Acts 13:22
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. 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.
After Saul was set aside, God lifted up David to be king of Israel, calling him to the throne in his youth. The testimony that he was a man after God's own heart describes him when he was pure and faithful, with his heart shaped by God's word to follow His counsel, do His will, and rule in humility, reverence, justice and trust. It does not approve his later grievous wrongs against Uriah and Bath-sheba, when he was no longer of that character until reproved and repentant, showing that past righteousness does not shield one who turns to evil. The raising up of David is told to show that a Saviour from David's line had been promised, and Paul used this history to preach Jesus as that promised Messiah. To be after God's own heart is to be devoted to fulfilling all His will under His control, with the softening influence of His Spirit, compassion and Christlike love rather than self, a standard each one must earnestly seek without excusing sin by the failures of others.
Setting and Testimony
The words belong to Paul's Sabbath sermon in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, spoken to Israelites and God-fearing Gentiles after the reading of the law and the prophets and after the rulers' invitation to give a word of exhortation. In that sermon he rehearsed how the Lord had dealt with the Jews from their deliverance from Egyptian bondage onward, including God's making David king. After removing Saul, God raised up David to be Israel's king, calling him to the throne in his youth.
God's testimony that David was a man after His own heart describes David while he was pure and faithful and true to God, following God's counsel and seeking to do His will. His heart and life were shaped by God's word and instruction, and he displayed a sincere, fervent religious character with humility, reverence, fidelity, love of justice, firmness and trust. That character qualified him to rule Israel and carry out God's purposes, to instruct Israel in worship and to resist idolatry.
The description does not mean God approved David's later sins, for when David departed from God and committed grievous wrongs against Uriah and Bath-sheba, he was no longer a man after God's own heart. God reproved him through Nathan and punished him, showing the words do not justify sin. David's repentance brought forgiveness and spared his life but not freedom from all consequences, and his calamities show that past righteousness cannot shield one who turns from righteousness to evil.
David was highly honored of Heaven as a man after God's own heart, and the public record of his fall causes many to ask why this dark passage was thrown open to the world. His sin gave great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. Through successive generations unbelievers point to his dark stain and triumphantly deride his God-given character, bringing reproach upon religion, blaspheming God and His word, hardening souls in unbelief, and making many bold in sin under a cloak of piety.
Promise Fulfilled in Jesus
The raising up of David to be Israel's king after the removal of Saul is told to show that a Saviour of the seed of David, from David's line, had been promised. That promise belongs to the rehearsal of how the Lord dealt with the Jews from deliverance from Egyptian bondage onward, leading through David to the coming of the promised One. It identifies the hope of Israel as centered in David's line, from which the promised Saviour would come.
Paul used this history to preach Jesus as that promised Saviour of men, the Messiah of prophecy foretold in prophecy. In the synagogue sermon he shows the promise of a Saviour from David's line and then presents Jesus as its fulfillment, the promised Messiah.
Call to Godly Character
To be a man after God's own heart is to be devoted to carrying out God's will with firmness of purpose that is not overcome by worldly honors, threats or temptations. It is to be after His heart and mind and soul by placing oneself under God's control to fulfil all His will. The Lord will not encourage false theories and a low standard, but requires a higher moral standard to be upraised and maintained by earnest seeking of the Lord and humbling of the heart before God. It is the quality God desires in one who serves Him. It is a standard each person must seek for himself, for other people's failures do not excuse one's own wrongdoing, since each person is accountable before God, and Christ's character is the perfect pattern.
It means having the softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God in the character, with one's own soul ever under the Spirit's control, not now and then but ever. It means being compassionate and far-seeing, bearing the fragrance of the spirit of Jesus rather than tasting strongly of self, and not being controlled by a peculiar temperament or a cast-iron will. It requires bringing more of Christ into the character by cultivating the love of Christ with compassion, tenderness and love, which gives greater success and keeps a man from being one-sided and imperfect.
Every physician should be this kind of man, looking unto Jesus and depending upon Him, carrying a most solemn trust in treating the sick and a decided influence for the value of human souls. It means being faithful in the belief and practice of the truth, knowing the truth, sowing the seeds of truth and ministering in the line of the highest principles, with a sense of the delicacy of treating souls and making soul-saving the great influence to fulfill heaven-appointed tasks. This description was applied as a call for Dr. Fairfield to become a man of God's love. God wanted to make Dr. Kellogg such a man, but Dr. Kellogg refused to place himself under God's control.