Please turn to the book of Acts, Chapter 13, Verse 22—the last sentence.
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who shall do all My will.
Let us have a further word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather before You, we pray that Your word will be living and operative in each of our lives. We believe that Your word is life and spirit, and we trust Your Holy Spirit to quicken Your word to us and bring us into its reality. May Your name be glorified.
This time, we will fellowship on the life of David. His life is many-sided, but we will concentrate on one thing: the witness of God concerning David’s life.
Whatever men may say of you is not decisive; what God says about you is what counts.
In Acts 13:22, God bears witness to David:
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who shall do all My will.
That is God’s comment on the life of David. We know that God is always looking for such men and women. God created us for this very reason: that we may be those who are after His heart and who shall do all His will.
We mentioned yesterday afternoon that God taught David in a very difficult situation. Out of that difficult situation, God drew David to Himself.
David was shepherding the sheep in the wilderness. He was far from people because he was neglected by his own father and despised even by his brothers.
There in the wilderness, he looked up to God and communed with God. He turned his heart to God, and as he communed with God, he began to realize God’s heart.
David knew something of God’s heart because he himself longed to be with his father and brothers, yet he was rejected. So he began to think of God. God loves His chosen people, and yet His chosen people rejected Him.
David’s heart was joined to God’s heart. Therefore, he became a man after God’s own heart.
Brothers and sisters, we know that our heart is most important. The Bible says:
Keep thy heart with all diligence;
For out of it are the issues of life.
So far as our spiritual and moral being is concerned, our heart is the very center of it. If there is something wrong with the heart, everything is wrong.
Man looks upon the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. Even though our heart is so important, it is also very deceitful. Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful and incurable. Who knows it? Only God examines and proves our hearts.
Thank God that we can bring our hearts to Him and ask Him to examine us. We need to pray the prayer of David in Psalm 139:23-24:
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Brothers and sisters, because God puts all His attention upon our hearts, our attention should also be focused upon our hearts.
We need daily to pray David’s prayer: “O God, examine my heart. Try my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
May the Lord find in every one of us a man or a woman after God’s heart. Not only may we have a heart for God, and not only may we love God with our whole heart, but may our hearts be one with God’s heart.
Whatever God loves, we love. Whatever God hates, we hate. Whatever God desires, we desire. Whatever God rejects, we reject. Our heart is one with God. That is what God is looking for in each one of us.
We have already considered this yesterday afternoon. This morning, we will continue with the word of God:
I have found David, a man after My heart, who shall do all My will.
The heart is something within us; it is invisible. Only God sees our hearts. Our heart is within us, and nobody really knows what it is. But when we begin to take action, the condition of the heart is made known through our actions.
Here we find the words, “who shall do all My will.” How do we know that David was a man after God’s heart? We know because he did all God’s will.
This morning, we would like to enter into the practical side of this matter.
When David was a fugitive, he thought about God. He thought about the condition of God among His own people.
When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Himself. There He gave them the Ten Commandments, and He told them that He wanted to dwell among them. He asked them to build Him a sanctuary, that He might dwell among them.
God also told them that, after they entered the promised land, He would appoint one place where He would put His name. To that one place they were to go to offer sacrifices and worship God.
The children of Israel were commanded to go to that one place three times a year to worship God in the place where He put His name.
But after the children of Israel entered the promised land, the tabernacle was first set up at Gilgal. Later, it was moved, and for much of the time it was stationed at Shiloh during the days of Joshua.
At the time of Eli, there was a battle between Israel and the Philistines, and the ark of God was captured by the Philistines. When the ark returned, it did not return to Shiloh. It was kept in the house of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim.
During the time of Saul, the tabernacle was evidently moved to Nob. Later, it was moved to Gibeon. Thus, the tabernacle of God moved from one place to another. There was no definite place for the dwelling of God.
Furthermore, the tabernacle and the ark were separated. For hundreds of years, there was no definite place where God had put His name. Because of this, the children of Israel were scattered; they were not united as one.
But strangely, when David became king, do you know what he did? If you turn to 2 Samuel 5, you find that the first thing he did after becoming king was to take Jerusalem.
At that time, Jerusalem was under the Jebusites. David took it and made it the capital of the nation. There, the name of God was to be located.
