09.26.2010 How to be After God's Own Heart

09.26.2010 Grace Summit Sermon - How to be After God's Own Heart from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

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Today we are finishing off David... not that David needed finishing off... but we are finishing the series on David's life.
Let's pray
Father, thank You for the opportunity to be with You – thank You that You love us and that we have life through You. Touch our hearts – speak to us, that we might see You in a new way and that we would be different – appreciative of all you've one for us. May Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven and may we be the ones to do Your will. Thank You for the life of David – but even more, for the life of his descendant, Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself that we might have life. May we be sensitive to what You would have to say – You are intimately acquainted with us that You know what we need to hear. In Your Name we pray – amen.

In Acts 13 – talking about David – there is a brief commentary on the life of David – Paul is speaking to the Jews and giving a brief history of the history of Israel. He ends it with David and jumps from David to Jesus.

Acts 13:22 "And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.'
What an epitaph! Imagine having that written on your tombstone! When they look back – it was the best of times. The WWII generation has been called The Greatest Generation. As Israel looked back – they were looking for another David – someone to bring them back to the best of times – and they were hoping for a descendant of David.
Quotes from the Old Testament
Psalm 89:20 "I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him
1 Sam. 13:14 "But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."

We have this commentary on David – as a man after God's own heart – but as you look at David's life – it doesn't really look like that – like when he sinned with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, when he lied and deceived, after vengeance on Nabal – was he a man after God's own heart? - HOW DO WE RECONCILE THIS? What does it really look like to be a man after God's own heart?
The first thing is this:
God does not identify David by his sin and failures. He does not say, I have found David, the one who murdered Uriah and married his wife...
As you read the Bible – both Old and New Testaments...Every great person in the Bible had failures – but those failures don't define them. And so it is with you – you are not defined or identified by your sin and failure. He doesn't look at it that way.

When God looks at us – he doesn't identify you as OCD or ADD or ADHD or by your sins and failures – He identifies us as someone who has come to Christ. He sees you as He sees Jesus, because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. DO you believe that? Do you believe that when God looks at you that he doesn't look at you based on your failures? He sees you through Jesus Christ – completely – even if you just failed this morning – and if we want to be people after God's own heart – we must understand and believe that He identifies us not by our failures.
Paul said, He made Him who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He sees us through the cross.

