Everybody likes to mention the fact about David, being a man after God's own heart; but nobody ever told me what that means. Well recently God told me what it means to be a man after God's own heart. If God told you something else, or if you have an opinion please repond & share with me (Someone said it had to do with the fact that he was in prayer all the time & that he wrote so many worship songs/psalms).

First let's look at Adam - what did he say when God asked him about his sin? "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." (Gen 3:11b - 12) - so basically he pointed fingers, first at Eve & then at God himself.

Now lets take a look at Saul, the king before David because he it was who was told "the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart" (1 Sam 13:14b) - In 1 Sam 13:8 Saul was waiting for Samuel to come to Gilgal & got impatient so in verse 9 he decides to offer a sacrifice (which was not his job). In verse 10 Samuel arrives & in verse 11 Saul is asked "What hast you done?" - Saul replies "Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering." (1 Sam 13:11b-12) - so in essence he made excuses.

Now lets look at David & how he responded when confronted with his sin. In chapter 20 of 1st Samuel, Jonathan warns David (with a secret code of bows & arrows) that Saul is determined to kill him. In chapter 21 David arrives at the city of Nob & talks to Ahimelech the priest - David lies to Ahimelech twice, the first time in verse 2 "The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place." knowing full well that he is on the run from Saul & does not have his permission or authority on his current journey. Then he lied again in verse 8 when he said "the king's business required haste." now this is why I learned this lesson, because I was focused on the fact that David lied; because I didn't realize that David lied or was a liar before (cp Rom 3:4 "let God be true, but every man a liar"); remember this is the same story that Jesus talks about when he said "Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?" in Mt 12:3b-4. I was wondering why Jesus would bring this up when David lied to get that bread, but lets look how the story ends because that is where my point is. OK so there was someone there who worked for saul named Doeg the Edomite - he is mentioned in 1 Sam 21:7. He returns to squeal on David in 1 Sam 22:9, so Ahimelech has to answer to Saul in verse 14, where he says "And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more." clearly indicating that he was in the dark about Saul & David's feud; however Saul at this point had lost his mind & commands all the priests of Nob to be killed & Doeg the Edomite was the only one present who would obey the king's command & so he killed 85 priests (v. 18) & everyone else from the village (v. 19). Abiathar the son of Ahimelech managed to escape & when he came to David & told him the news David said "I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house." (1 Sam 22:22) & that was the key - he didn't make excuses or point fingers; David was a man after God's own heart because he confessed his sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1Jn 1:9.