How did David know that Jerusalem was the place of God’s choice? For hundreds of years, nobody knew where God’s appointed place was. But because David was a man after God’s heart, he evidently received revelation from God. He knew that Jerusalem was the place God had appointed.
From the viewpoint of human strategy, Jerusalem was not a strategic location. It was not on the thoroughfare of the world; it was out of the way. From a human standpoint, it was a mistake to make it the capital. But by the revelation of God, David knew that Jerusalem was the place of God’s choice.
God was going to put His name there. Because God’s name was in Jerusalem, the children of Israel would flow into Jerusalem and become one in God.
That was the first thing David did. In other words, he found the place where God’s name was to be placed. Because of that name, the children of Israel would gather together under that name and become one nation. This was God’s will.
Now, brothers and sisters, let us apply this to our time. When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He said in Matthew 18:20:
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
In the Gospel according to John, on that last day with His disciples, He told them, “I have given My name to you. If you pray in My name, My Father will hear you.”
The name of the Lord is very precious. When the Lord was physically with His disciples, He Himself was present with them. But when He was about to leave them, He left them with His name.
He also said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” In other words, where His name is, there is His presence.
What is the church? The church is the called-out ones gathered together out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue, and every people.
That is the meaning of the word church. The Greek word ekklesia means “called-out ones gathered together.” But gathered together unto what?
Even in this world, there are all kinds of fraternities and clubs. People gather together out of other people for a certain reason and purpose. But the church is different from all fraternities and clubs because it is gathered together unto the name of the Lord Jesus.
Why do we gather together? We gather together unto the name of our Lord Jesus.
The name of the Lord Jesus is not merely a name. We cannot say, “Lord, Lord,” and not obey Him. His name is real and living; His name represents Himself.
Put another way, when we are gathered together unto His name, we are gathered together under His headship and under His authority. His name is authority.
Every one of us must surrender ourselves to Him and allow Him to be our Head. The head is where all the commands come from. Every action of the body and every action of its members is controlled by the head. Every member of the body subjects itself to the head.
What, then, is the meaning of the church? The church is where the name of the Lord is placed. The Lord’s name is placed in the church, and we who are members of the body of Christ submit ourselves under His headship and authority so that His will may be done in and through our lives.
In doing this, the whole body is united into one. This is the will of God: wherever God’s people gather together, they are to gather unto the name of the Lord Jesus and under no other name.
It is only when we do this that we are united into one.
The problem with Christianity today is this: thank God, there are many of God’s people, and many people gather together as the church. But do we gather together under His name?
Unfortunately, throughout church history, some have gathered together under names other than the name of the Lord Jesus. Because of this, Christianity has become divided.
Some gather under the name of a great servant of God. For instance, John Wesley was a great man of God, and yet there is the Wesleyan Church. People are gathered under a certain name.
Others gather under a certain teaching or system of doctrine. John Calvin was a great man of God, greatly used by God during the Reformation. Yet people gather together under his teaching, which is called Reformed teaching.
Still others gather together under a certain Christian experience, such as Pentecostalism. Thus, God’s people are gathered under different names instead of exclusively under the name of the Lord Jesus.
Because of this, God’s people are divided, just as the children of Israel were scattered before the name of God was placed in Jerusalem. There was no uniting point for the children of Israel.
The same is true today. If we gather together in the name of the Lord Jesus, we place ourselves under His authority, because He is the Head of the body. There is no other head. We all submit ourselves under the headship of Christ.
Then we find not only the presence of the Lord, but also that God’s people are united into one. The spiritual principle is that we all put ourselves under His name.
We should not be like Peter at one time. He said, “Lord, Lord,” and yet he said, “You shall never do that.” If you call Him Lord, then you should listen to Him instead of telling Him what to do.
Let us not call the name of the Lord in vain. Since we are called by His name, let us truly submit ourselves under His authority, reverencing Him as our Lord and allowing Him to be our Head.
David, a man after God’s own heart, did God’s will first of all by taking Jerusalem and having the name of God placed there. The children of Israel would flow into Jerusalem and become one nation.
May the Lord do the same thing among us. If we really love the Lord, if we really are men and women after God’s heart, then this is God’s heart: that we gather together under His name and under His name alone.
But this is only the first step. The second thing is recorded in 2 Samuel 6.
