A Man After His Own Heart

1 Samuel 13:1-22

I don’t usually start out with a story, but I read a testimony this week that seemed so raw and real that I thought I should share it with you. It was written by a young woman from the country of Bhutan. She said that it is hard for her to tell her story because the wounds still feel so fresh. She feels “abused by life itself.” Born into a Buddhist-Hindu family, she had no desire for anything religious. When she was seven, her mother committed suicide, causing great conflict in her family and ruining her childhood. No one knew what drove her mother to take her own life, but people told stories and joked that her desire to embrace a new religion had driven her mad. Her father abandoned her and her sister and started a new family. “Hatred and bitterness consumed my youth,” she says.

(This is a picture of the woman and a map showing the location of Bhutan in the middle).  

Somehow a pastor began to teach her about Christianity and arranged a scholarship for her to study at a theological institute in Nagaland in India. She describes her first year as “hard and confusing” because she remained spiritually blind. Her family criticized her for what she was doing. But in her second year she says that she met God in the book of Romans and that reconstructed her worldview. She felt like things were beginning to fall into place. However, in 2014 her older sister went missing for more than a month. She prayed that God who stopped the lion from attacking Daniel would protect her sister. But then she was called to identify a body in Assam, and she felt like the ground disappeared from under her. No words could describe what it felt like. Her older sister had been like a mother to her, encouraged her in her Christian faith, and now she was taking her murdered body back to Bhutan right before final exams in her final year at college. “Can you imagine?” she says.

Her father was so angry, blaming the two of them for leaving Buddhism and angering the gods. He insisted on cremating the sister with traditional rites, and the younger had to watch as the fire consumed the person closest to her in the world. “Why, God?” It seemed too much, and she wanted to give up. Her father forbade her to return to college, so she was left with only her Bible and her prayers. God spoke to her through the book of Hebrews, and she realized that to stay as the Buddhist daughter of her father would be like crucifying Jesus again. She realized that she had to go back and finish what she had started. So she ran away from home, though no one could believe that she would be in any state to take her exams. She simply could not allow people to jeer at the Savior of the world.

She realized that she simply needed to trust and “take steps forward for Christ.” On graduation day she received four awards for obtaining the highest marks in her year. She wanted to go on for further studies, and God provided another scholarship for her to go to Thailand, where she is now. Adjusting to yet another new situation has presented a new set of challenges, but she knows where to turn now when the troubles come. She says that she can’t thank God for the loss and pain that she has experienced, but she can thank Him for what he has done in those terrible circumstances. She doesn’t know what the future holds. She dreads her eventual return to Bhutan and what that might involve. How can she face her father? But she says, “I have come too far to give up now.”

A woman after God’s own heart? What does it mean to have a heart for God? This question could be taken as one of the themes of 1 Samuel. What was the difference between Saul and David? Both of them certainly had their faults. But each of them was anointed, chosen by God, and had some experience of the Holy Spirit. Back in Chapter 11 we read that “the Spirit of God came powerfully” upon Saul when he gathered the people and fought the Ammonites. He gave glory to God for that victory, saying, “This day the Lord has rescued Israel.” After Samuel had anointed him earlier in Chapter 10, it says that God changed his heart, and he prophesied with the prophets by the power of the Spirit. Even Samuel, doubtful about the wisdom of even having a king, testified that there was “no one like him among all the people.” Saul seemed to be open to God at certain points. What went wrong? Why did God reject him? Let’s turn to our passage for today: 1 Samuel 13.

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.—I Samuel 13:1-4

For perspective, let’s look at this map to see what is going on:

So something that you notice from the map is that the Israelite territories did not have clear boundaries. The Philistines were apparently mixed in with them to some extent, which would have been a constant threat and irritation. Small disputes and confrontations would no doubt flare up into battles. However, Saul had to be careful. His 3,000 men were quite a small army compared to the Philistines, and they had better technology than he did. Why did he send most of his men back to their homes? Perhaps he realized that more was not necessarily better if he was not able to properly train, command, and support them.

The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.—I Samuel 13:5-7

There is some doubt among Bible scholars about these numbers, too. The oldest Hebrew manuscripts actually have 30,000 chariots, which would have been an incredible number. In any case, the Israelites were woefully outnumbered, and it was understandable that huge numbers began deserting. God had given them miraculous victories in the past, but they must not have been sure that He was with them this time.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.—I Samuel 13:7-8

Do you recall when this seven days was mentioned? It was back in Chapter 10, when Samuel was prophesying about all the signs that would be fulfilled for Saul, confirming him as God’s choice.  Samuel gave him very explicit instructions at that time:

 “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”—I Samuel 10:8

Samuel was intending to send Saul ahead on his own. What other Bible story do you think of when you see that command to “go ahead of me?” I think of Jesus sending his disciples ahead across the Sea of Galilee, while he goes up the mountain to pray. That, too, was a test of faith. How would they respond to the storm? What would Peter do when Jesus told him to come to Him on the water? The disciples were afraid, and Peter looked at the wind and waves instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus. Jesus rebuked them, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Samuel promises, “I will surely come down to you.” He made it very clear: Saul needed to wait until Samuel told him what to do. But instead of looking at wind and waves, Saul looked at his men scattering – and he decided to take matters into his own hands, rather than trusting in God’s word. Back to the passage:

So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.—I Samuel 13:9-10

Saul may have been usurping the role of the priest, reserved for Samuel. However, in the next chapter we’ll see that he did have a priest with him, Ahijah, who was a descendent of Eli. So he may have technically been able to perform the sacrifice correctly. But he was still missing the point of obedience and submission. He was focused on performing a ritual, rather than truly trusting God. The reason this was so displeasing to God is that it indicates that Saul had a magical concept of how God works: if he could press the right button, say the right thing, do the right ceremony, then God would magically do what Saul wanted Him to, like rubbing Aladdin’s lamp and having the genie give you your three wishes. There was no real relationship here, no love for God, no submission to him in faith.

