What does the phrase that David was “a man after God’s own heart” really mean?

[JimB]

What does the phrase that David was “a man after God’s own heart” mean?

The usual interpretation of the phrase that David was a (the) “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13.14; Acts 13.22) was that David was sort of special to God or that David had some sort of special affinity for God.

Could the phrase “a man after God’s own heart”, simply be an idiom that means nothing more than that David was elected by God, anointed as king, to rule in the wake of Saul, without all the other stuff we have attached to the phrase?

What do you think?

~Jim

 

[JimfromOhio]

This topic is my favorite topic. I will hold back my comments and wait for others so I am subscribing this thread.

 

[churchlady]

What does the phrase that David was “a man after God’s own heart” mean?

~Jim

I have made this comment about my new pastor. What I mean by it is, that he thinks like I do....he wants to see some of the same things happen that I do. We see alike. We think alike. There is therefore possibility of unity of purpose and mind in bringing these things to pass as we work together.

There's a comment made in various parts of the Bible that .....'they did always resist the Holy Spirit'. I think this reflects the opposite of this comment about David. He would be someone who would want what God wants and therefore would yield to the Spirit, not resist.

 

[JimB]

I have made this comment about my new pastor. What I mean by it is, that he thinks like I do....he wants to see some of the same things happen that I do. We see alike. We think alike. There is therefore possibility of unity of purpose and mind in bringing these things to pass as we work together.

There's a comment made in various parts of the Bible that .....'they did always resist the Holy Spirit'. I think this reflects the opposite of this comment about David. He would be someone who would want what God wants and therefore would yield to the Spirit, not resist.

If being a man after God’s own heart in the sense that David was a lot like God then one would have to wonder about God.

I mean, for all David’s virtues, he had quite a list of foibles. In a sense, he may have been one of the worst transgressors in the Bible. I can’t think of a person with a longer list of sins than David (can you?). For example …

-- David was considered by God to be too “bloody” to build the Temple
-- David was a deceiver
-- David was a murderer
-- David was a serial adulterer
-- David was an emotionally absent father
-- David’s lack of faith resulted in the death of 70,000 Israelites

So, I have to wonder: in which of these ways is David “like God”?

This is one of the reasons I cannot accept the popular definition of the phrase “a man after God’s own heart”. I still think it simply means that David whas God’s chosen person to sit on the throne of Israel. It had to do with David’s election and not his character.

~Jim

 

[NewSong]

I believe the statement to mean that David was paid a very high compliment about his attitudes, passion, his praise, prayers, and his desires for the brethren to live together in unity.

I believe this scripture to mean that David was a warrior, but I also think because David was a screw up that he admitted to his screw ups and didn't try to hide them but instead went to God with his humanity and his sins.

I believe God knew David's heart and that was what this scripture was referring to was David's heart not what is seen with the eye but what GOD seen in David's heart.

David was a warrior not easily intimidated...but the outward things were not what is referred to here it was David's heart and his heart of obedience, repentance, and desires to love and serve God. God knew David inside out and knew that David was indeed after HIS own heart.

Totally inner.

 

[nephilimiyr]

1 Samuel 13:13-14, "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 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."

Acts 13:22, After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: "I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." (NIV)

Acts 13:22, And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. (KJV)

To me this means that David had a big heart full of love for God and God's ways. It means wanting to please God and be used by God. David loved God so much, he found many ways to tell God of his love for Him. He wrote 85 psalms expressing just how much he loved God and how he wanted to do his will. How he wanted to get to know God more, how he wanted to be close to God in relationship.

 

[JimfromOhio]

Learning from David's experiences, God meets us in our heart rather than our mind therefore we need to focus on the "heart of the matter". "David son of Jesse is a man after my own heart, for he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22 & 1 Samuel 13:14 (NLT). There are many reasons why God proclaimed that David's heart is what He desire from us.

Many of us are like David. David is remembered as a man after God’s own heart, he was guilty of horrific sin which he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then conspired to cover his sin with the murder of her husband. One example is this (I learned the most): David who learned that "thinking" leads to sin. David with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). David woke up from a nap, went for a stroll on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman taking a bath. Through the eyes of David, enter into his mind, he sees a beautiful naked woman and began thinking about her. I am a man, and I have a GOOD IDEA what he was thinking? David's thinking led him to self-serving which was motivated by lust and envy. This is where God has a problem with me (as well as with many Christians). Reading Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. David wrote this after prophet Nathan came to him after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Learning from David, I have learned that God loves but He also hates. Psalm 97:10 "Ye who love the LORD, hate evil." Reading Psalms, David used six synonyms to describe Scripture: law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and judgments. David understood that he was chosen by God. 2 Chronicles 6:6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel. Why did God chose the Jewish people during the Old Testament time and not the Gentiles? Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people. I have found that God chose unqualified people and what kind of "logic" is that? Here are the example of the GREAT faiths of "unqualified people": Lot got drunk and committed incest. Abraham doubted God and committed adultery. Jacob deceived his father. Moses murdered. Paul (Saul) murdered Christians. God will use ordinary good people as well as ordinary very sinful people to accomplish great things. God will use people who have the life experiences by that will Glorify Him by putting them through the right spiritual directions and teaching them the right spiritual lessons. God knows their hearts and He will honor their search for truth.

