Title: What results from being a Man after Gods own heart

Text: Acts 13:22

22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their
king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son
of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
KJV

Introduction:
David is a man that can be remembered for several things David and Goliath,
David and his anointing, David the great warrior, but there is one peculiar
description that makes David distinct among the Patriarchs and even the Apostles.
He was called a man after Gods own heart.
Several messages have been delivered on this topic on why and how David is a man
after Gods own heart. I wont dwell on those because I think everybody knows how
be after the heart of somebody.
Basically being after someones heart is all about knowing the person and pleasing
him/her. In relation to being after Gods heart then it means that we try to know God
deeper. We establish a stronger relationship by understanding Him and following
His will.
So what do we get after being after Gods own heart? Well.. we get His H-E-A-R-T.

H Help
Psalm 89:19
19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst,
I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have
exalted one chosen out of the people.
David have always emerged victorious because of Gods help.
-

David against his brethren

David v Goliath
David against Saul
David against all the kingdoms against Israel
Even David v Bathsheeba

Are you facing giants in our life right now? Do you feel cornered feeling pressure
from all sides?
God is our help.
1 Sam 16:18
Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I
have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning
in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war,
and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the
Lord is with him.

Isnt it good to know that God is with us?

1 Sam 17:28-29
28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto
the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David,
and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with
whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I
know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart;
for thou art come down that thou mightest see the
battle.
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there
not a cause?

David clearly was expecting words of support from his brethren but instead he got a
scolding.
Sometimes, we hear the harshest criticisms from the people that our closest to us.
These are the people whom we think can help us. But God is our help.
Are you facing heavy burdens? God is our help.

Heb 4:16
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need.

KJV

E Exaltation
19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst,
I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted
one chosen out of the people.

In this life we all aspire to be someone. I do not think any person present tonight
would say that He/She does not have any aspirations.
However, the trouble is not getting exalted but the process of being exalted. Let us
not strive to praise and exalt ourselves. Even Christ, the Son of the Eternal and Allpowerful God never exalted himself and made himself of no reputation:

Phil 2:5-9
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and

given him a name which is above every name:

David was no one. Unlike Saul, David was a simple young man.. a
Sheperd boy:

1 Sam 9:2
2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice
young man, and a goodly: and there was not among
the children of Israel a goodlier person than he:
from his shoulders and upward he was higher than
any of the people.

1 Sam 16:11
11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children?
And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and,
behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto
Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he
come hither.

1 Sam 17:28
28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto
the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David,
and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with
whom hast thou left those few sheep in the
wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of
thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest
see the battle.

Look at his latter end:

2 Sam 7:9

9 And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest,

and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight,
and have made thee a great name, like unto the
name of the great men that are in the earth.

Are you aspiring to be someone? Are you striving hard to get on top but cannot
seem to get there?
The answer is.. Humble yourself, strip yourself of every single accomplishment you
have..of every skill you have..of every knowledge you have and acknowledge that
exaltation only comes from God.

A Arm of Strength
21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen
him.

In this World full of insecurities; full of trials; full of adversaries, it would be

comforting to know that you have a shoulder to cry on. You have a strong Arm that
wrestles all those worries away. You have a mighty arm that can carry you through.

22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his
horn be exalted

According to the NLT Translation

Ps 89:21-24
21 I will steady him,
and I will make him strong.
22 His enemies will not get the best of him,

nor will the wicked overpower him.

23 I will beat down his adversaries before him
and destroy those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him,
and he will rise to power because of me.
NLT

Isa 41:10
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee;
yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness.

2 Sam 3:1
3 Now there was long war between the house of Saul
and the house of David: but David waxed stronger
and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker
and weaker.

2 Sam 22:40
40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle:
them that rose up against me hast thou subdued
under me.

Phil 4:13
13 I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.

Rom 8:31
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for
us, who can be against us?

Who can bully us? Who can go against Gods strong Arm?

Rom 8:37
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us.

R Remembrance
29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and
his throne as the days of heaven.
KJV

How do you want to be remembered? What kind of legacy would you like to have?
What kind of stories would you want your children to tell about you?
(My wife asked me before. Would you allow a Moses Rivera court KC?)

1 Chron 17:11-12
11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired
that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise
up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons;
and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his
throne for ever.

Ps 89:4
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy
throne to all generations. Selah.

Ps 89:36-37
36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as
the sun before me.
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a
faithful witness in heaven.

What is a witness? Legally speaking it is someone who can perceive, and in

perceiving make known his perception. A person may not testify of something that
he is nt able to perceive, and though he is able to perceive cannot communicate his
perception. That is why a mentally incapacitated person or a mentally immature
person can be disqualified as a witness.
We are said to be witnesses because we have experienced the strong Arm of God
and so we must speak (communicate) this perception.

