What is God looking for in a person or a church he can use in a mighty way? Why does it seem that God blesses one person, or church more than another? When I refer to being blest I am not referring to financial or numerical blessing but to a spiritual blessing, an outpouring of God’s Spirit. We find the answer in the life of David, who we have been looking at over the summer. David began as the shepherd boy, the last of eight son’s, and yet he was handpicked by God to be king. David was one of the most successful kings in the history of the people of Israel. God used David in a mighty way. Not only did David experience great blessing as king but the people of Israel experienced his blessing. According to Bible there was one thing which set David apart from everyone else, his heart. When the prophet Samuel was sent by God to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king he was impressed by the features of David’s brothers, but…
NIV 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
God was looking at David’s heart. It was the reason God had chosen David. God’s greatest qualification wasn’t intelligence, skills or abilities, or appearance, but a person after God’s heart. Scripture reminds us that David was a man after God’s own heart. David’s heart beat in sync with God’s. [Illust. Metronome]. Whatever God cared about, David cared about. Whatever God loved, David loved. What God wanted to see accomplished, David wanted to see accomplished.
The kind of people God is looking for to use in a mighty way, the kind of people God blesses are people after God’s heart. God works powerfully in the lives of people and in churches who have a heart for Him.
What does it mean to be a person after God’s heart?
A person after God’s heart…
I. Is Obedient to God in All Matters or Does God’s Will in All Matters
The first priority of being a person who has a heart for God is to do everything God wants us to do, to carry out God’s will.
Jesus said it this way, “If you love me, obey my commands (John 14:15).”
God says to us if you want to be after my heart, do what I say. The first we hear of David being a man after God’s heart is during his predecessor Saul’s reign. The prophet Samuel had apparently told Saul to wait seven days for his arrival to offer a sacrifice to the Lord to receive his blessing before going off to battle. Saul waited, one day, two days, three days. Meanwhile, the enemy, the Philistines had amassed a huge army of soldiers and chariots ready for battle. With every day the terrified Israelite army became smaller and smaller. Finally seven days went by and no Samuel. So Saul decided he couldn’t wait any longer for Samuel because otherwise he wouldn’t have enough soldiers to fight the battle. So he chose to offer the ritual sacrifice to God himself. Just as Saul finished the sacrifice, guess who showed up, that’s right Samuel. And he was not happy. Samuel was not happy because Saul violated his direct order by going ahead without him, and on top of that God had specific ways in which to offer sacrifices, and they were only to be done by a priest, no one else. In Saul’s impatience he disobeyed God’s command. And this was Samuel’s response:
NLT 1 Samuel 13:13 "How foolish!" Samuel exclaimed. "You have disobeyed the command of the LORD your God. Had you obeyed, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your dynasty must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already chosen him to be king over his people, for you have not obeyed the LORD’s command."
The reason God took away the kingdom from Saul’s descendents was because he disobeyed God’s commandments. Saul didn’t do what God wanted him to do. The kind of king God was looking for was a person who had a heart for God, in other words, one who would obey God’s commands, a person like David.
Hundreds of years later, after Jesus another guy named Saul, also known as Paul, taught about what it was that separated Saul from David he said:
NIV Acts 13:22 "After removing Saul, he [God] 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.’"
Having a heart for God means we obey everything God tells us to, we do everything God wants us to do, not just the commands which are convenient for us.
God will not use a person or a church in a powerful way without following all of God’s commands. You cannot experience great blessing from God if you do not obey God in all areas of your life. If sin persists God cannot bless us. This is not to say we will be perfect. Not even David was perfect. Last week we covered David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and his conspiracy to murder her husband. David did sin, but he also confessed and turned from his sin.
We may say we are a Christian, which is great, but are you after God’s heart? Does your heart beat in sync with God’s? Do you care about what God cares about? Do you care about his commands? Do you desire that every person might be saved, know the truth, and have a relationship with God (every person not just the nice people, or the people like us) (1 Tim. 2:4), because that is what God cares about. God cares when a person doesn’t have a meal to eat, a clean water to drink, clothes on their back, or a place to lay their head. Does your heart break for the things that break God’s heart? People who are abused, mistreated,treated unjustly, because God cares about people who are mistreated, abused, and treated unjustly.
