“After removing Saul, he made David their king. God 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’”

(Acts 13:22 NIV)

Some may question the designation of David as a man after God’s own heart. After all, he was guilty of cowardice (1 Samuel 21:10), adultery (2 Samuel 11:1-4), and murder (2 Samuel 12:9). A man after God’s own heart, however, is not a perfect man or woman. He or she is the one who sees their own sin for what it is and repents of it. All that David did, and all the divine chastening that followed, had a perfecting work in him.

David may justly be termed a man after God’s own heart because, unlike Saul, his greatest desire came to be the doing of God’s will. The prophet Samuel addressed King Saul in the face of his disobedience with these words: “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” (1 Samuel 13:14 NASB).

How could David be considered a man after God’s own heart? To understand this, we need to see what characteristics he had to qualify for such an exalted description. The answer is found right in Acts 13:22: David did whatever God wanted him to do. An obvious question follows: how could God still call David a man after His own heart when David committed such terrible sins, including adultery and murder?

We can learn much of David’s character in the book of Psalms, where he opened up his life for all to examine. David’s life was a portrait of success and failure, and the biblical record highlights the fact that he was far from perfect. But what made David a cut above the rest was that his heart was pointed toward God. He had a deep desire to follow God’s will and do everything God wanted him to do. Let us look at some characteristics of David’s life to discover what that entails.

Absolute Faith in God

Part of why David is called a man after God’s own heart is that he had absolute faith in God. Nowhere in Scripture is this better illustrated than in 1 Samuel 17, where David as a young shepherd boy fearlessly faced the Philistine Goliath. Shortly before the duel, we see direct evidence of his faith: “‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you!’” (1 Samuel 17:37 NASB).

David was fully aware that God was in control of his life, and he had faith that God would deliver him from impending danger. How else would one venture into a potentially fatal situation with such calm and confidence? David knew early on in life that God was to be trusted and obeyed. His faith pleased God, and God rewarded and honored David for his faithfulness.

A Deep Love for God’s Word

Another reason David was a man after God’s own heart is that he absolutely loved God’s law. Of the 150 psalms in the Bible, David is credited for writing over half of them. Writing at various and often troubling times in his life, David repeatedly mentioned how much he loved God’s perfect Word. “For I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees” (Psalms 119:47-48 NIV).

Notice how David meditates on God’s statutes. God granted David understanding and wisdom through daily meditation. We would do well not only to read God’s Word but to think about it throughout the day, for God loves us to think about Him. “Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart; they do no wrong but follow his ways” (Psalms 119:2-3 NIV).

A Thankful Heart

David was a man after God’s own heart in that he was truly thankful. His life was marked by seasons of great peace and prosperity as well as times of fear and despair. But through all the seasons of his life, he never forgot to thank the Lord for everything he had. It is truly one of David’s finest characteristics.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalms 100:4-5 NIV). As followers of Jesus Christ, we would do well to follow David’s lead of offering praise through thanksgiving to our Lord.

Genuine Repentance

After he sinned, David was truly repentant. David’s sin with Bathsheba is recorded in 2 Samuel 11:2-5. The mighty fall hard, and David’s fall included adultery, lying, and murder. He had sinned against God, and he admitted it to Nathan. “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die’” (2 Samuel 12:13 NIV).

But admitting our sin and asking for forgiveness is only half of the equation. The other half is repentance, and David did that as well. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance to God: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Psalm 51:1-2).

David was a man after God’s own heart because he demonstrated his faith and was committed to following the Lord. Yes, his faith was tested on a grand scale, and he failed at times. But after his sin he sought and received the Lord’s forgiveness. In the final analysis, David loved God’s law and sought to follow it with his whole heart.

As a man after God’s own heart, David is a role model for all of us. Not because he was sinless, but because he was honest. Not because he never fell, but because he always got back up. Not because his record was clean, but because his heart kept returning to the One who could cleanse it. This is the invitation extended to every one of us: not to be perfect, but to be pointed. Pointed toward God. Pointed toward His Word. Pointed toward repentance when we fail. That is what it means to be a man or woman after God’s own heart.