at
a meeting Friday and Saturday, and I didn't preach, and somebody
said, well, how do you like being in a meeting not preaching? I
said, I love it. I love it because I can say without any doubt,
I'd rather hear the gospel than preach the gospel. Oh, how your
heart burns when the Lord enables you to hear the gospel and the
power of the Holy Spirit. You know it's the truth. You
know you're a sinner and you know you're saved by his grace.
Isn't that a burning sensation? That's a good heartburn, isn't
it? Oh, did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to
us the scripture? Now this is the man after God's
own heart. I gave a lot of scriptures, I
know. But may the Lord make me and
you, everybody in this room, men and women after his own heart. Men and women who sees things
as God sees them. And remember this, The way God
sees something is the way it really is. The way men see things, not the way it really is. Amen.