Join Cherry Campbell on Victorious Faith as she explores what made David a man after God’s own heart. In this episode, we delve into the qualities that defined David’s relationship with the Lord, how his heart and actions aligned with God’s will, and the significance of seeking God’s guidance in our lives. Drawing insights from scripture, Cherry illustrates how David’s love for God, his word, and sincere repentance cemented his legacy.
Good morning. Praise the Lord. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Welcome to Victorious Faith. I’m Cherry Campbell. This morning I’m going to begin sharing with you message number two in a series of messages that I preached in our Victorious Faith services called What Made David a Man After God’s Own Heart. So join me now in our live service for the beginning of message two in this series. What Made David a Man After God’s Own Heart. In our last service, we started with this message in part one. What made David a man after God’s own heart? And so that was part one. We’re now looking at part two. Let me start with the scriptures that we have for the foundation that we know that David was called a man after God’s own heart. 1 Samuel 13, 14 says, And this is when King Saul had disobeyed God. God told King Saul when he went and conquered an enemy that he was supposed to kill all the animals, all the people, including the king. And I believe it was supposed to be like an offering to the Lord, really, is what it was for. But King Saul disobeyed. He kept the best of everything and he spared the life of the king. And so Samuel, the prophet, came to him and said, because you’ve disobeyed God, the kingdom will be taken from you and given to somebody else. So that’s what it says here. Samuel said to Saul, Notice these words. And appointed him leader of his people because you have not kept the Lord’s command. And then we see this referred to again in 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. And so we see in two scriptures, David was called a man after God’s own heart. And in the last service, I also showed you that God looks at the heart. When God sent Samuel to Jesse’s home, household, to anoint the successor to King Saul, Samuel went with the flask of oil, and the firstborn son came out looking tall and strong, very kingly. And God said to him in 1 Samuel 16, 7, The Lord said to Samuel, Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So first of all, we saw in our last service that God looks at the heart. The heart is the primary issue. The heart is the primary issue. However, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, the body acts. You do things according to what’s in your heart. So actions are also important. But God looks at the heart. And we saw last time, I’m just going to highlight these key points. We saw that God looks at the heart. How is David a man after God’s own heart? David was a man who kept a clean and pure heart before God. He asked God to examine his heart and probe him. And he also said, create in me a pure heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me. So he kept a clean and a pure heart before God. He also loved God. He loved God with all of his heart. He said in Psalm 18, 1, I love you, O Lord, my strength. He also loved God’s word. You know, God and his word are one. You cannot say you love God, but you don’t love his word. Because if you don’t love his word, you don’t really love God. Because God and his word are one. John 1.1, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. God is the word. John 1.14, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God is the word. If you don’t love the word of God, you don’t really truly love God. because God and his word are one. And so he loved God’s word in Psalm 119, 97. Oh, how I love your law. I meditate on it all day long. Verse 103, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey. Verse 148, my eyes stay open through the watch of the night that I may meditate on your promises. And I gave you a lot more scriptures. And then also, he was a man after God’s own heart because he was a man of prayer and fellowship with God. In Psalm 53, he said, In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my request before you. He sought the Lord. Also, he was a man of praise and worship. Of course, he danced before the Lord. He wrote psalms of praise, psalms of worship, psalms of glory and honor to God. Many of the psalms were written by David in his praise and his worship. He was also a man who sought the Lord. Psalm 25, show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths. And Psalm 27, 4, one thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, seek him in his temple. Psalm 63, 1, O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you. And Psalm 119, 10, I seek you with all my heart. We sang about that tonight. Then also, he was a man, yes, he sinned. Yes, he sinned terribly. He committed the worst sin I would think that you could ever sin, and that’s murder. He murdered Bathsheba’s husband, putting him on the front line in battle. That was just outright murder. And then he committed adultery. But when he recognized his sin, he repented wholeheartedly. I mean, it was like he rent his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes and repented wholeheartedly. wholeheartedly. Psalm 51, 16 and 17. This is after he was confronted by the prophet for his sin. He said, you do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. And so he repented. He had a broken, contrite heart before God. True, sincere, heartfelt