Why was David called a man after God's own heart?

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Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,273
1,410
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#1
I have read this many times, maybe have a few ideas, but would like some discussion on the question.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
55,249
25,719
113
#2
Part of why David is called a man after God’s own heart is that he had absolute faith in God. Nowhere in Scripture is this point better illustrated than in 1 Samuel 17 where David as a young shepherd boy fearlessly slew the Philistine, Goliath. Shortly before the duel, we see direct evidence of David’s faith when David says, “‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the LORD be with you!’” (verse 37). David was fully aware that God was in control of his life, and he had faith that God would deliver him from impending danger. How else would one venture into a potentially fatal situation with such calm and confidence? David knew early on in life that God was to be trusted and obeyed. As we see in Scripture, David’s faith pleased God, and God rewards David for his faithfulness. https://www.gotquestions.org/man-after-God-heart.html


10 Reasons David is Called “A Man After God’s Own Heart

Acts 13:22 says, “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.‘”

The following words describe the heart of David as seen in his own writings:


Humble
– Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed
on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.
Psalm 62:9


Reverent
– I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:3


Respectful
– Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes
grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
Psalm 31:9


Trusting
– The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1


Loving
– I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Psalm 18:1


Devoted
– You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
Psalm 4:7


Recognition
– I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
Psalm 9:1


Faithful
– Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days
of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23:6


Obedient
– Give me understanding, and I will keep
your law and obey it with all my heart.
Psalm 119:34


Repentant
– For the sake of your name, O Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Psalm 25:11


http://www.biblestudytools.com/blogs/ron-edmondson/10-reasons-david-is-called-a-man-after-god-s-own-heart.html
 

maxwel

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2013
9,261
2,386
113
#3
I would suggest it's because David specifically said, over and over, how much he loved God's word.


Here's is the rationale:




1. Your words come from your heart, and therefore show what is in your heart.

Matthew 12:34 "... out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."


2. If your words come from your heart, and show your heart... then God's WORDS must show us GOD'S HEART.


3. David had a deep and profound love for God's word.

Psalm 119:97 "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day."


4. If David Loved God's word... then it means, by extension, what he really loved, and AGREED WITH, was God's Heart.


5. Conclusion:
By profoundly loving God's word, David shows that he ACTUALLY had a profound LOVE, and AGREEMENT with GOD'S HEART... he was... a man after God's heart.









 
Dec 2, 2016
1,652
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#4
After God's own heart simply means that David was the kind of person that God really wanted to be king. The king before David(Saul) was picked by God to appease the people. Not that Saul was a bad person for God would never pick a bad person, actually Saul was a very good person until he chose a different road. It is clear from scripture that God gave them Saul in His anger and took Him away in His wrath. Also God said, comparing David to Saul, man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart...Saul looked like what humans think a king should look like while David did not. God gave the people what they wanted in Saul, but God gave them what He wanted in David.
 
G

GODisLOVE7

Guest
#5
I would suggest it's because David specifically said, over and over, how much he loved God's word.


Here's is the rationale:




1. Your words come from your heart, and therefore show what is in your heart.

Matthew 12:34 "... out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."


2. If your words come from your heart, and show your heart... then God's WORDS must show us GOD'S HEART.


3. David had a deep and profound love for God's word.

Psalm 119:97 "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day."


4. If David Loved God's word... then it means, by extension, what he really loved, and AGREED WITH, was God's Heart.


5. Conclusion:
By profoundly loving God's word, David shows that he ACTUALLY had a profound LOVE, and AGREEMENT with GOD'S HEART... he was... a man after God's heart.









Very insightful, and true.

Thanks Maxwel!
 

88

Senior Member
Nov 14, 2016
3,517
77
48
#6
Psalms 27:4---David had a "single" passion...
 
Dec 12, 2013
46,515
20,395
113
#7
David....

a. Loved God
b. Loved the word of God
c. Had 100% faith in God regardless of how God treated David


David is a prime example of one who failed the Lord many times as a man, yet loved the Lord, His word and had faith in God continually.....David paid the price physically because of his sin and under the law should have died for murdering Uriah, yet a picture of Jesus emerges when an innocent child of DAVID takes his place in death.....David never lost his faith nor his salvation, although his sins did suppress the joy of his salvation and caused many difficulties in David's life.........
 
Dec 2, 2016
1,652
26
0
#8
Only God knows exactly WHY He was the kind of person God chose, however the question, ""why was David CALLED a man after God's own heart"...is easy to answer, David was the person that God WANTED to be king, while the previous king Saul was not who God really wanted but was a concession to the desires of the people. Sometimes God does things for people that He does not really want to do. Giving them king Saul was one of those times, God gave the people a very tall, very handsome man for their king because he knew that is what they would want. However David was the kind of person that God Himself wanted to be their king...after My own Heart...according to God's own desire and not the desire of the people.
 
