After God's Heart

April 4

Deuteronomy 5-6

Psalm 40:6-10

Proverbs 10:9-11

Luke 6:27-49

After God’s Heart

“I desire to do Your will, my God; Your law is within my heart.  I proclaim Your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know.  I do not hide Your righteousness in my heart; I speak of Your faithfulness and Your saving help; I do not conceal Your love and Your faithfulness from the great assembly.” 

Psalm 40:8-10 NIV

We are not told the circumstances that David faced as he wrote this Psalm.  He begins by praising God for His faithfulness in the past and will conclude by asking for help with his current situation.  But before he asks for help, he tells God that he desires to do His will.  He will boldly ask God to intervene on his behalf but is submitting to God’s wisdom and authority.  He is acknowledging that God knows best, so above all else he desires God’s will.  He can boldly profess to God that he has been faithful.  He has told others about God’s protection and provision.  He has proclaimed God’s love and His truth to others. He was well acquainted with God’s law and has hidden it within his heart.  David knew God intimately and he trusted Him completely.  This gives us a glimpse of the one who God calls “a man after My own heart, he will do everything I want him to do.”  Acts 13:22 (NIV) Adultery and murder in David’s history prevent us from thinking that he was somehow more holy than the rest of us.  David was not a perfect man and yet God Himself called David “a man after My own heart.”  David loved and trusted God.  I believe that love and trust are what God desires the most from us.  He knows we are human and that we are not perfect.  He knows that we are going to mess up.  But His desire for us is that we love Him and trust Him as David did.  Even during David’s greatest failures, He sought God.  He did not try to run away.  When confronted with his sin, he confessed, repented, and turned to God. He trusted God to deal with him in the most loving and just way and he left the outcome to God.  David sought God when he faced his greatest troubles and fears.  He poured his heart out to God and then trusted Him enough to leave the outcome in His hands.  That is God’s desire for us as well.  He wants us to love Him and trust Him.  Oh, how I desire that God would say I am “a woman after His own heart.”