The Hebrew name of David means: beloved. This name certainly fits David who undoubtedly enjoyed a wonderful relationship with God. As the Apostle Paul recounted in Acts 13:22, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” NIV.
Bible.org observes that, “David is the only person in the Bible whose epitaph reads “a man after God’s own heart”. What a blessing!
Indeed, David was blessed in so many ways. He was divinely appointed to replace Saul as king. He was a shepherd boy who looked nothing like a king, yet was the one whom God chose. Had it been up to Samuel, someone else would have been chosen…like Eliab. The Bible says that when Samuel saw Eliab he thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:6-7, NIV)
It is safe to say, that for David to be a man after God’s own heart, he must have had a righteous heart. David was both sincere and godly, which pleased the Lord who values the inner man above all else.
In 1 Chronicles 17, we see the humility of David’s heart at work.After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.” (1 Chronicles 17:1-2, NIV)
David was compelled to honour God as God had honoured him. David was right in his thinking and meant well. Nathan agreed. But the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God saw things in a different light. David’s elevation to royalty did not qualify him to build a temple for the presence of God. So, that same night God sent Nathan to David with a very important message:
4“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. 5I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. 6Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders[a] whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’
Although God appreciated David’s offer, He declined it. This in no way meant that God withdrew his blessings from David. In fact, He extended them. There was something about the man after God’s own heart that fell short of what God required. There was ‘blood on his hands’. He was the warrior that God had chosen to deliver Israel and for that reason would not be allowed to build God’s temple(1 Chronicles 28:2-3). While David may have been disappointed, he quickly accepted God’s decision.
If we can learn anything from David, it is his willingness to yield to the will of God and also to repent when his sins were pointed out. David’s attitude was “may God’s will be done!” This is evident in the prayer with which David responded (1 Chronicles 17:16-27).
David humbled himself before God and thanked him for everything that God had already done for him and for what God promised to do for him and his household in the future. David’s prayer can be summarized in these words: Thank you for everything. Your will be done!
And now, being a great leader, David felt the need to share the news with his people, and especially with his son Solomon who now will have the great privilege and responsibility to build the Lord’s temple.
So, David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the warriors and all the brave fighting men (1 Chronicles 28:1)
And then David stood up and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name,because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’ (vs 2-3)
David went ahead and told them that among all his sons God had chosen Solomon to be the one to build the temple. He charged them before God to continue to obey God’s command and throw their support behind Solomon. David gave the temple plans to Solomon to guide him.
And then he said something to Solomon that every servant of God would do well to remember:
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)