After David had taken Jerusalem and established the place of the Lord’s name there, he gathered the people and shared his heart with them. He said, “The ark of God has been hidden in the fields of the woods. Let us bring the ark back to Jerusalem.”
After the ark was captured by the Philistines and returned to Israel, the whole nation did not make the ark the center of their lives.
In the Old Testament, the ark was where the presence of the Lord was. God commanded Moses to build the ark, and its cover was pure gold. There were two cherubim upon it, and the Bible says that the glory of the Lord rested between the two cherubim upon the mercy seat.
The glory of the Lord rested upon the ark, and it was placed in the Holiest of All. But the ark had become separated from the tabernacle and was hidden in the house of Abinadab.
During the time of Saul as king, he never inquired before the ark. Saul was a man of the flesh. He did not care for, nor did he understand, spiritual things.
David was different. In Psalm 132, he said:
Lord, remember for David
All his affliction;
David afflicted himself because he was thinking of the ark of God. Nobody seemed to have any love for the ark, but David loved God’s presence.
He said, in effect, “I cannot rest until I find a place for the ark. I cannot rest until God has His rest.”
Immediately after he became king, when he had the opportunity, he consulted with the people and said, “Let us bring the ark back into Jerusalem. Instead of being hidden somewhere else, it should be the center of the nation.”
He prepared a tent in Zion so that the ark could be brought back into Jerusalem, and God would be the center of the nation.
You know the story. In the beginning, David did not bring the ark according to God’s way. He brought it according to the way of the Philistines.
The Philistines did not know God’s way, so they put the ark on an ox cart. But the ark was to be borne by the Levites.
When David first brought the ark, he put it on an ox cart. God was angry with this, because God’s will must be done in God’s way.
It was God’s will for the ark to return to Jerusalem, but God’s way was not for it to be carried by oxen; it was to be carried by men.
In 2 Samuel 6, something happened. David was not only indignant, but he was fearful. So he had the ark carried to another house.
Then he heard that God had blessed that house. The second time, he said, “We have to do it in God’s way.”
The priests were sanctified, and they carried the ark upon their shoulders. Then the ark came back into Jerusalem.
The presence of God was in the midst of His people. Where His presence is, there is joy.
You remember Moses. When the children of Israel rebelled against God by worshiping a golden calf, God said, “I will not go up with you. I will send an angel to lead you.”
But Moses pleaded with God. In Exodus 33, he said:
If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
For wherein now shall it be known that I have found grace in Thy sight, I and Thy people?
Is it not in that Thou goest with us, so that we are separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?
Those who know the heart of God love the presence of God, because they know that the presence of God is everything to them. It is the presence of God that makes them different from all the nations.
Brothers and sisters, the same principle applies today. Those who are men and women after God’s heart love the presence of the Lord. Without God’s presence, everything is finished.
You may have people. You may have activities. You may have organizations. You may have all kinds of things. But if the presence of the Lord is absent, you have nothing.
There should be a deep desire for the presence of God—not only in our individual lives, but also in our corporate life. In our individual lives, the one thing we need is His presence.
Praise God, our Lord said before He left, “I will be with you until the end of the age.” Thank God that He sent His Holy Spirit, and His Holy Spirit dwells within us.
Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus has not only received forgiveness of sins and new life, but has also received His Holy Spirit.
Before the Lord left His disciples, they were sorrowful because their Master was going to leave them. But the Lord said, “Do not be sorrowful because I go. I will ask the Father, and He will send you another Comforter.”
He will be with you, He will be in you, and He will never leave you. We who belong to the Lord have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.
The Holy Spirit is the other Comforter. He is within us, and He will never leave us. He is our Teacher, and He will teach us all things, that we may abide in Christ.
So far as God is concerned, His presence never leaves us. But so far as our experience and condition are concerned, oftentimes we lose the sense of His presence.
When we do not listen to the still, small voice, when we do not listen to the voice of God within us, when we sin against someone, and when we allow the world to occupy our hearts, brothers and sisters, we feel as if He is not here.
Have you experienced this? If this is your regular experience, you are in a very pitiful situation. Even though He is still with you, you are not with Him. That is the reason you lose the sense of His presence.
