 How many of you have heard the term a man after God's own heart especially as described to David And you've even heard people say that they would like to be a man or woman after God's own heart But how many of us actually use that term or further that term properly? Well, remember when God makes this statement He makes a statement to Samuel in regards to Saul whom after the people have decided that they no longer want to be led by God They don't want to have a prophet as their mouthpiece before them They said they want a king like other nations Well, God's response to Samuel is that they have not rejected you Samuel, but they have rejected me But none of this because he's God has taken him by surprise All of this we're gonna find out that all of this is an actual part of his plan God will work things no matter what they are good or bad All these things are gonna work out to be for his glory God will get glory either through you or in spite of you And in this case we see it happening in both ways And so let's go to 1st Samuel 7 13 verse 13 first he says Samuel said to Saul you have acted foolishly You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God which he commanded you for now The Lord would have established your kingdom forever over Israel forever Well before we go any further is that a true statement would God have established his kingdom forever had he obeyed? Well, sure did God believe that Saul actually would have obeyed? No, he did not he's this is what we call Middle knowledge. This is where God knows what you did do But also middle knowledge is to know what you would have done And so in this case he says had you had done this this is what God would have done However, God God never thought that Saul would be this way. We'll show this in just a second But look what he says verse 14. He says 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. So now there's the phrase So what does that mean where he says that he has selected a man after his own heart? Well, a couple things about David Obviously David has shown some good qualities, but he's also shown some bad qualities The good causes David is a faithful person David loves the Lord David turns the Lord David trusts in the Lord as a matter of fact Even in Acts 13 22 it's also mentioned about how David would do what the Lord tells him verse 22 of chapter 13 in Acts He says 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 I will do all my will. I'm sorry. Who will do all my will? So David will do what God tells him to do But the question is does David always do what God tells him to do Without being told to will there be some times where David will make mistakes? Well, they will see it Well, obviously we know the story David does sin that's a matter of fact David sinned so egregiously and so vividly that God Brings about a punishment. He brings about a punishment not just born David But upon David's house as well as Israel you all know the story where David has had this affair Adultery with Bathsheba. She becomes pregnant. She he kills Bathsheba's husband Uriah. And so what is the punishment? God one takes a child away But then also says that the sword shall not depart from his household And we don't have very much long for David's household terrain under the umbrella of God's protection But all of this has to do with part of the plan that God says as matter of fact There's even another covenant that comes about from this There's called the Davidic Covenant where God has promised that a descendant of his will reign on his throne One physically which is gonna be Solomon, but then another one who's gonna run his throne forever That is Jesus Jesus is not an afterthought in all of this. Remember go back to Genesis 49 Kind of a throw waste table for some people But if we look at it and think about what God is saying especially looking in and at the story of David life The story of David will see that this was always in the plan in chapter 49 verse 10 in Genesis He says as Jacob as pronouncing blessings on his people on his children when he gets to Judah He says the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler stash from between his feet So what's his point? Well, there is no separate because there's no kingdom. There's no rule However, remember God makes a statement to Abraham that he shall have these people They shall be a prominent nation a great nation Given in this land. Well a couple things come with that one The people obviously the nation of Israel the land and then this government that's gonna come as a result of all this And who was gonna leave this government? Well, you're gonna have obviously David and then Solomon But then God says that there's gonna be someone a descendant after his and that is Jesus And so even when the people asked for a king like other nations That was not something that God could not deal with as a matter of fact God intends to use that to bring about this other king that I'm thinking of and so when God makes a statement that he is Chosen a man after his own heart the term after his own heart does not mean someone who has the same That it does not and so when God makes a statement It does not mean that he's chosen someone who has the same heart of God who thinks and acts and moves like God Well, that can't be the case one look at the life of David. There's good But there's also his life is marked by bad the sin that clearly is not after God's own heart What this is is this is someone of God's own choosing. This is really an idiomatic statement Him saying I'm choosing someone of my own for my own heart I'm gonna choose someone and it's important though. Remember God has determined this to be the case Not because that David was a person who was God like No, that God chose someone who God would move in him. Remember, let's go back to this. This is important Remember the recalling the story of Ruth. Ruth is a Moabite. She had married a Jewish man who died She stays with her mother-in-law Naomi and then she ends up ultimately marrying Boas remember though because you would think how come Ruth never had any children It wasn't that she was too old or anything like that But God had not opened her womb But then we get to Ruth chapter 4 verse 13 when Boas marries her it says that She became his wife and he went into her and the Lord this word Enabled her the Lord made it so that she could conceive and she gave birth to a son Then the women said Naomi blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today and May his name become famous in Israel May he also be to you a restorative life and a sustainer of your old age For your daughter-in-law who loves you and is better to you than seven sons has given birth to him Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. Here it is The neighbor women gave him a name saying a son has been born to Naomi and they named him Obed Who was Obed Obed is a father of Jesse Jesse is the father of David This is keeping in With what God wants to do God has stated that the scepter shall not depart Judah What lineage what tribe are they from what tribe is Boas from he is from the tribe of Judah? And so Jesus comes through this is so God has determined that through this tribe That's the tribe that he has chosen and because of that the lineage of his rulership is going to come through there Through who not obviously not through Saul Saul is not from the tribe of Judah saw us from the tribe of Benjamin So that was never going to be the case So here we have this statement that David is a man after God's own heart It simply means that David is a man after God's own choosing. Why is that important? Well, it demonstrates the sovereignty of God God is not beholden to Choosing the ones that you might think are the ones that are most apparent the biggest the greatest Remember even choosing Israel itself. He chooses the least of all nations Even in choosing some of the people that he that he's chosen think about him choosing David David is the least amongst his brothers the smallest the run of letters so to speak and so God will choose David rather than choosing any of his other brothers just like God has done the same thing with other people think about Gideon Think about Abraham as a matter of fact God does not choose those that you think he will God will take in many cases the less and Do something wonderful through them? And so the whole point of him choosing David isn't because David was wonderful The whole point of him choosing David was because God is wonderful and he's going to show his mighty works Through a flawed man, which is just what he does with all of us through flawed men and women God will work his word wonders through us. He will do things through us We are the means by which people will hear the gospel whereby people will be comforted Whereby people will be taken care of he is going to use us He's not dropping helps out of heaven He's sending help through us through mankind And so the testament to that is is verified by God using somebody like David and Others throughout scripture. So God has chosen this person David And so that's the beauty and the importance of the story not that David was great David was a wonderful person no problem with that, but more importantly it was God at his sovereignty. Amen