man after God's own heart

1 Samuel 13:14

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

[The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart] That this man was David is sufficiently clear from the sequel. But in what sense was he a man after God's own heart? Answer:

1. In his strict attention to the law and worship of God.

2. In his admitting, in the whole of his conduct, that God was King in Israel, and that he himself was but his vicegerent.

3. In never attempting to alter any of those laws, or in the least change the Israelite constitution.

4. In all his public official conduct he acted according to the divine mind and fulfilled the will of his Maker: thus was he a man after God's own heart.

In reference to his private or personal moral conduct, the word is never used. This is the sense alone in which the word is used here and elsewhere; and it is unfair and wicked to put another meaning on it in order to ridicule the revelation of God, as certain infidels have done.

The Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart. Why did God call him this? Basically, it was because David chose to follow God with all of his heart.

It would be tempting to ask the obvious question, how could God call David “a man after His heart” when he was such a terrible a sinner, having committed adultery and murder? David’s life was a portrait of success and failure, and it highlighted the fact that he was far from perfect. But what made David a cut above the rest was that his heart, even in his most sinful moments, was pointed towards God.

The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people: Though God has rejected Saul, He has not rejected Israel. Because God loves Israel, he will raise up a king, a man after His own heart.

i. Saul was a man after Israel's heart. He was all about image and prestige and the things men look at. But God will now give Israel a man after His own heart, and raise that man up to be king.

ii. It would be easy to say that the kingdom was taken from Saul because of his sin. And on one level, that was certainly the case. But it was more than that. After all, didn't David sin also? Yet God never took the kingdom from David and his descendants. Because the issue was bigger than an incident of sin, the issue was being a man after God's own heart.

"The Lord has sought Him a man after His own heart." What does that mean? A man who obeys. A man after God's heart is a man whose desire is to fulfill the desire of God. "And the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded you. You've blown it."

A man after God's own heart is a man who, it says right there, "Who fulfills His will."

David was a man who wanted more than anything to do the will of God.