Introduction: On one of his missionary journeys, Paul was preaching in Antioch, at the synagogue. He said this about king David...
Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
Now, if you know the life of David, you wonder sometimes why God called David a man after His own heart. David was a bloody man. He slaughtered thousands of the military enemies of Israel. He cut off the head of Goliath. He lusted after another man's wife, and he committed adultery, and then arranged the murder of her husband. He had seven wives. He was a bad father. He sometimes committed sins that led to the deaths of thousands of his own people. And yet God calls David a man after his own heart.
Today I want us to learn something about David. But also I want us to learn about God, and about ourselves. What does Psalm 40 tell us about David's character?
I. David never abandoned God. He was faithful for a lifetime (Psalm 40:1, 4).
Psa 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.
Psa 40:4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
Israel and Judah had dozens of unfaithful kings who abandoned Jehovah, and who sought the gods of the Canaanites. Such a thing never crossed David's mind. He was utterly, unshakeable attached to the one true God. Even Solomon turned to other gods in his old age, but David never did.
II. David realized he was a lost sinner. He confessed his sins, and relied on God for salvation (Psalm 40:2, 16-17).
Psa 40:2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psa 40:16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"
Psa 40:17 Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
So many people want to be sinful and rationalize it away. David never did that. He admitted his sin, and sought forgiveness.
David had a depth of spiritual understanding that was rare in Old Testament days. He fully realized that salvation was not by works, not by sacrifice, not by keeping the Law, but rather by the Grace of God (Ps. 40:6).
Psa 40:6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
III. David loved God (Ps. 40:5).
Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
See also Psalms 26:8; 31:23; 18:1 and 116:1
IV. David deeply admired and appreciated God's Word (Ps. 40:8).
Psa 40:8 I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
See also Psalms 119:47, 97, 127, 167
V. David was willing to take a public stand on God's behalf (Ps. 40:3, 9-10).
Psa 40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Psa 40:9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD. Psa 40:10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.
Conclusion: So, David was a deeply sinful man. Yet at the same time, he was deeply spiritual. He was faithful to Jehovah alone. He willingly confessed his sins and sought salvation. David loved God. He loved God's Word. And he was willing to publicly stand up for God's praise and honor.
That's what we learn about David. He was a tremendous mixture of sinfulness and spirituality.
Question: What should we learn about ourselves? Answer: we are no better than David. But we can be like him. We can be people after God's own heart.
The Apostle Paul claimed to be the chief of sinners. In fact, we know that before he became a Christian he persecuted the church, and many a Christian died because of Paul. And after he became a Christian, he was still a sinner. He wrote autobiographically to the Romans:
Rom 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
Rom 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Rom 7:16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
Rom 7:17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Rom 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Rom 7:19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Rom 7:21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Rom 7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
Rom 7:23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
Rom 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Rom 7:25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the flesh a slave to the law of sin.
David was a great sinner, but he loved God. Paul was a great sinner, but he loved God, too. What about us? Are we better that David or Paul? No, we are in the same boat. We are all sinners, too. But we love God. We love Jesus. We want to serve Him.
Question: What do we learn about God? Answer: We learn that God is gracious. God forgives. God is merciful. He called David a man after His own heart. What God looks for in a human being is not perfection, but he looks for faith, and he looks for love. Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
May God help us to be like David, to turn from our sins as best we can, to rely on God's mercy, to love Him, and to love His word. Amen.