R

ROSSELLA

Guest
#9
This is a difficult topic. David's story always. He did some pretty terrible things. He didn't respect women. He saw another man's wife bathing and sent soldiers to "take" her and bring her to him so he could sleep with him. At best he was committing adultery at worst rape. He later murdered her husband to cover it up. Not because the King didn't have the power to take a concubine if he wanted one. But because it would have made David look bad to take a married man's wife and exposed his sin to the people. The existence of a harem and multiple wives, as well further adultery, shows that he viewed women as collectors items. It shouldn't be swept under the rug that many concubines of the time were either sold or given into it by their fathers, coerced or forced by either circumstances or their employers, or taken as war captives. Therefore, they had extremely limited to no ability to consent. When David was fleeing from Absalom, he left behind 10 of his concubines to keep house for him, even though he knew soldiers were coming, and sure enough Absalom at the very least degraded them and at best raped them. This disrespect of women is further evident in the way his sons treated the women. Solomon had several hundred wives and concubines. Amnon raped his own sister. Absalom saw his father's concubines as just a means to gain power. Adonijah may or may not have been trying to do the same thing with Abishag. David wasn't the best father, either. When Amnon raped Tamar, David didn't lift a hand to punish Amnon or help Tamar. I get he might have felt he was in no place to judge, or maybe it was just a difficult situation because they were both his children. However, even grounding him would have been better than doing nothing. Then, David banished Absalom when Absalom punished Amnon, which is something David should have done. Later on, David continued to not discipline his kids when Adonijah repeatedly and openly proclaimed himself King and David did nothing until he was on his death bed.
However, David had faith in God and did try to obey the Lord in many things. David showed respect for Saul, God's anointed King, by refusing to rebel against him. He had faith that God would help him kill Goliath. Many of his enemies he punished by making them work as opposed to putting them to death. When the Lord told him to go to war, he went to war. When the Lord told him to hold back, he held back. He showed mercy to members of Saul's family, despite the fact that they could have usurped him. Instead of letting that possibility dictate how he treated them, he trusted that the Lord would determine who reigned.
Ultimately, it was his faith in the Lord that made him a man after God's own heart. And I think David must have tried to do the right thing because no one whose life the Lord has touched and changed can not want to do better. At least he probably wanted to live a better life even if he didn't always succeed. Of course, it wouldn't be good deeds that made him pleasing to the Lord, but his faith. However, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness" Genesis 15:6. Likewise, Christians today are sanctified through faith in Christ. Because of this, it was most likely David's faith in God that made him a man after God's own heart.
 
Nov 19, 2016
502
23
0
#10
David did mess up quite bad sometimes when leading Israel to the hurt of people,but David was a man after God's own heart for He always believed in God,and never stopped having faith in God,and would repent of his evil deeds,unlike other kings of Israel which did evil in the sight of God,for although David would mess up he was still a king that did good in the sight of God.

David's son also messed up by engaging in fleshy pleasures,and in the department of having 300 wives and 700 concubines,which the LORD was not pleased with his actions,but he eventually forsook it all,and that is what the book Ecclesiastes is about telling us that he applied himself to folly like people of the world do,but then wrote that it is all vanity that is in the world,and the conclusion is fear God,and keep His commandments,for that is the whole duty of man.

