I. Introduction

We’re almost complete with our study of 2nd Samuel; Chris has the final lesson next week before we move into 3rd Samuel.

Today’s lesson is a little different from the messy soap opera we’ve been studying. Today we pause while David sings a song of praise to the Lord.

II. Similarities to Psalm 18

We know David wrote many of the Psalms, and today’s verses are essentially a psalm, a song of praise and worship. In fact, it’s nearly identical to Psalm 18. Let’s just look at both side-by-side, just the first 6 verses –

Well, one or two lines are the same.

III. My Rock and My Fortress

It begins with “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.” David uses metaphors here that shows how powerful, how impregnable, how safe it is to be within the Lord’s will.

David throughout his eventful life relied on the Lord often, he trusted in the Lord for everything. We know through our studies of 1st and 2nd Samuel that for at least 10 years, David was pursued by Saul and his army and attempted to kill David on at least 5 separate occasions. And after he became king, David had to defeat the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Syrians, the Moabite, the Edomites, the Northern Lights, the Friday Nights, and the Stalagmites and the Stalactites. Well, ok, not those last 4. And after he became king, the pretenders to the throne by Ishbosheth, Absalom, and Sheba. Despite being chose by God to lead the kingdom of Israel, David’s life as king was filled with danger. What David knew, though, was that nothing could stop the will of the Lord. David was safe and protected inside the fortress of the Lord.

When you think of the Lord’s selection of David as king, what preconceptions might you have? That the path to be king was easy? That David’s foes would be minimal, that David would lead the people of Israel into decades of peace and prosperity? That everybody would love and admire and praise David?

David’s life was anything but peaceful. And a great many of the people of Israel sided against David when Absalom tried to overthrow David. But it wasn’t David who won the battles. David did only what the Lord asked him to do, and then David relied on the Lord. Every victory that David had, David gave credit to the Lord.

The Lord is our rock, our fortress. He is our mountain of strength, and he loves each and every one of us. The Lord longs for a relationship with us, and He tells us in Psalm 141 and Revelation 8 that our prayers to the Lord are pleasing incense to Him. Why the God who breathed the universe into existence is pleased to hear from us when we pray is a mystery to me, but he tell us the prayers of the righteou, those that dwell in Christ Jesus, are powerful. Our prayers with the faith of a mustard seed can move the mountain that is our God.

David knew this and gave credit to the Lord for every victory in his life. Despite David’s skill with a sling, despite David’s ability to command armies, David knew that his own power was weak compared to the all-surpassing power of the Lord God. The Lord is our rock, our fortress, our deliverer. The Lord is our shield and the horn of our salvation. The Lord is our savior.

IV. The Lord is Worthy to Be Praised

David goes on in verse 4 that he called out to the Lord, who is worthy of praise. These words from David, in this context, humbles me. I remember a few years ago going through a difficult time. An extended, difficult time. It seemed to me at the time that it would never end. And in the middle of the trial, my faith was strong.

But after a couple of years, my faith wavered. Not that I ever doubted the goodness of the Lord, but I started wondering if maybe the Lord needed some help. And verses that are not in the bible, such as “The Lord helps those who help themselves” would come to mind. I thought patience was something I excelled at, but during this period I realized that the patience of God greatly exceeded my own. It was His will that the trials continued for me. Those days were hard. And I wish I could say that during this time that my first inclination was to praise the Lord for the trials I was going through.

Perhaps you’ve felt the same about something, or many somethings, going on in your life. Somebody is angry with you and you can’t seem to resolve it. You have a medical issue that never seems to get better. You have a family member that has passed despite your pleas to the Lord. You have a wayward child that has turned his or her back on you and the church, and you continue to pray but you aren’t seeing results. Is your first thought to praise the Lord?

Recently my wife and I went to the AD Players to see “God’s Favorite,” a Neil Simon play. It’s a modern retelling of the book of Job. You remember Job, he’s the guy in the bible that has more patience than me. In chapter 1 of Job, Job is introduced as “the greatest man among all the people of the East.” And God allows Satan to completely destroy Job’s life. A local tribe of enemies attacked and stole his oxen and donkeys, then killed all of Job’s servants. Then fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the remaining servants. The another local tribe attacked and stole his camels and killed those servants, then a mighty wind blew down the house of his oldest son and all of Job’s children were killed. And Job finds out about all of these calamities within the space of minutes.

I don’t know what your first reaction would be, but Job’s reaction was amazing. Job 1:20-21,

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job praised God. If calamities happened to me like that, I’m not sure I can honestly say that praise is the first thing that comes to mind.

Just like David. David praises the name of the Lord.

V. A Man After God’s Own Heart

You know, each chapter we studied in Samuel about the life of David opened up new insights about David and new understandings about God. But throughout all of our study of David’s life, we often asked the question, “why was David considered a man after God’s own heart?”

