I have heard that phrase thrown around a ridiculous amount. "He's a man after my own heart" "David was a man after God's own heart" but few people could tell me what criteria did you have to meet to get that title. Recently, however, some people have had very convincing arguments for what they believe to be the reasoning. Here is mine. If you would like to read the story that I am referring to, please read 1st and 2nd Samuel in the Old Testament in between the book of Ruth and 1 Kings. My references will be found in those places unless otherwise stated.
David son of Jesse was born an illegitimate sheep herder in the land of Judah. He was red haired and a good looking young man. (Hmm....red headed stepchild?) It seemed to David that EVERY BODY hated him (psalm 69:4). However, he was faithful in his assignment (that itself is a different teaching for a different time). When the prophet Samuel came and invited Jesse and his sons to a banquet so that Samuel could anoint a new king over Israel, Jesse left David out in the field. Jesse passed all of his sons in front of Samuel, and each one the Lord said that the was not the one. Jesse told Samuel that he had one more but he was in the field. As soon as David walked up to Samuel, the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this [is] the one!"
After that it took fifteen years for David to actually become King of Israel. In that time Saul tried to kill him many, many times. During this time, David's desire to please God was very apparent. He killed Goliath because Goliath was cursing God, he never harmed Saul because he was the Lord's anointed, and he had the Amalekite that struck Saul killed for the same reason that David never harmed him. After David was king he and his mighty men were walking into Bahurim and Shimei of the house of Saul began cursing David and all his men and throwing rocks at them. One of David's men even asked for permission to kill Shimei, but David told him not to. There are more examples of situations like this where David could have dealt with someone being rude or just down right mean, but he didn't.
I have written all that to say this: David was VERY FORGIVING!!! What does that have to do with God's heart? Glad you asked! 2000 years ago, God sent his Son, Jesus, to die so that the sins of the world could be...wait for it......FORGIVEN! It is in the heart of God to forgive. Really all that we have to do is accept the price that was paid for forgiveness. Think of someone paying for your dinner at a restaurant. You can pay for it yourself, but how much more awesome is it when someone pays it for you? That's the same thing with God. He had your bill taken care of. You didn't deserve it, you didn't do anything to earn it, but it was paid none the less. For those that are asking "Why would God want to forgive me after what I've done?" There is no crime that you could have committed that is outside of God's ability to forgive. Two robbers were crucified with Christ and one of them repented and on the spot, Jesus told him that he would be going to heaven (Luke 23:40-41). That just goes to show you that it is never too late to receive forgiveness.
I think that we can all take a lesson from David. He understood that there was nothing more important than performing the will of God. Furthermore, no man on this earth could do anything to him as long as his faith was in God and he was walking in the Lord's commands. In closing I issue this challenge to you: Be forgiving, be faithful, walk with God, stand for God, and run to Him!
May Grace and Peace be with you Always
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