“After God’s Heart”
The Hearts of King David, Lance Armstrong, and Jesus
Apparently, King Saul’s tenure as the first king of Israel lasted just a few weeks before God had “changed His mind” and decided to raise up a new king, which He took his time in doing because it took about 40 years for David to come to power.
But God knew what He was doing when he picked King Saul. The people demanded a king because they wanted to be “like all the nations.” (I Samuel 8:5b). So after God warned the people through Samuel that the king would be selfish and excessive (like all the other kings of the world), and the people did not care, God told Samuel to give them a king. Was God thinking, “I’ll show them what they really want”?
People have always had a tendency to focus on the outside – big kings were in. (You may remember Og, King of Bashan, Deuteronomy 3:11). Saul wasn’t just big; he was what people would describe as a “perfect 10” on the scale of looks and size, and he came from a wealthy family. Money and good looks: 10! Samuel describes him as “… a choice and handsome man, there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.” (I Samuel 9:2)
But one thing that Saul lacked was a heart “after God’s heart.” In other words, he was not submissive to the Word of the Lord. Before Samuel met him, he did not really know Samuel – who was God’s prophet! And when Samuel told Saul to wait for him before the sacrifice was made, he panicked when it got late and took matters into his own hands. Where was his prayer? Where was his trust? At the moment that Saul acted instead of waiting for Samuel, Samuel appeared over the horizon. “Love is patient…” (I Corinthians 13). Apparently, Saul did not “fear and love and trust in God above all things.”
After this early failure, Samuel said to Saul, “… Now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart…” (I Samuel 13:14) Soon after that, David was anointed, but he would not be accepted as king until years later, which seems to be a picture of Jesus. In God’s mind, David was the true king, and Saul’s kingdom was a shell that was deteriorating. Similarly, Jesus was God’s anointed, but it would take time for Jesus’ Kingdom to emerge and find acceptance.
What does it mean to be “a man after God’s own heart?” It really means to want to have a heart like God’s. Oh, to have a heart transplant with God’s heart!!!
Most people remember the now disgraced name “Lance Armstrong.” But back in the day people were trying to figure out what made him so astonishingly great as a cyclist. One relatively ancient website for runners from 2004 reported the following about Lance Armstrong’s heart: “one third larger than the average man’s heart… His resting heart rate is 30… (the average is 70)… At peak performance it’s 200 beats per minute…” This amazing physiology makes me wonder why he used steroids in the first place and how much of his performance was steroid based.
I think the answer to that is he was not after the Lord’s heart. He wanted glory – “like all the other kingdoms” of the world. David, the youngest of eight brothers, a shepherd, from the Little town of Bethlehem, was for the most part “a man after the Lord’s heart.” What is the Lord’s heart like?
Jesus actually answered the question: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt. 11:24) Jesus was a yoke-bearing, humble, holy God-Man. Do you want to know what God’s heart looks like? Look at Jesus.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You that in my baptism through the gift of faith, I received Your heart. May I seek to live up to the heart that I have been given. Amen.