repentance. And that is what God loves. And then he was a man who received his righteousness and forgiveness by faith. He stood up, washed himself off and said, thank you, Lord, I’m forgiven. And after that, he said, search me. You find in me nothing. I’m blameless. He actually reached ahead into the future dispensation to the cross in which we have forgiveness by faith through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. And he received his forgiveness by faith. Well, let’s ask you these questions. Are you a person, a man or a woman after God’s own heart? Do you keep a clean and pure heart before God? Do you love God? Do you love his word? with your whole heart? Are you a person, a man or a woman of prayer? Do you fellowship with God? Are you a man or a woman of praise and worship? Do you praise and worship the Lord? Do you seek the Lord with all your heart? When you sin, do you repent wholeheartedly, sincerely? And when you have repented, do you receive your forgiveness and cleansing by faith and stand up and believe and confess you are the righteousness of God in Christ? Hallelujah. Well, that was our last message. And I just did want to review that because God looks at the heart. But tonight we’re going to move on from there. And we’re going to see that those things of the heart moved out into his outward actions. They were expressed in his actions. And so not only did he seek the Lord, as we saw last time, just earnestly, O Lord, I seek you. But he sought the Lord’s direction. The Lord’s will. Specifically, I’m making this a specific point. He specifically sought the Lord’s will. He inquired of the Lord what he should do again and again. In 1 Samuel 23, verses 1 through 4. When David was told, look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors. Verse 2. You can underline this in your Bible if you have your Bible open. He inquired of the Lord. He asked the Lord, what should I do? Saying, shall I go and attack these Philistines? The Lord answered him, go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah. But David’s men said to him, Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces? So again, he just wanted a confirmation. Verse 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. So he inquired of the Lord. He sought the Lord’s will. And in 1 Samuel 30, verse 8, we see it again. And David inquired of the Lord. This is after he had come home and he and his army, his fellow warriors, and they saw that their wives, children, and property had all been stolen. And so David inquired of the Lord, shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them? The Lord answered, pursue them. He answered, you will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue. Then I also have a couple of Psalms here. Psalm 27, 11, teach me your way, O Lord, lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. He was asking the Lord always to teach him and lead him. And this Psalm in chapter 40, verse 8. I have loved this scripture. The NIV says, I desire to do your will. And I think it’s the King James says, I delight to do your will. I desire to do your will. And also, I delight to do your will. There have been times when the Lord spoke to me to do something. I’m thinking of times on the mission field especially. But there’s other times, other places when you really don’t like what you’re getting into. And your flesh doesn’t really want to do it. But that’s when you have to choose to do it. And you have to choose to delight to do it. And so I would answer the Lord when, especially when I saw things that didn’t look pleasant to me and I didn’t really want to do it. My flesh didn’t want to do it. I said, Lord, I desire to do your will more than that. I delight to do your will. I delight. I think that’s the King James translation. I delight to do your will. Oh my God, your law is within my heart. So here again, do you seek the Lord’s will? Before you do, especially before you do major things, do you seek his will? Do you inquire of the Lord? Or do you just assume that it doesn’t matter? You’re just going to make your own plans and go your own way and figure it out yourself. Do you realize most Christians don’t think about inquiring of the Lord? They just, their life is their life. Well, should I do this? Should I not? Let me see. And then they talk to their spouse about it, talk to their friends about it, and they weigh the pros and the cons, and then they make their plans. And they don’t really seriously or sincerely inquire the Lord. But if God is first place in your life, and if you call him Lord, Lord means master. That means you do what he tells you to do. And so do you sincerely inquire of the Lord before, especially before any big decision, even a big purchase? You know, God can save you a lot of money from buying the wrong thing, hiring the wrong contractor. I mean, don’t raise your hand. We’ve all done it. We’ve all bought something that we wished we hadn’t, or we’ve gone somewhere we wish we hadn’t, or used a certain company or business to do a job for us. that we wished we hadn’t because they did a bad job. But if we had really been inquiring of the Lord, the Lord would lead us and show us, no, not that one. What you just heard was the beginning of message number two in a series of messages that I preached in our victorious faith services called What Made David a Man After God’s Own Heart. And we will continue this message again tomorrow. So join me again tomorrow. And remember, God loves you. You are blessed and highly favored by the Lord.
