David - Heart To Do God's Will

After the people of Israel asked for a lesser king, Saul was chosen.  Saul was tall and very handsome in appearance.  On the outside, Saul had all the characteristics to be great king, but he had one very crucial weakness.  Saul did not keep the commands of God.  On one of Saul’s very first assignments as king, he disobeyed instructions given to him by Samuel by impatiently offering a sacrifice without waiting for Samuel (1 Sam. 10:8, 13:8-13).  On another occasion Saul was instructed to destroy EVERYTHING in a battle against the Amalekites, but instead Saul spared the Amalekite king Agag and the best animals (1 Sam 15:1-11).  Although Saul would reign as king in Israel for 40 years, as a result of his disobedience, he was rejected by God.  God already had another man in mind who would be king of Israel . . . King David.  What made David so special? 

READ: Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:14

Both of these passages communicate something very important about David.  Something that is unobservable from the outside.  David was by no means a sinless man.  During his reign as king, David committed adultery with Bathsheba and in an attempt to cover his sin he lied and had Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed on the frontlines in a battle.  There was something special about David’s HEART that reveals God’s favor toward him in spite of his sin.  God has graciously created us each with a HEART (no, not your physical heart), a spiritual "empty" place that governs our mental capabilities (thoughts), our moral conduct (behavior), and our emotional capacities (feelings).  Our heart is what drives us to think the thoughts we think, to speak the way we speak, and behave the way we behave.  David’s heart was filled with something very specific . . . to do ALL of God’s will!  Having a heart to do God’s will is an essential component of being the person God wants us to be.  Looking at the life of David, how can we do all of God’s will in our lives? 

1.  Doing God’s will starts deep down in the depths of our HEART (1 Sam. 16:7) – It is very easy to mess up the qualifications of being an individual God can/will use.  We often make the mistake of thinking that God is looking for the most talented, the most articulate, (and when it comes right down to it) the most “perfect” individual to accomplish His purposes.  We spend lots of time and energy perfecting skills we think God will use when we should be paying more attention to the deep intentions of our heart.  God is not looking for a polished exterior, instead He is looking for a right interior.  A look into the life of king David indicates that an interior that is right and most usable by God is one that deep down inside WANTS to do His will!  If we are going to be usable by God, we need to have a heart that wants to do what God wants us to do!  That was king David’s heart.

2.  Doing God’s will requires our heart to be IN SYNC with God’s heart (2 Samuel 2:1, 5:19, 5:23) – Synching two pieces of electronic equipment means that the information/data on each device is the SAME (identical), they are synched with one another.  A heart that is “in sync” with God’s is a heart whose is the same as God’s.  Several times in David’s life we see him synching his heart with God’s heart.  David “inquired” of the Lord.  Are you inquiring?  God does not just automatically “sync” our hearts with His.  We must inquire of God’s will through prayer and reading His Word.  Being in sync with God and discerning His will is actually the easy part, DOING His will is the hard part. 

3.  Doing God’s will is a LIFETIME of hearing God’s commands and being obedient (1 Kings 15:5) – In a sense doing God’s will is a ONE TIME commitment.  David was a man after God’s own heart, not because he was perfect, but because God knew that when He asked him to do something that David’s answer was already “yes”.  Before God ever asks us to do a thing our heart needs to be in the position to say “yes” at any moment.  A lifetime of obedience starts with a heart that has already replies “yes” even before being asked to do something.

CONCLUSION

Jesus Christ, even more that king David, was a man after God’s own heart (John 4:34; 5:19, 30; *6:38-39; 8:29; 14:31, Eph. 5:10).  Jesus was the perfect King because His heart was in perfect sync with His Father and He said “yes” to God’s will long before He was lead to do anything.  Are you a man/woman after God’s own heart?