How to be young men after God’s own heart?

We could all think of different things people would say of us. But it is more important what God will say of our lives. 

One man who God gave an unbelievable testimony about is David. "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." (Acts 13:22). What a blessed testimony to have, to be a man who is for God. In this testimony, we see that God wants us to be a useful vessel for Him to accomplish His will. God has his own criteria for who would fit this role, it is a man who has the right heart. This includes a commitment and longing to serve Him. 

This was the very heart of David. He reveals through the Psalms that while frail he delighted to do the pleasing will of God (Ps 40:8). He would also say “into thine hand I commit my spirit” (Ps 31:5). David committed his life into God’s hand.

How was David committed?

1. He Trusted the Lord

“In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust, … I said, Thou art my God.” (Ps 31:1, 14). This wasn’t in vain, but from his youth David learned and knew who the unchanging God was, as he reveals in the rest of Psalm 31, “Thou art my rock and my fortress; my strength”. What encouragement. Yet, we also see what the Lord does in His grace, He has “redeemed, considered, and known” and He will “preserve the faithful.” Consequently, David would declare throughout the Psalms, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.” Therefore, we need to know and trust the Lord personally.

2. He Surrendered to the Lord

Yet, David went further than trusting the Lord personally. He owned the Lord as the King of his life. David would say, “They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.” (Ps 68:24). David’s King is majestic and just in His goings, indeed God’s ways are higher than man’s.  Knowing this, there needs to be a response from men, so David doesn’t say, “I delight to do my will” but “I delight to do thy will, O my God.” (Ps 40:8) 

So, what will we as young men choose in our hearts? May we own Lord as King in our individual lives, as David did, and surrender to God’s desires and delights.

3. He Prioritised the Lord

When David surrendered to the Lord as King over his life, he knew it had to start by prioritising time with God. David put God first in his life, as he said “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” (Ps 63:1).

David firstly prioritised and sought the Lord’s face early in life as a young manboy. He had the time and energy to know the Lord personally and be grounded in the Scriptures. Indeed, David sought to diligently meditate and delight in the law of the LORD, day and night. And in this place, he was made “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season” (Ps 1:1-2). However, it is also by diligently spending time in the Word of God and waiting upon the Lord that we come to know His pleasing will. And when we come into God’s presence let us persistently ask of God: “teach me thy statutes.” (Ps 119:12).

 However, later in life as he is on the run from Absalom, David is not able to be by the rivers of water, this leaves him malnourished. Yet, as David had experienced the Lord’s presence, power and glory, he is thirsty to come again to the Lord, to enjoy the sweet taste of the Lord’s presence. 

Yet, it was the Lord that kept him going, as David declared “The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want”. He knew that the Lord would guide, provide and deliver His sheep, like David. What a blessing that when we prioritise the Lord, we will be blessed wherever we are in life. This should lead to rejoicing just as it did for David, “my lips shall praise thee.”

       4.  He Obeyed the Lord

David took God’s Word seriously. In Psalm 19, after recognising that his schoolmaster, “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”, he cried honestly unto the Lord, “cleanse thou me from secret sins.” David recognised that he, as God’s servant, needed firstly to live a sanctified life for the glory of the Lord. At the end of this Psalm, David prays, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” 

In recognising who the Lord is, and knowing that He indeed knows our hearts, may we seek to live sanctified lives unto His glory. And to daily pray honestly unto Him to cleanse and sanctify us. 

David not only obeyed the Lord’s will in sanctification, but also in service. He would tell others by his own example of service. Firstly to those at enmity with God, “Serve the LORD with fear” (Ps 2:11) and secondly to the whole world, “Serve the LORD with gladness” (Ps 100:2).  From these two Psalms, we see David’s heart to serve the LORD in love of who He is and rejoicing in what He has done.

May we follow David’s example in serving the Lord with all our heart, and may our life be such that God could give this testimony about us: he was man after my own heart.