We know David was a mess. As he amassed power, he amassed wives. He collected concubines like some people collect those little thimbles from roadside gift shops. He was a terrible father, a terrible uncle. David was seemingly indifferent to the rape of his daughter Tamar, letting Amnon go free which enraged David’s son Absalom to kill Amnon. Then later Absalom tried to overthrow David before being killed by Joab. And who can forget David’s greatest sin, the adultery with Bathsheba leading to the murder of her husband Uriah? So it’s natural to ask, Why was David considered a man after God’s own heart?

David’s messy life was just that – a messy life. I’m guessing your life isn’t a fairy tale, either, and I know mine is not. Scripture says we are all sinners, every one of us, including King David. What sets David apart is not his poor fatherhood skills or his affair with Bathsheba. What set him apart is David’s repentance and submission to God. What was David’s heart like that God found so appealing?

A. David Had a Faithful Heart

David had absolute faith in the Lord. The history of the kings that came after David were a mixed lot, and so many of them included phrases like “did evil in the sight of the Lord” or “did what was right in their own eyes.” How many times did the people of Israel stay? They sometimes worshipped the Asherah pole. After Moses came down from Mt. Sanai, the people had made a golden calf to worship. But David never wavered in his faith. He worshiped Jehovah God and no other. David wrote in Psalm 23:1,

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

David recognized that he needed God, he was dependent on God to provide and protect him. The Lord God was David’s rock, David’s fortress, David’s deliverer, David’s shield, David’s horn of salvation, David’s stronghold, David’s refuge. David’s savior.

B. David Had a Seeking Heart

David actively sought God’s will for his life. Look at these scriptures –
1 Samuel 23:4,

Once again David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him, “Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.”

1 Samuel 30:8,

and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?”
“Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

2 Samuel 2:1

In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.
The Lord said, “Go up.”
David asked, “Where shall I go?”
“To Hebron,” the Lord answered.

2 Samuel 5:19,

so David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”
The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

2 Samuel 5:23,

so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees.

I’m detecting a pattern in David’s life. David brought every decision to the Lord, but more important, David waited for the Lord to answer before acting.

C. David Had an Obedient Heart

David loved God’s laws. David is credited with writing over half of the 150 Psalms in the Bible, often praising the perfect Word of God. Like Psalm 119:47-48,

“For I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.”

Because David continually looked to God’s word, the Lord granted David wisdom and understanding. Like Tony continually reminds us, every night and every morning read God’s word and put on the whole armor of God. Obedience to the Lord provides the lamp that lights our path, shows us where to walk and how far to walk and how fast to walk. Psalm 119:2-3,

“Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.”

And when God said “no,” David humbly and graciously accepted God’s word. When God told David through Nathan that Solomon was to build the temple instead of David, here is how David responded in 2 Samuel 7:18-22.

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:
“Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!
“What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.
“How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

D. David Had a Trusting Heart

David’s heart was trusting, and David’s heart was bold. When David came face to face with Goliath, David wasn’t afraid of Goliath’s reputation, size, ferocity, no. David instead focused on the power and promise of God. Standing before Goliath, David said in 1 Samuel 17:45-47,

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

David knew the Lord’s will because he sought God’s will, and then when the challenges came, David was able to trust in the Lord and stand fearless.

E. David Had a Thankful Heat

David was thankful to the Lord through both good times and bad. Psalm 26:6-7,

I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your altar, Lord,
proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
David’s life was marked by periods of victory and prosperity, but also loneliness and despair. But David, never ever forgot to thank the Lord through it all. Psalm 100,
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
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.

F. David Had a Repentant Heart

Despite David’s heart for God, he was still human and still sinned. Faced with temptation when he spied Bathsheba from his roof, David didn’t turn from sin or flee from temptation. David instead called to her and committed adultery. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David arranged to have her husband murdered. It says in the final verse of 2 Samuel 11:27,

‘The thing David had done displeased the LORD”.

The prophet Nathan confronted David, and David didn’t make excuses, didn’t try to justify what he had done. David humbled himself and said (2 Samuel 12:13),

“I have sinned against the LORD”

Perhaps his repentance led him to write in Psalm 51:10-12,

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

David still suffered the consequences of his sin, and the sword never left his house, but David’s heart was bowed to the Lord in humility, praise, worship, and devotion.

VI. Conclusion

When we wonder why David was considered a man after God’s own heart, we’re looking at David’s failures. To understand why David was considered a man after God’s own heart, we should look instead to David’s responses to his failures.

Because David sinned. You sinned. I sinned. And I thank the Lord that my sins do not disqualify me from an eternal life with my savior. Rather than look at David’s failures, we can try to be like David in the best ways, by being a people after God’s own heart. We don’t have to be perfect. David was a fugitive, a rotten father, an adulterer, a murderer. Yet he was also a man after God’s own heart.

Likewise, if we focus on our own sins, we miss out on being “a man after God’s own heart.” It’s not our failures that God sees, but our heart and what we do when we discover we are in sin.

God still seeks those whose hearts belong to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says,

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

We can take the best David had to offer and apply it to our own lives. We can have a faithful heart, a seeking heart, an obedient heart, a trusting heart, a thankful heart, a repentant heart.

We can be someone after God’s own heart.

To God be the glory. Amen.