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A Man After God's Own Heart

Originally written on October 16, 2005

In I Samuel 13:14, after Saul had acted in foolishness by sacrificing to the Lord, Samuel comes to him and tells him that his kingdom will not endure forever. Following this, he states that Saul will be replaced by a man who is "after [God’s] own Heart." What exactly does this mean?

Saul had one overarching problem. He was afraid. He was afraid of people, he was afraid of giants, and he was afraid of a young boy who had the admiration of the people. He should not have been this way. The Bible states that he was tall and extremely handsome. Great qualifications for a king by this worlds standards- but not by God’s.

Often when we think about David being labeled a man after God’s own heart we tend to think about a shepherd boy writing songs and playing a harp in the field and certainly this is a part of it. But I believe that the Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart because he refused to be afraid in the face of the enemy. He stood on God’s Word despite what everyone else was doing. His most shining moment (at least in my eyes) is when he walks out of the valley with Goliath’s sword in one hand and Goliath’s head in the other. He takes these immediately to the king who is cowering in his tent- a most humiliating moment for Saul I am sure!

God’s anointed is not the one with the crown on his head, but with the Word of God welded fast in his heart. Fearless in the face of danger and bold before giants and kings. This is the man I want to be and this is the sort of men we need in our churches today. Let’s take our stand firm on God’s Word and face every battle as men after God’s own heart.

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