God sees and measures the heart more than He sees actions. Our sinful actions were the RESULT of our sinful heart. I also have learned that David was an example of how we are to serve others without demanding our rights.(LOVE) Psalm 27:4 -- David said, "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple." David have cried more over things that have happened to other people that he care about than he have ever cried about things that have happened to him. When David is identified with God, the things that break his heart when some dishonor God.

To understand God's love, look at David's love through David's writings.

 

[churchlady]

If being a man after God’s own heart in the sense that David was a lot like God then one would have to wonder about God.

I mean, for all David’s virtues, he had quite a list of foibles. In a sense, he may have been one of the worst transgressors in the Bible. I can’t think of a person with a longer list of sins than David (can you?). For example …

-- David was considered by God to be too “bloody” to build the Temple
-- David was a deceiver
-- David was a murderer
-- David was a serial adulterer
-- David was an emotionally absent father
-- David’s lack of faith resulted in the death of 70,000 Israelites

So, I have to wonder: in which of these ways is David “like God”?

This is one of the reasons I cannot accept the popular definition of the phrase “a man after God’s own heart”. I still think it simply means that David whas God’s chosen person to sit on the throne of Israel. It had to do with David’s election and not his character.

~Jim

I think you're not separating what David's wishes that he was, with what he actually is.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Saul on the other hand was self absorbed. He mentioned God and tried to get His assistance in what he, himself wanted. There was no evidence that He had a heart that panted after God, for God Himself.

Even his obedience was self-serving. When it looked like the people would turn on him, he quickly resorted to what would serve his self interest.

David showed, in his handling of the trouble with Saul, that even when it would have served him to kill Saul, or disrespect him, his thoughts would return to what was right in the sight of God, and he went in that direction.

 

[JimB]

I think you're not separating what David's wishes that he was, with what he actually is.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Saul on the other hand was self absorbed. He mentioned God and tried to get His assistance in what he, himself wanted. There was no evidence that He had a heart that panted after God, for God Himself.

Even his obedience was self-serving. When it looked like the people would turn on him, he quickly resorted to what would serve his self interest.

David showed, in his handling of the trouble with Saul, that even when it would have served him to kill Saul, or disrespect him, his thoughts would return to what was right in the sight of God, and he went in that direction.

Does it make any difference in what I wish I were and what I am? If I am a murderer who wishes I were not a murderer (or liar, or adulterer, or etc.), I am still a murderer.

David’s sins and errors in judgment were not infrequent. The last half of 1 Samuel through the first part of 1 Kings is a long list of David’s, um, indiscretions.

I am not defaming David. He is one of my favorite people. But scripture paints him with all his warts and here we are trying to clean up God’s picture of a man who was very (very, very) human.

He was a man after God's own heart because he was the man chosen to be king of God's heart, Israel.

~Jim

 

[~RENEE~]

IMO No matter what sin Daivid committed no matter what He did or said. He always came back and repented. He always looked to God and it did not matter what others thought but He had a passion for God.

 

[nephilimiyr]

He was a man after God's own heart because he was the man chosen to be king of God's heart, Israel.

~Jim

God said he was a man after His own heart and that's the reason why He chose David. You may not understand why that was the reason, you may not like that that was the reason, you may even refuse to believe that that was the reason but that was the reason why God chose David to be king.

God first said He was seeking a man after His own heart and then God said he had found a man after his own heart. That man was David.

 

[nephilimiyr]

IMO No matter what sin Daivid committed no matter what He did or said. He always came back and repented. He always looked to God and it did not matter what others thought but He had a passion for God.

And this is a great point!

 

[JTM3]

What does the phrase that David was “a man after God’s own heart” mean?

The usual interpretation of the phrase that David was a (the) “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13.14; Acts 13.22) was that David was sort of special to God or that David had some sort of special affinity for God.

Could the phrase “a man after God’s own heart”, simply be an idiom that means nothing more than that David was elected by God, anointed as king, to rule in the wake of Saul, without all the other stuff we have attached to the phrase?

What do you think?

~Jim

I've heard that this is because despite his shortcomings David fulfilled the whole plan of God for his life; he fulfilled God's will for him. [Actually I think I heard this from Jesse...]

 

[Questioning Christian]

If he was after it, then he must not have been before it, near as I can figure.

