“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’” (Acts 13:22 ESV)
In 1996, a popular contemporary Christian song was released that turned the phrase “a man after my heart” and was entitled “A Man After Your Own Heart.” It spoke of a man who was a confessed prodigal, driven by rivers of pride, wondering away so far, but yet is still “a man after your own heart.” The lyric begs God to still be used of Him even though they are a prodigal child that He knows them to be. I need to ask, what sense does this make?
I suggest that the theology in this song is more deception and wishful thinking than sound doctrine. Nevertheless, it became the anthem of a deceived generation who believed that as long as a person can identify with David by being a worshipper, they are still a man or a woman after God’s own heart. In reality, they, like deceived and disobedient king Saul, were often men and women after their own hearts, not God’s.
Whose Heart is One After?
Saul was rejected and removed from being king because he ruled Israel after his own heart and not God’s. When God called David to be king in Israel, he did so because Saul was rebellious and wouldn’t follow God’s direction. He disobeyed God more than once, but the situation with Agag was against a direct order (I Samuel 15:1-11). Samuel called it rebellion as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.
God never wanted Israel to have a king in the first place, but if they insisted on having one, He wanted one in place that would be “after His own heart” — a man with a readiness to do whatever God desired. The phrase could better be translated, “A man who is all that My heart could desire.” [The words “a man who is all that my heart could desire” (ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου) are taken from 1 Sam. (LXX 1 Kms.) 1Sa 13:14 (ἄνθρωπον κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν ἀυτοῦ,) ἄνδρα (om B) is a more precise equivalent of Heb. ʾîš than is LXX ἄνθρωπον. (New International Commentary on Acts 13:22)].
The Fall of King Saul
When God withdrew his Spirit from Saul and sent him an evil spirit instead, he became paranoid and began attacking everyone who challenged his power and ambitions. David was the primary threat to Saul and hence everyone associated with David came under suspicion and were targeted. Even Jonathan, Saul’s son came under suspicion. Ahimelech the priest and others who helped David suffered Saul’s wrath.
And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. (1 Samuel 22:17-18)
King Saul’s hatred for David manifested as madness and savagery and spared no one including the priests of God. Let this be a warning to the ambitious man and woman drunk on pride and rebellion. Do you see what people are capable of once the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them and an evil spirit is sent to take His place? Saul hated David from the first day David showed him up in the matter of Goliath (1 Samuel 18:7-8). And all it took was for the women to praise David more than Saul.
King Saul made it his life-long mission to destroy David at all costs. His hatred sprang from jealousy similarly to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain murdered Abel because God showed favor to Abel’s obedience and faith and rejected Cain’s self-willed offering. Nothing has changed since. Men still hate their fellow man when God shows them more favor. Both Cain and Saul could have been blessed as was Abel and David, but they both rejected God’s will for their own and suffered the inevitable consequences.
God chooses David
Clearly, God chose David because he would do God’s will and emulate His personality. This is what it means to be “all that God’s heart could desire” in a man or woman. When David placed himself between a sheep and a lion or a bear—he was imitating the heart of God. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He protects them from the enemy. He or she is not a wolf who preys on the flock; they risk their lives to protect the sheep from wolves. The metaphor is that of a pastor who protects the sheep (God’s own possession) from the trappings of sin, Satan, and anyone else who would seek their destruction.
Saul never tended sheep so he didn’t have a clue what it meant to be a shepherd. He wanted the title, but not the heart to do God’s will. He saw the throne as an opportunity to assert his own will and not God’s. What a dangerous man! In I Samuel 20:30-33, Saul threw a javelin at his own son Jonathan. This is how insane the man became while demon possessed and drunk on hatred and jealousy. He even began to consult with the demonic through the witch at Endor. (1 Samuel 28:7)
Life Lessons
Like king Saul, whose heart was drunk on pride, envy and hatred, some men plot in shadows to silence their rivals, but the truth—like the light of morning—always finds a way to expose the darkness of their intent as their actions become more and more brazen and public. Soon everyone knew, whether they had the courage to admit it or not, that king Saul hated king David.
Like all the wicked, eventually king Saul’s opportunity to repent ran out (Revelation 2:21). In the end, he fell not merely by the sword of his enemies, but by the weight of his own rebellion and pride, a tragic reminder that a crown worn for oneself can lead only to a kingdom lost and soul lost forever in Hell.
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