Solomon also loved the LORD but had his faults too,but he too like David repented of it all.
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,273
1,410
113
#11
Only God knows exactly WHY He was the kind of person God chose, however the question, ""why was David CALLED a man after God's own heart"...is easy to answer, David was the person that God WANTED to be king, while the previous king Saul was not who God really wanted but was a concession to the desires of the people. Sometimes God does things for people that He does not really want to do. Giving them king Saul was one of those times, God gave the people a very tall, very handsome man for their king because he knew that is what they would want. However David was the kind of person that God Himself wanted to be their king...after My own Heart...according to God's own desire and not the desire of the people.
Great insights here - I agree with you about Saul being "a concession to the desires of the people". When he was to be coronated king he was "hiding among the stuff". This is sometimes seen as modesty and humility - maybe partly so, but I think there was also fear here. A little bit later the Israelite was hiding in fear from the Philistines - as is the king so are the people.
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,273
1,410
113
#12
This is a difficult topic. David's story always. He did some pretty terrible things. He didn't respect women. He saw another man's wife bathing and sent soldiers to "take" her and bring her to him so he could sleep with him. At best he was committing adultery at worst rape. He later murdered her husband to cover it up. Not because the King didn't have the power to take a concubine if he wanted one. But because it would have made David look bad to take a married man's wife and exposed his sin to the people. The existence of a harem and multiple wives, as well further adultery, shows that he viewed women as collectors items. It shouldn't be swept under the rug that many concubines of the time were either sold or given into it by their fathers, coerced or forced by either circumstances or their employers, or taken as war captives. Therefore, they had extremely limited to no ability to consent. When David was fleeing from Absalom, he left behind 10 of his concubines to keep house for him, even though he knew soldiers were coming, and sure enough Absalom at the very least degraded them and at best raped them. This disrespect of women is further evident in the way his sons treated the women. Solomon had several hundred wives and concubines. Amnon raped his own sister. Absalom saw his father's concubines as just a means to gain power. Adonijah may or may not have been trying to do the same thing with Abishag. David wasn't the best father, either. When Amnon raped Tamar, David didn't lift a hand to punish Amnon or help Tamar. I get he might have felt he was in no place to judge, or maybe it was just a difficult situation because they were both his children. However, even grounding him would have been better than doing nothing. Then, David banished Absalom when Absalom punished Amnon, which is something David should have done. Later on, David continued to not discipline his kids when Adonijah repeatedly and openly proclaimed himself King and David did nothing until he was on his death bed.
However, David had faith in God and did try to obey the Lord in many things. David showed respect for Saul, God's anointed King, by refusing to rebel against him. He had faith that God would help him kill Goliath. Many of his enemies he punished by making them work as opposed to putting them to death. When the Lord told him to go to war, he went to war. When the Lord told him to hold back, he held back. He showed mercy to members of Saul's family, despite the fact that they could have usurped him. Instead of letting that possibility dictate how he treated them, he trusted that the Lord would determine who reigned.
Ultimately, it was his faith in the Lord that made him a man after God's own heart. And I think David must have tried to do the right thing because no one whose life the Lord has touched and changed can not want to do better. At least he probably wanted to live a better life even if he didn't always succeed. Of course, it wouldn't be good deeds that made him pleasing to the Lord, but his faith. However, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness" Genesis 15:6. Likewise, Christians today are sanctified through faith in Christ. Because of this, it was most likely David's faith in God that made him a man after God's own heart.
Thanks for exposing David's sad story with women - sad but true!

His story shows how faith in God goes deep and goes beyond success in deeds!
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,273
1,410
113
#13
David....

a. Loved God
b. Loved the word of God
c. Had 100% faith in God regardless of how God treated David


David is a prime example of one who failed the Lord many times as a man, yet loved the Lord, His word and had faith in God continually.....David paid the price physically because of his sin and under the law should have died for murdering Uriah, yet a picture of Jesus emerges when an innocent child of DAVID takes his place in death.....David never lost his faith nor his salvation, although his sins did suppress the joy of his salvation and caused many difficulties in David's life.........
I had never thought of the child being a picture of Jesus - at least that gives me something to chew on for awhile!
 
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
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#14
Because David was regenerate. No man can please God who is otherwise; Romans 8:8. IOW, he didn't merely choose himself into such a state. :)
 

Adstar

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2016
7,417
3,468
113
#15
I have read this many times, maybe have a few ideas, but would like some discussion on the question.
David was in many ways a faulty man.. But he consistently had faith in God.. And when convicted of His wrongdoings he did not deny his sins or resist Gods chastizement..

Of all the OT jewish characters in the Bible . David to me was the most Christian of them all..
 

OneFaith

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2016
2,270
369
83
#16
I have read this many times, maybe have a few ideas, but would like some discussion on the question.
Because, aside from his sin, his personality was a lot like God's. Think about all the positive things you know of David- and there you go. One thing that really amazes me is how David must of thought of his sins a lot when he thought of himself- which is displayed in psalms. Yet God was able to view him without sin, and to sum up what's left with the greatest compliment anyone could ever receive- "A person after My own heart."

This compliment is not just for David, all children have the likeness of their father. All of God's genuine children have a heart like the Father. It reminds me of a song, about an old violin, I think it's called 'the touch of the master's hand. When we are down in the dumps, with Satan trying to convince we are worthless, we need to remember that God did not have His Son die of garbage, to think so would be the greatest insult to God.
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,273
1,410
113
#17
Because David was regenerate. No man can please God who is otherwise; Romans 8:8. IOW, he didn't merely choose himself into such a state. :)
Yes, . . . but why above others in Scripture is he said to be "a man after God's heart"?
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,273
1,410
113
#18
David was in many ways a faulty man.. But he consistently had faith in God.. And when convicted of His wrongdoings he did not deny his sins or resist Gods chastizement..

Of all the OT jewish characters in the Bible . David to me was the most Christian of them all..

Saul usually hedged and only repented partially - his typical excuse was: "the people . . ."

David, as you pointed out didn't deny his sins or God's chastisement
 

lastofall

Senior Member
Aug 26, 2014
609
38
28
#19
[for me anyway] it is because consulted God when he did wrong, and not man.
 
J

JustWhoIAm

Guest
#20
David was in many ways a faulty man.. But he consistently had faith in God.. And when convicted of His wrongdoings he did not deny his sins or resist Gods chastizement..

Of all the OT jewish characters in the Bible . David to me was the most Christian of them all..
Very, very nice way to put it. Worth drawing attention to.

:cool: