Thursday, January 25, 2018

GOD – AFTER OUR HEART


1 Samuel 13:13-14 (KJV)
And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.
But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.


It occurs to me that before we can study how David sought God’s heart, we need to take note first the God sought his heart first.

David’s heart after God began with God after David’s heart

I have four basic headings I want to bring to you
I. THE PROMISE OF JUDAH
Genesis 49:8-12 (KJV)
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

It was very much a patriarchal practice that, before the patriarch died, he gathered his children, blessed them, and pronounced a prophecy concerning their future.

Jacob, following this patriarchal pattern gathered his sons together and gave to them his Patriarchal blessing.

When he turned to Judah Jacob said:
·   Your family is going to be like a family of lions
·   You are going to rule until the Messiah comes and
·   Your brethren shall praise thee

Now remember,
·   Jacob isn’t telling his children what he wants them to do. Further,
·   Jacob isn’t simply observing the character of his sons and predicting what he thinks will happen
God is at work through Jacob, prophesying what is the word and will of God for Judah.

It is God’s intention that from Judah’s whelp, his offspring would come a ruling family that would govern all of Israel until the Messiah comes.

Furthermore, that very Messiah would spring from this same family of Judah.

Of course, the name of David is not mentioned in this passage, but when God chooses out David to be king, we observe that he is of the tribe of Judah.

God chose out Judah for this honor, not because of any kind of goodness or merit on their part.

Judah himself had practiced treachery as well as adultery.

God chose Judah exactly as He chooses any and all He chooses, out of His mercy and according to His grace.

The story of David develops further with
II. THE PREGNANCY OF RUTH
Ruth 4:13-22 (KJV)
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Some of our school children have quoted parts of this passage on Sunday nights because, knowing I would get to this passage in the series I planned, I assigned it to them last summer.

Bible scholars believe the book of Ruth was written by the prophet Samuel who was, not coincidentally, the man God chose to anoint David as king.

The story is one of tragedy turned into triumph.
·   Elimelech, a member of the tribe of Judah took his family to Moab, a place he had no business going.
·   His sons did what might have been expected, they married of the daughter of Moab, an action they had no business doing

Tragically Elimelech and both his sons died in this strange land.

Naomi did the smart thing – she headed back home.

But a surprising thing happened, one of her daughters in law, Ruth, a Moabitess, chose to follow her into God’s promised land.

It is not my purpose to try to recount the whole story so let’s just suffice it to say that Ruth finds love in the Promised Land and among Naomi’s own family.

She marries a man named Boaz
And together they have a son named Obed.

Samuel concludes the story by telling us, by the way, Obed is the grandfather of David.

The point that I am trying to make is that,
Before David was a gleam in his father’s eye,
·   Before Jesse
·   Before Obed
·   Before Boaz even
·   Before Judah was a gleam in Jacob’s eye
God already had a heart for David.

I need to jump references from David to give you
III. THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 1:4-5 (KJV)
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

I do not believe I do any damage to the Word of God to claim what was true of Jeremiah was true of King David.

Before he was conceived
Before he was his mom and dad ever learned a child was about to come into their family

God had already chosen David to be the king of Israel and God already had a heart filled with love for David.

I am not saying that his family was perfect or that his earlier years were without trouble.
·   Jacob was a problem
·   Judah was a problem
·   Elimelech and Noami had problems
·   Jesse had problems and
·   David had his problems too
But God always loved Him. God always had a plan for Him and God always wanted his heart.

By the way, the same is true of me and you.

There is no event in your life that prevents you from having God’s love or having a heart after God.

·   Nothing in your family history
·   Nothing your parents did or didn’t do
·   Nothing you have ever done
Has kept God from loving you or keeps you from loving God

Allow me to take you to my final point, which is
IV. THE PRINCIPLE OF CHRISTIAN LOVE
1 John 4:17-19 (KJV)
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love him, because he first loved us.



·   Don’t ever think you have to work up some sort of heart after God.
·   Don’t ever think it is somehow up to you to win God’s love and favor.

The truth is God has always loved you. He has reached out to you time and time again seeking to win your heart for Him.

God has demonstrated His love for you
In Sending His Son
John 3:16 (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

In His Crucifixion for us
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

In His Identification with us
1 John 3:1 (KJV)
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…

·   God loves you.
·   God always has loved you and
·   God has always wanted you to have a heart after his own heart

Conclusion
Having a heart after God means much more than just being saved. But it would surely begin with being saved.

In my own case, I hope I have a heart after God.
I long to know Him and to love Him and to nurture and grow my love for Him.

But I have to say that I did not begin that way.

I did not know it until years and years after the fact, but now, looking back at my early days, I can see that God was always after my heart.

I can’t tell you what it was about me, but I always remember being drawn to the things of God.
·   I only went to church a couple of times as a kid, but I remember feeling so right about it.
·   I only attended a couple of Backyard Bible classes but I remember knowing what they taught was good.

As I got a little bit older my heart got a little bit colder so that in seventh grade when Shannon Alexander to witnessed to me, I argued.

When I was in High School and the teen group of the Presbyterian Church in Waitsburg tried to talk to me I said I believed God was “love.”

When, as an 18 year old just out of High School, Cash Nichols witnessed to me, I mocked and teased him.

But it was Cash who pointed out that I always listened before I mocked.

I got saved watching a TV program and about three years later I stepped into a Baptist Church for the very first time.

It was only then, after I was saved and baptized and had learned a little about the things of God that I realized – God had been after my heart since I had been a child.

I did not seek His heart for a very long time – but he had been seeking mine all my life.

The Heart that is after God’s heart begins by realizing that
We love Him because He first loved us.

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