Isa 59:21
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the
Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words
which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out
of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor
out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord,
from henceforth and for ever.

How do you want to be remembered? What kind of legacy would you leave?
Follow God and seek His will and you can be certain that you will have a good
legacy.

T- True Love
Ps 89:33
Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take
from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

Look at this verse. In the preceding God declares what He will do to the sons of
David if they will not be like their father. But oddly, the next description still talks
about Gods faithful love for David.
Love is a very powerful emotion. It moves us to do things that we cannot even
imagine we can do (like me singing Aldub). It was incomprehensible for God to
have given His own begotten Son to die on the Cross for worthless sinners like us
but He did. He did it because of love.
John 15:13
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends.

Young people today, influenced by the standards of this world look at love as the
feeling of kilig. Parang pa walang kilig di in-love. But kilig is just the sweet
coating of a bitter pill called love.
Every example of Gods love in the Bible entails an outward action.
is giving, Love is longsuffering, love is patient.

Love

Today true love is hard to find. I remember one teacher I had in higschool telling us
men give love to get sex while women give sex to get love.

A. True Love is more than beautiful and sweet words. It is something that
calls us to act:

1 John 3:18
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1 John 4:7-11
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and
every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only begotten Son into
the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one
another.

B. Gods love results in Joy. Absolute Joy that remains and is always full.

John 15:9-12
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you:
continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my
love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments,
and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my
joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be
full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another,
as I have loved you.

C. Gods Love keeps us in check.

John 21:15-17
15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He
saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou
knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my
sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto
him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him,
Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love
thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Can you imagine how grievous this was?

I have faced a similar situation with my wife but I can always lie. Imagine facing
God. He knows you. He sees your heart and knows your mind. You cannot hide
anything from him. Sometimes in life, just like Peter, we need to be kept in constant
check. That is why it is always important to listen and read Gods word because
Gods Word is

D. The Love of God constrains us. It restrains, it keeps, it confines.

Oftentimes we may find ourselves loitering in the domain of sin. We negligently and
deliberately expose ourselves to sin as if tempting Satan to tempt us. But God
keeps us:

2 Cor 5:14-15
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we
thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

15 And that he died for all, that they which live

should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him which died for them, and rose again.
KJV

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for
a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool
water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.
He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake,
an alligator was swimming toward the shore. His mother, in the house was looking
out the window, saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear,
she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her
voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It
was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.
From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator
snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The
alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too
passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from
his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs
were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were
deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang
on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he
would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride,
he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I
have them because my mom wouldn't let go."
You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an
alligator, or anything quite so dramatic, but, the scars of a painful past. Some of
those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my
friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your
struggle, He's been there holding on to you. The Scripture teaches that
God loves you. If you have Christ in your life, you have become a child of
God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But
sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations. The swimming
hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to
attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins, and if you have the scars of His
love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not - and will not - let you
go.

E. Gods love results in sacrifice, selflessness and sincerity

People commend us as examples of true love. I thank them for viewing us as such
but the fact remains that we are not. God is the example of True Love. True love is
selfless, sacrificial and sincere

1 John 3:16
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid
down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.

After a few of the usual Sunday hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked
over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon that evening, he briefly
introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction,
the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest
childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the
church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that,
an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.
"A father and son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast," he
began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore.
The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he
could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the
boat capsized." The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two
teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat
interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story. "Grabbing a
rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life - to
which boy he would throw the other end of the life line. He only had seconds to
make the decision.
The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend
was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As
the father yelled out, "I love you, son!" he threw the life line to his son's friend. By
the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had

disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never
recovered.
By this time, the teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for
the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth. "The father, he continued,
knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought
of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed
his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that he should do the
same for us. Our Heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son that we could be
saved. I urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line He
is throwing out to you." With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair
as silence filled the room.
The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an
invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes
after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a
nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it was a very realistic
for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a
Christian." "Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at
his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face. He once again looked up at
the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to
tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give
up His Son for me. You see, I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend."

CONCLUSION:
In fine, we will see that Gods heart is easy to follow after. Everyone should have
the desire to be a man or woman after Gods own heart. Let us be conformed to
Christ and He assures us that if he we desire His heart then He will give us His.
All David wanted in life is to please God, know Him and follow after His will. He
didnt even desire to be King of Israel but he became its greatest. David was
humble and unassuming simply following Gods lead until God opened to him every
door of opportunity. He was not perfect, much like you and me, but he desired to
have a perfect heart, one which is after God.