“What have you done?” asked Samuel.        

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”—I Samuel 13:11-12

Notice that Saul does not offer an apology. Samuel’s question is clearly trying to confront him, not just ask for information. But all Saul has is an excuse, in part blaming Samuel for being late. Apparently it was the seventh day, but Saul had been unwilling to wait until the end of the day. At least Saul did have the sense to realize that victory would be impossible without the Lord’s favor, but he goes about obtaining that favor in completely the wrong way. He has no real understanding of God or commitment to Him.

“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”—I Samuel 13:13-14

You have done a foolish thing. Being foolish in this sense doesn’t mean goofing around. Remember how the Bible defines being a fool. A fool is someone who disregards God’s word. Proverbs teaches a lot about the difference between foolishness and wisdom. Fools do all kinds of bad things in Proverbs – and they don’t learn from the mistakes that they make. They return to their folly like a dog returning to its vomit. Perhaps their most deadly quality, however, is stated in Psalm 14 and repeated in Psalm 53: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” They act like God really isn’t involved. Saul was shutting God out and going his own way. God would not be able to work with him to accomplish His purposes. God had already chosen his replacement, and we know it was David.

Saul has no response. This judgment does not drive him to repentance. God may have been willing to forgive him, but his heart was not in the right place. Is he too proud to admit that he did something wrong? Or maybe he just thinks that Samuel is making a big fuss about nothing. What’s the big deal about a little sacrifice? Why was it so important for Samuel to have to be there? Why couldn’t Ahijah do it?

Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.—I Samuel 13:15

Saul had lost a lot of men. Samuel gives up and leaves, and Saul apparently follows him to Gibeah. He moves around frequently to keep the Philistines guessing.

Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.—I Samuel 13:16-22

Things are not looking good for Saul. The Philistines are sending out raiding parties in all directions, meaning that they will be stealing the food and other resources of the Israelites. Saul has lost most of his men, and those that he does have are practically unarmed. These verses show what a disadvantage the Israelites had in terms of technology. Their skills in metalworking were so limited that they needed to use Philistine blacksmiths to even sharpen basic implements – at considerable cost, too. Their only hope was to have the Lord fight their battles for them. They had so many miraculous victories to look back on. Think of the walls of Jericho falling down on their own. All that the Israelites had to do was to obey what God told them to do in each situation. But now Saul was losing his sense of intimacy with God, his conviction to be obedient and responsive.

This can easily happen to anyone. We get comfortable or self-sufficient and lose our sense of dependency on God, moment by moment. We make small compromises; we let things slide. We lose our respect for His word and the time that we spend with Him. Our prayers become like pushing a button on a vending machine, except that we look for the treat to come out for free. And we think that if we look good that people will think that everything’s okay.

Oh, instead, to be a man or woman after God’s own heart! What does this look like? First of all, it is a reciprocal relationship. Have you ever made a choice, expressed an opinion, or favored something and someone has told you, “You’re a man (or woman) after my own heart.” Perhaps unwittingly, you have thought or acted the way that they would have, and they feel a certain kinship with you. You can be “after their heart” without even realizing it.

In this passage, however, God is talking about much more than some possibly-inadvertent sense of being a kindred spirit with someone else. Being “after” something actually implies active pursuit. If a robber is after your money, he is actively trying to get his hands on it. If an employee is after a promotion, she will do whatever she can to get it. In the same way, being after God’s heart means that we are passionately pursuing Him. We are desperate to know what He is thinking and feeling, what is important to Him, what we need to do to stay close to Him. This is the way that lovers pursue each other, isn’t it? They don’t want anything to stand in the way of knowing and understanding and pleasing the heart of their beloved.

So how was David a man after God’s own heart? Where do we see him pursuing God in this way? In contrast to Saul, we do see him quick to repent when he is confronted with his sin. After committing murder and adultery in his affair with Bathsheba, we see his confession and contrition in Psalm 51. Here are selected verses:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. –Psalm 51:1-4

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.—Psalm 51:10-11

David could not stand the thought of being separated from God. Do you hear his longing for God, for intimacy to be restored? He had seen the Holy Spirit leave Saul, and he didn’t want that happening to him.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.—Psalm 51:16-17

David knew that what was in his heart was so much more important that the external rituals that Saul had been relying on. He was a sinner, but his sin broke his heart, because he knew that it separated him from God. Elsewhere in Psalms we see other passionate expressions of his desire to pursue God, first and foremost. In Psalm 63:1 he says:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

David knew what it was like to be thirsty. In a dry and parched land, finding water becomes the priority that firmly crowds out all other thoughts and desires. That’s what his desire for God was like. It wasn’t added to some list of other things he was pursuing. It was the list. Nothing else mattered in comparison.

What about you? What about me? Are we pursuing God that way? What does it take to develop a heart for God like that? Well, how did David grow in his faith? Step by step. When no one would fight Goliath, David went out with his sling, trusting in God to help him. When the people were ready to stone him, we read that David strengthened himself in the Lord. Each step of faith that he took, each time he prayed and saw God deliver him, each time he gave glory to God for his victories. Even when he danced before the Ark of the Covenant, not concerned about what others thought, David moved toward greater intimacy with God. His heart for God grew out of his lifetime of experiencing God’s grace and faithfulness.

I would like to close with the same verse that I did last time. It fits so well with this message, too. I really like it because it speaks of our pursuit of God and His pursuit of us.

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. – 2 Chronicles 16:9a (NASB)