There are only a handful of people in scripture who receive descriptions that set them apart from the rest of people.  I’m not suggesting they are superior, but rather that they receive some very special praise.  Not to exclude any, but those that come to mind are Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Job, David and Mary.  I won’t take the time to go into each one, but I wanted to help illustrate just how special, and rare, it is to have a highly praiseworthy comment made about an individual.  In the case of David, it is said of him that he was a man after God’s own heart(I Sam. 13:14 and Acts 13:22).

A Man After God’s Own Heart

What does that even mean?  Basically, David wanted his heart to be just like God’s.  That is something that each of us should strive to do, but the task does sound a little daunting.  After all, God is perfect and we are not.  But this is not about being perfect.  It is more about wanting to be perfect(like God in the sense that God is perfect – He never does anything wrong).  David wanted to be perfect, like God.  He wanted to think like God, valuing what God values and not valuing what God does not value.  Jesus said that were your heart is, that is where your treasure will be(Matt. 6:21).  If you think about the qualities of God, not His omnipotence or other characteristics that are beyond our abilities, but rather His love, His patience, His mercy, etc., these are the qualities or characteristics that David aspired to.

How Did David Do?

David did strive for the qualities of God, but like the rest of us, he was not perfect in those qualities as God is, but rather he failed at times, he sinned.  David had some amazing triumphs, like his defeat of Goliath(I Sam. 17), but he also had some failures.  He committed adultery with Bathsheba, then had her husband killed to cover up his sin(II Sam. 11-12).  He had a census of the fighting men of Israel(when he was not supposed to), and as a result, 70,000 died(II Sam. 24).  At another time, David was on his way to likely kill Nabal, his family and possibly all of his servants, but Nabal’s wife, Abigail, intervened(I Sam. 25:33).  These are examples of just some of the instances where David failed, sometimes at great cost.

Then Did David Fail?

Yes, David did fail to always have a heart like God’s, but that does not mean that he did not have a heart like God’s.  Clearly, he did, based on Acts 13:22.  David’s individual failings do not mean that he was a failure.  They mean he was not perfect, as God is perfect.  However, one thing that is important that we do see in David’s character is his willingness to see his sin for what it is, and to do what is needed in terms of repenting(i.e. turning away from that sin).  After being confronted with his sin with Bathsheba, David admits his guilt and later writes Psalm 51, a beautiful, but sad psalm about his sin.  After three days of the plague, David made the sacrifice that caused God to stop the plague.  And when confronted by Abigail when David was on his way to kill her husband and likely others, he listened to her wisdom and stopped his march toward bloodshed.  He wasn’t perfect, but he was penitent(i.e. willing to change when he saw the error of his way).

Conclusion

As God’s people, we are supposed to be like His Son(Jesus).  Jesus was perfect, but like David, we fall short of that perfection(the Bible calls that missing of the mark, sin).  And like David, when we find ourselves having sinned, we need to admit it, and repent(i.e. have a change of heart).  Can each of us be a person after God’s own heart . . . yes.  We might not achieve personal perfection, but we can always strive to be like Him.  Let’s do that.