"A Man After My Heart"

by T.W. Fullerton, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia | Category: General | Sept 1968

These words spoken to Saul by Samuel concerning David were words of high commendation. The God of Israel revealed to' the prophet His rejection of Saul and the outstanding character of the man who would take his place. At the demand of the people, a king had been provided, one who made an appeal to them because of his stature and other qualifications; but he was one whom God gave them in His anger, for their determination to have a king was because they had rejected Him from being king over them (1 Samuel 8.4-22). Although after Saul came to the throne he builded an altar unto the LORD, and led Israel to victory over their enemies, yet failures marked him as one in whom the God of Israel could take no pleasure (1 Samuel 13.9-13 and chapter 15).

Jehovah had other thoughts far surpassing the subduing of the enemies of Israel. At no time had Saul entered into those thoughts. After Israel had crossed the Red Sea and had received the law, the LORD expressed His desire to Moses, "Let them make Mc a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25.8). His desire was still the same but it found no echo in the heart of

Saul. Because of the sin of Israel His tabernacle in Shiloh had long ceased to be, the Ark of the covenant was in the house of Abinadab, waiting for a man, after God's own heart, to provide once more a dwelling-place for the God of Israel and have the Ark of the covenant placed therein. As His eyes ran to and fro among His people, searching their hearts, searching for such a man, He could see that among the hundreds of thousands of Israel this condition of things was accepted as inevitable. There was none that stirred himself up to ask why a place was not found for the LORD, "a tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob". God's heart still yearned over them. He still longed to dwell among them, still longed to have the service, which, despite all their failures, they had rendered to Him in His dwelling-place. As He searched among His people, His eyes rested on one home in Bethlehem. In that home was a shepherd lad, who kept his father's sheep, His was a humble occupation, but God saw in the heart of that lad essential qualifications for leading and guiding Israel, and this involved leading and instructing them in the building and service of His house. A glimpse at David's background is given us in Psalm 132.6, where it is revealed how David had heard from earliest days the story of Israel's former glory when Jehovah had dwelt among them, and they had rendered Him priestly service. He had heard too of their downfall and the departed glory, as Shiloh was forsaken and Ichabod written over them and His dwelling-place, the Ark of the covenant finally resting, not in His dwelling-place, but in the house of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim (1 Samuel 6.21 and 7.1). As David heard these things, his spirit was stirred within him. In the intervening years, he often pondered what he had heard; and the longing deepened that he might be able to find a place for the LORD.

When Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite, with instructions from the LORD to anoint one of his sons (1 Samuel 16), human reasoning would have influenced him in his choice. The appearance of the countenance or the height of stature would have been Samuel's guide. But "the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (verse 7). David, who had not been called to meet the prophet, is chosen and anointed. Natural gift and other qualifications are not to be despised if they are sanctified to the Lord, and to His service, But let us remember, "The LORD looketh on the heart". In all ages it has been through those whose hearts were right before Him that He has accomplished His purposes. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word" (Isaiah 66.2). Psalm 132 reveals the deepest desires of David's heart, an Amen to God's desire to dwell among His people. When he reached the throne of Israel, his first exercise was to make a search, and confirm the truth of the report, which he had heard in Bethlehem Ephrathah, concerning the whereabouts of the ark. It is still at Kiriath-jearim, where it had rested for well-nigh 100 years. The story of how it was brought

away therefrom is recorded in 2 Samuel 6, and 1 Chronicles 13. In the latter account David states, "Let us bring again the Ark of our God to us; for we sought not unto it in the days of Saul" (verse 3).

To David it had been revealed that no longer in Shiloh, but in Mount Zion, would be the future place of God's dwelling. David, trained not in a theological seminary but in the hills and fields of Bethlehem, was the chosen vessel through whom the Ark of the covenant was brought from obscurity, and placed in its temporary resting place in Mount Zion, pending the time when the temple of the LORD should be built. David's joy is full, as he sees the desire of God's heart and his heart being fulfilled. That joy is expressed in the words of Psalm 132 8-14, Arise, 0 LORD, into Thy resting place; Thou, and the Ark of Thy strength. Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let Thy saints shout for joy.

For the LORD hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it."

We conclude, then, that "a man after My heart" was God's verdict on David, because of the latter's longing to find a dwellingplace for the LORD. God desired it, and David's response was, Amen!

The reign of David was characterised by fluctuating experiences common to men who seek to serve God. His fear before Achish, king of Gath, his terrible sin in the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah, his failure to deal with his sons according to the law of the LORD, his transgression in numbering the people. None of these failures was passed over by the LORD. They brought sorrow and chastisement to him and to his house. They reveal the fact that he was a man subject to like passions with us. The record is not given that we might imitate his failure, but that we may be warned thereby. It is also given that if we sin we can turn to Psalms 32 and 51, and find comfort in the fact that as David found forgiveness and cleansing from defilement caused by his sin, so can we.

We can well ask ourselves, What are our desires, and what is our contribution towards providing and maintaining a dwellingplace for our God envisaged under the New Covenant? Do we accept as inevitable, the chaotic condition of the children of God in their many sects?

There are many children of God who are zealous in spreading abroad the message of salvation through the work of the Great Redeemer, and we rejoice that this is so, but if we are to lay to heart the lesson taught in the words which express God's thoughts concerning David, and if we desire to qualify for a similar commendation, then His New Testament dwelling-place, composed of "living stones" (1 Peter 2.5), its worship and service, must find a place in our longings and desires. Let us ask ourselves the question, Is it so?

T.W. Fullerton, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia | Sept 1968
General