But seriously ...

I think that David was "after" God's heart, much as a dog is "after" a cat, chasing him or her through the yard, or how a hunter is "after" a deer, or the way y'all women are "after" a bargain on Black Friday !

What does the phrase that David was “a man after God’s own heart” mean?

The usual interpretation of the phrase that David was a (the) “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13.14; Acts 13.22) was that David was sort of special to God or that David had some sort of special affinity for God.

Could the phrase “a man after God’s own heart”, simply be an idiom that means nothing more than that David was elected by God, anointed as king, to rule in the wake of Saul, without all the other stuff we have attached to the phrase?

What do you think?

~Jim

 

[jrlinz]

I think you're not separating what David's wishes that he was, with what he actually is.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Saul on the other hand was self absorbed. He mentioned God and tried to get His assistance in what he, himself wanted. There was no evidence that He had a heart that panted after God, for God Himself.

Even his obedience was self-serving. When it looked like the people would turn on him, he quickly resorted to what would serve his self interest.

David showed, in his handling of the trouble with Saul, that even when it would have served him to kill Saul, or disrespect him, his thoughts would return to what was right in the sight of God, and he went in that direction.

Not trying to pick on you, Churchlady. Much of what you say really blesses me, but why would it HAVE to be one of these things? Is that ALL there was to David? David sought after God and trusted in Him as no other, composing the most beautiful praise imaginable to Him. That David sinned, and sinned miserably, only reflects our (his) human condition. He was given more power than any of the children of Israel had ever had since they had established their claim to the promised land. His only example was Saul. He could do, or have done, anything he wanted. Sure, he was tempted. So would I, or presumably you, be. Sure, he failed. But he repented, with his whole heart. I think David's soul panted after God as a deer pants for water. He loved justice and mercy. That's why he was a man after God's own heart. (JMHO)

 

[Simon_Templar]

What does the phrase that David was “a man after God’s own heart” mean?

The usual interpretation of the phrase that David was a (the) “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13.14; Acts 13.22) was that David was sort of special to God or that David had some sort of special affinity for God.

Could the phrase “a man after God’s own heart”, simply be an idiom that means nothing more than that David was elected by God, anointed as king, to rule in the wake of Saul, without all the other stuff we have attached to the phrase?

What do you think?

~Jim

The statement in scripture that David was a man after God's own heart is directly linked to his obedience.

If memory serves God said "he is a man after my own heart, all that I tell him, he will do."

And this is in direct contrast to Saul who did not obey. He would get a direct command from God and then not carry it out because he thought something else might be a better course of action.

 

[TheGloryisHere]

God said he was a man after His own heart and that's the reason why He chose David. You may not understand why that was the reason, you may not like that that was the reason, you may even refuse to believe that that was the reason but that was the reason why God chose David to be king.

God first said He was seeking a man after His own heart and then God said he had found a man after his own heart. That man was David.

It's not a popular phrase some man made up. God said it. God said it; that settles it.

 

[charityagape]

Does it make any difference in what I wish I were and what I am? If I am a murderer who wishes I were not a murderer (or liar, or adulterer, or etc.), I am still a murderer.

David’s sins and errors in judgment were not infrequent. The last half of 1 Samuel through the first part of 1 Kings is a long list of David’s, um, indiscretions.

I am not defaming David. He is one of my favorite people. But scripture paints him with all his warts and here we are trying to clean up God’s picture of a man who was very (very, very) human.

He was a man after God's own heart because he was the man chosen to be king of God's heart, Israel.

~Jim

Many people were chosen and elected by God to do this important thing or that important thing, how many of those elected chosen individuals where proclaimed men or women after God's own heart?

 

[churchlady]

Not trying to pick on you, Churchlady. Much of what you say really blesses me, but why would it HAVE to be one of these things? Is that ALL there was to David? David sought after God and trusted in Him as no other, composing the most beautiful praise imaginable to Him. That David sinned, and sinned miserably, only reflects our (his) human condition. He was given more power than any of the children of Israel had ever had since they had established their claim to the promised land. His only example was Saul. He could do, or have done, anything he wanted. Sure, he was tempted. So would I, or presumably you, be. Sure, he failed. But he repented, with his whole heart. I think David's soul panted after God as a deer pants for water. He loved justice and mercy. That's why he was a man after God's own heart. (JMHO)

I'm in agreement with you. I just picked out the example of David's handling of Saul.

David showed again and again, that in spite of his human failings, of which there were many, that he loved God and had a teachable heart.

 

[Tamara224]

I always took it to mean that David was obedient and repentant. Yeah, he did a lot of things wrong. But he loved God and God's Law and when confronted with his sin, his heart was righted. He had a soft heart toward God.

He's a good example for us of what Paul was talking about when he said "what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."