His presence is everything. Do not allow anything to block, hide, or cover His presence with you. We need to repent, return to Him, and wake up, that the consciousness of His presence may be with us.
Brothers and sisters, this is not only true individually; it is also true corporately. There is no meaning in gathering together, going through the motions, and being religious if we do not have His presence with us.
Above all, we need His presence.
His presence is promised to us, but the consciousness of His presence is not automatic. We are conscious of His presence only when we are in the right relationship with God.
We need to be very careful about this. Wherever we meet together, it is not merely a matter of saying, “The Lord promised that where two or three are gathered together unto His name, He is in the midst.”
We are more than two or three, and we may be gathered officially under His name. But we need reality. We need to live in spiritual reality.
Where His presence is, there is fullness of joy, and there is life forevermore.
David was a man after God’s heart. He brought the ark back into Jerusalem and made it the center of the life of the children of Israel because David would do all God’s will.
The Scripture says, “Who shall do all My will,” not “all My wills.” The will of God is one all-inclusive will: the eternal will of God.
Every step David took was in this one will. First, he took Jerusalem so that the name of the Lord might be placed there. Second, he brought the ark of God back to Jerusalem.
Then came the third step. David lived in his palace, and one day he spoke to Nathan the prophet. He said, “I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains. I want to build God a permanent house.”
Nathan said, “Go ahead, for what you say is according to God’s heart.” But that night, the word of God came to Nathan.
If you read 2 Samuel 7 carefully, you find that God asked David, “Did I ever ask anyone to build Me a house?”
The tabernacle traveled with the children of Israel through the wilderness. After they arrived in Canaan, it moved from place to place. God never asked anyone for a permanent house.
In other words, God’s heart was to dwell permanently among His people, but He would not ask for it. He wanted it to come forth from the hearts of His people.
God waited for hundreds of years, and nobody seemed to have such a heart. God wandered, as it were, with His people. He never entered into His rest.
But here was a man after God’s heart who wanted to build God a house. How that must have touched God!
When you read the Bible, you need to feel it. Even though God forbade David to build the house because David had shed much blood and was a man of war, how God appreciated David’s heart.
God said, “You cannot build it. Your son will do it, a man of peace. But because you have such a heart to build Me a house, I will build you a house.”
You can never exceed God. David was not allowed by God to build the house, but he did not simply say, “Well, if You do not want me to do it, that is it.”
David prepared materials for the house. If you read 1 Chronicles 22 and 1 Chronicles 29, he said, “In my affliction I have prepared gold and silver and many things.”
Then, in 1 Chronicles 29, he said, “According to all my power I have prepared,” and he went on to speak of gold, silver, and other materials.
He also said, “Because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good given to the house of my God.”
Even though he was not allowed to build the house, he prepared all the materials needed for it. Because he loved God and loved God’s house, he could not rest. He had to give God the best.
This is a man after God’s heart. Even though David was not allowed to build the house, he was the one to whom God revealed the pattern of the temple. God, as it were, drew the blueprint.
When we apply this to ourselves today, can we rest if we do not give God the best? Can we enjoy ourselves and neglect God’s house?
Do we have a love for God’s house? If you love God, you love God’s house. The reason we may not have love for the house of God is that we lack love for God Himself.
We are like the children of Israel when they returned from Babylonian captivity. They came back with one purpose: rebuilding the temple. But because of opposition and difficulties, they said, “This is not the time,” and each one went to build his own house.
In other words, they built beautiful houses and paid all their attention to building their own houses.
What about preparing materials for God’s house? Of course, the materials are not earthly materials. They are the nature of God and the nature of Christ.
Do we allow God to work in our lives and produce the things of Christ for the house of God? Are we preparing materials for the house of God? Are we, by the grace of God, learning to work together under the headship of our Lord Jesus?
Today we are too individualistic. We are too independent. We are too self-centered. We are not God-centered, and we are not corporate-minded.
We need to think of the house of God, the living church of God. How can we prepare material for it? How can we work together?
Let us close with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus, we do praise and thank You for loving us so much—not only saving us, but drawing us to Yourself, that You may build us together.
We want to offer ourselves to You today. May Your love constrain us, that we may love You and love Your house.
We love Your name. We love Your presence. We love Your house. May glory be unto You. In the name of our Lord Jesus.