Like at Passover – when the blood is placed over the door – He sees the people as covered by the blood of the Lamb. But we think we need to start working for God and grinding it out on the inside -
22 "And after He had removed him, He (GOD) raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.'
It is God's job – God did it! David was a man after God's own heart because it was God's work in him. And it is the same for us – God has done something for all of us. The Bible says you are a new creation – a new creature – a whole new creature from what you were! It begins by believing that. David was great because God called, prepared and promoted him – NOT because of David. David was not seeking to be found.
Remember the original story – 1 Sam. 16:7 – he wasn't even in the house at the time – they had to go and find HIM! He did not have any selfish ambition – at least early on in his life. And I think that was another thing that made him a man after God's own heart – he was simply faithful with the tasks that God gave him to do. Be satisfied with that!
In the first have of his life – he was.
Eliab comes in – Do not look at his appearance – because I have rejected him – but the Lord looks at the heart. With David – there was something about his heart – a heart prepared in private. For years, David lives this life in solitude and God developed his relationship during that time – when David was out being a faithful shepherd with the sheep – God was working in him. That is what this study we are starting is about – learning who you are and learning who God is and being able to face that so it doesn't hinder our relationships with God. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality - I went through this on the Sabbatical I took in June – there is a lot of inside work that needs to be done – and we aren’t always willing to go there. Cindy said of this study - “This is the best free counseling anyone can get!” All of us have significant change on the inside that must occur before things change on the outside.
The one place we see David's heart the best are found in the Psalms – here are three that demonstrate being a man after God's own heart
1) He was dependent on God – He saw God as a fortress, a stronghold. This tells us – there were a lot of difficulties in his life – people seeking his life and he learned to take refuge in God. He relied on God – that is step one – to be a person after God's own heart, we must depend on God – not on ourselves.
2) He had a heart of praise and thanksgiving – he had a grateful heart. He also recognized how unworthy he was for God's blessing and forgiveness – he did nothing to deserve it.
In our men's meeting we were talking about this this week –When something goes wrong, we ask, God – why did you let this happen to me? But it is true of the blessings as well. We are unworthy of the blessings as well!
3) Vengeance and Retribution – God's vengeance and His justice – he looked to God for justice. He didn't – especially early on – take that justice into his own hands – he didn't take all those opportunities with Saul -
What about his actions?
1) David was concerned for God's Reputation – like the story of Goliath – that is what it was mainly about – yes, it was about courage – but when David goes down there – he is appalled at this uncircumcised Philistine deriding the Army of God. It was God's reputation at stake and David stood up for it. David was concerned for THAT – and not his own reputation – and that is one of those things – worrying about our own reputation – that hinders us from being a people after God's own heart. What am I doing to enhance the reputation of God – not that it needs to be enhanced – but God's glory is seen in us – Matt. 16 – Let your light shine in such a way that they may SEE your good works and glorify God.
2) Commitment to God's plan – He understood the sovereign reign of God – instead of taking Saul's life – it was recognized that God was in control and would remove Saul and promote David in God's time. Do you live like this is true? That God is sovereign over all?
3) He had a love for God's people. In all the battles, he was uniting Israel – the Shepherd of God's people – bringing Israel together. Jesus said to Peter – do you love me? Feed my sheep.. To have a heart after God's own heart – you have to have a heart for God's people. Paul said of Timothy – I have no one else who will seek your welfare...
4) Eternal Value System – he had a kingdom mindset. At the end of his life – David prepares everything for Solomon to build the temple – because he understood that life goes beyond his own life – living beyond this life and the concerns of this life. That is hard to do when the concerns of this life pile up. Leave the concerns to me – and live for the concerns of My Kingdom – Matt. 6:33 – that is a hard way to live – but if we want to be ones after God's own heart – we have to have His concerns at heart! Matt 6 – talking about the lilies of the field – they are about the concerns of this life – but the point is clear – be concerned for the King.
Acts 13:22-23
22 "And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.' 23 "From the offspring of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,
It is his descendant that his life points toward – all of the work David did was pointing to Jesus – He is the answer – the one to whom David was looking himself. You need to look, not for another David, but to his descendant – and that is found in Jesus – He is the true KING. For the Jews – it was about having a relationship with Him. It starts that way with us – coming to Jesus – having a relationship with Him.
How do we do that? How do we become ones after God's own heart? Jesus spoke on what that meant – it is really simple – not complex -
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John ^bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" 16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained [Him.]

We see what is on God's heart when we look at Jesus – there were two things – Grace and truth – He came and preached the Kingdom of God – He spoke the message of redemption to the world – he spoke the good news to the poor – it is bringing the message of Christ – the Gospel – the cross – the truth – to people in our lives – that is step one – and step two – what was the other thing Jesus did? “I desire compassion, not sacrifice – we see a man – who lived in such a way – He gave his life to the outcast, the poor, the needy – the one who was given over to that – telling others about Christ and then serving them – it is SIMPLE (hard to do, but simple!) Both must be done – that is the message of Christ – that is Christ's life – I think the best example – Jesus gave – the parable of the Good Samaritan.
What happens? A guy gets beat up – and the good and holy people ignore and walk by – but the Samaritan/Halfbreed/failure/outcase – understands the heart of God and acts on it – understands the compassion of God. For God so loved that He gave his Son...
Every person you come into contact with – you need to understand that God loves that person and gave his life for that person -and our job is to serve in compassion and mercy.
Help us to live like Jesus – as David was a man after your own heart – concerned for your reputation and people – we have the opportunity to live in a way to glorify You and build Your reputation – it is our desire that those who have turned from You will be brought back to You -