Let our prayer be that of David’s:
NIV Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Going after God’s heart is a priority for experiencing God’s blessing, but David wasn’t just satisfied with doing things for God to please him. David actually wanted more of God in his life. We see his hearts desire in the Psalms, such as the one we read this morning, Psalms 63. we read of how David’s hearts desire was not just to go after God’s heart but to go after God. As a poet, songwriter, and musician, David is credited with 73 of the 150 Psalms in the book of Psalms. Over half. The Psalms reflect the kind of heart God is looking for. David poured out his heart to God in prayer, poetry, and songs.
II. Passion for God
People who have a heart for God have a desire for more of God in their life. Just as you hunger for food, and thirst for water, those with a heart for God have a soul which hungers and thirsts for God.
David wrote in Psalm 63 while he was in the desert fleeing from Saul:
"O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water."
Other Psalms reflect similar imagery of a longing for God:
We sang earlier from Psalm 42 (which was written by the sons of Korah, not David):
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. You alone are my hearts desire and I long to worship you."
David’s heart didn’t just beat along with God’s heart, his heart beat for God. When the ark of the covenant, the box God instructed the Israelites to create to be the place where the manifest presence of God dwelt. As the ark was being brought into Jerusalem for the first time, David danced with joy, the people were shouting and singing, and excited because the presence of the Lord was entering Jerusalem.
Would we say we are a people with a passion or desire for more of God in our life, like David? I’ve seen people with a passion for a lot of things, but rarely for God. I’ve seen a passion for sports (this community no exception). We can spend a couple hours at a sporting event perhaps even in bad weather, but an hour or more worshipping God on Sunday morning seems like a chore. We can enjoy watching two hours of television a night, but 15-30 minutes of being with God in prayer and reading his word seems like forever.
Have we settled for a “good enough” mentality? My relationship with God is good enough, it has gotten me through this far. We are satisfied with the status quo. Unfortunately, it tends to take a tragedy, major life transition, or stressful time in our life before we realize our inadequate faith in God. People who don’t seem terribly . [Sing with monotone voice]. Some people have said, “well that’s just not my personality.” You know what I have to say to that ‘poppycock,’ that’s right nonsense. David was not afraid of showing his emotions.
A person with a heart for God isn’t satisfied with the status quo. They desire more of God in their life. They are actively engaged in doing the things God loves.
God honors and blesses a person, a church who honestly desires after God’s heart, and desire more of him.
How do we become more like David, a person after God’s heart? It sounds nice, perhaps we think, I would like to chase after God’s heart, but I don’t feel it, or my hearts just not into it. In our culture we often misunderstand what the heart is all about. We think of the heart as being the place of emotions, we say “I love you with all of my heart.” The heart is where I feel. But in the OT the heart was not just the place of emotions. The heart was also the center of thought, and will. Today it would be more accurate if we called it the heart and mind (Pr. 4:23). We think the heart can only be changed by a whim, but in the Biblical sense, the heart can be altered by the will, by our decisions. In other words we can make a choice to have a heart for God. Pursue God’s heart until you feel it, and once you feel it, pursue God all the more. It isn’t about doing it when the mood strikes you, or ‘I don’t feel love for God,’ it’s about what I choose to do. Will I obey God in all matters, will I pursue God, will I praise God even if I don’t feel like it? When we make a choice to have a heart for God, God honors that choice by placing us in positions of influence over others to build God’s kingdom. God gives favor and influence to churches in their community.
Communion Meditation
God sent his Son to earth, he gave up the splendor of heaven, he lived just like one of us, he was beaten and killed on a cross. Why? Because he passionately cared for you and for me, and for every other person who has lived or will live on this planet. Jesus gave up everything for our sake, so we could be forgiven of our sins, so we could be in a relationship with God. As you take communion this morning think reflect/meditate upon what lengths God was willing to go for you. God did it as a free gift for us. After what God has done for us, shouldn’t we care about the things God cares about? Shouldn’t our hearts desire be for God and doing his will? I challenge you to reflect on this as you come forward for communion. What response is God desiring of you this morning? Seeking forgiveness for disobeying God? A renewed vigor to go after more of God? What is God challenging you to do this morning? I remind you that the front of the church, the altars are open for prayer if you need to come before God this morning.
