Acts 13:12-25: a reflection

12Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. 13Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. 14But they, passing on from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia. They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 15After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak.” 16Paul stood up, and gesturing with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. 17The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it. 18For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred fifty years. 20After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23From this man’s offspring, God has brought salvation to Israel according to his promise, 24before his coming, when John had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel. 25As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

Preaching in the synagogue at Antioch, Paul rehearses the history of God's dealings with Israel: how God chose their ancestors, led them out of Egypt, bore with them in the wilderness, gave them the land, raised up judges and then a king. Of David he says something worth pausing over: God testified of him, I have found in David a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. And from David's line, Paul goes on, God brought the promised Savior, Jesus.

Notice what God saw in David: a man after his own heart, who would do all his will. It was not that David was flawless; his failures were real and grievous. But God found in him a heart set to do his will, a heart that, for all its faults, wanted what God wanted and returned to him in repentance when it strayed. That is what God called a heart after his own: not a sinless record, but a will bent toward doing his will.

That is an encouragement and a challenge. God does not require a flawless record before he calls someone a man or woman after his own heart; he looks for a heart set to do his will, one that desires what he desires and turns back to him when it falls. You need not despair over your failures, if your heart is set to do God's will; but you must ask whether it truly is. Cultivate a heart after God's own, a will bent toward doing what he wills, a desire for his desires, a readiness to return when you stray. That, more than a perfect record, is what God looks for and delights in: a heart that wants to do all his will.

Lord, you testified of David that he was a man after your own heart, who would do all your will, not because he was flawless, for his failures were real, but because his heart was set to do your will and returned to you when it strayed. Encourage and challenge me by that. You do not require a flawless record before you call someone a person after your own heart; you look for a heart set to do your will, one that desires what you desire and turns back to you when it falls. Keep me from despairing over my failures, if my heart is set to do your will; but help me ask whether it truly is. Cultivate in me a heart after your own, a will bent toward doing what you will, a desire for your desires, a readiness to return when I stray. That, more than a perfect record, is what you look for; give me such a heart, that wants to do all your will.