The Heart of God

Have you ever asked yourself the question, what is the heart of God like? If you were to describe God's heart, what would you say? How would you define it? What are the characteristics that you would touch on in talking about God's heart? Daily, you and I strive to become more and more like God. If so, we want to have the same type of heart that He has. God brought Israel out of Egypt, if you remember, and He was king over Israel. But Israel rejected God as their king. They wanted a man like all the nations around them. And God gave them a king from all appearances. That was precisely what they wanted, what they thought. In 1 Samuel 8, beginning in verse 1, if you'll notice, 1 Samuel 8, verse 1, says, Now it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. And in verse 3, but his sons did not walk in his ways, turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Now, beginning in verse 5, And the Lord said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people, and all they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. So they rejected God as their leader and their king. Now, in chapter 9, you'll notice that God selected a man to be king. In chapter 9, verse 1, There was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Aviel, the son of Zahor, the son of Bechoroth, the son of Ephail. A Benjaminite, a mighty man of power, he had a choice and a handsome son, whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. Now, that's something to be said, if you're the most handsome person in the nation. And also, from his shoulders upwards, he was taller than any of the people. So he was a tall, strapling individual, somebody who would impress you by his looks, also by his height and courage.

And so God chose him because he would be the obvious one that the people would look to, because they were looking to have a king like all the nations around them. And so, he stood head and shoulders above everybody else, was handsome, I'm sure was a very strong type of individual. And chapter 10, let's notice what God did for him. It says then, verse 1, Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, Is it not because the Lord has anointed you, commander over his inheritance, or is God anointed you to be king? And then going on in verse 6, Samuel told him here, says, Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them, talking about meeting the prophets, and be turned into another man. Notice he was going to be turned into a different person. Now, verse 9, So it was when he turned back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that day. When they came to the hill, there was a group of prophets, and then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. Now, it's interesting to notice that God gave him his Spirit and gave him a different heart. The word gave in the Hebrew means to overturn, overthrow, or to change, or to transform. So his heart was transformed, or changed. And you find, as an example, the good news translation of the Bible says that Saul turned to leave Samuel, and God gave Saul a new nature. And the NIT said that God changed his inmost person, so God changed him. And God gave him what he needed to really rule. His Spirit was going to be with him to guide him and lead him. He changed his heart, gave him a different nature. God gave him what he needed. Now, when you stop and think about it, all of us are here today because God has called us and handpicked us. He looked down among the people, the billions of people on earth, and said, I want that man, I want that lady, I want you. And God picked us out as first-roots, not because we're the most handsome, our talented, our tallest. He didn't use that as a criteria, but God chose the first-roots. You know, God, once we repent, are baptized, have our sins forgiven, have hands laid on us, God gives us his Holy Spirit, and God gives us another heart. God gives the first-roots his heart. We're transformed. In the New Testament, the Bible describes this as a new man. The old man is put away, the old man is to be crucified and to die, and the new man is to live. So we go through a transformation process also. We change and we grow. This is called overcoming. You and I overcome. Paul, excuse me, saw, relied too much on himself, his own ability. He did not use the Holy Spirit to continue to change. He did not continue to grow and to be transformed. See, receiving the Holy Spirit is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of the process of conversion. Saul did not continue to grow. He went backwards and lost out on the great opportunity and the blessings that God would have given to him at that time. In 1 Samuel chapter 13, let's notice here beginning in verse 13. 1 Samuel 13, beginning in verse 13, Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. Now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. He would have had the same blessing that God gave to David. But because he disobeyed, he did not receive it. Now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after his own heart. God wanted a ruler who would have a heart just like His.

The Lord has commanded him to be commanded over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. In verse 14, God desires also in us, that is, first through as part of His family, that we've been chosen to be leaders and rulers also, that we have a heart after His own heart. And that we do what God commands us to do and obey Him. So the question is, why is the heart of God like? When it says we're to have a heart like God, what does that mean? What is the heart of God like? When God searched Israel for a man after his own heart, whom did He select? How many choices did He have to pick from? When He looked at all the Israelites, did He say, Okay, there are 20 men over here who could be king. I'll choose David. No, there was only one man that He knew of at that point who had a heart like His. In 1 Samuel 16.7, you might remember, 1 Samuel 16.7, The Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So you and I can only evaluate by the outward appearance. Humans are impressed with looks, wealth, achievement. This is how political leaders are chosen today. Based upon appearance. But that's not what God looks at. God rejected that. Remember when all of the brothers of David, Jesse's sons were brought before Samuel. God said, that's not Him. God rejected them. Some of them were, you virile men, stout, strong, masculine. You were one that you would think that God would choose. But He didn't do that. He looked at the heart. In Psalm 78, beginning in verse 70, if you turn to Psalm 78 verse 70, you find here about why God chose David. Beginning in verse 70, He also chose David, His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the ewes.

He brought young the shepherd, Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance.

He shepherded them according to the integrity of His heart and guided them by the fullness of His hand. Fulfilled skillfulness of His hand, I should say, and I will be their God. They shall be my people. God chose a teenager, a young man. Why did He choose him? Because he was a man after his own heart. When God says He chose a man after his own heart, remember He's talking about David when he was a young man, probably around 17 years of age, as a very young man. So it shows that even a young person that age can have a heart just like God's. The ESV translates, verse 72, that He chose a man with an upright heart to shepherd them and to guide them. And then that translation says, David cared for them with pure motives. That is motives, and his heart was right. He wasn't in it for personal gain or aggrandizement or exaltation, but he had pure motives. So what does it mean to be a person after God's own heart? Well, that's what we want to take a look at today and figure out. What if God would come down and live in the flesh? We could observe His actions and how His heart would motivate Him. If He were sitting here today, you'd be able to see how He deals with other people. You'd see God's heart in action. Actually, we should be able to see God's heart in action from every one of us. If we have God's spirit and God has transformed us, we truly are converted. We ought to be able to see Christ in action in us. But do you realize that God did come in the flesh? In the Bible, it says, when Christ was born, He was called a Emmanuel, which means God with us. He was called the Son of God as well as the Son of Man because God came to dwell in the human flesh.

So you can look at Christ's example. He showed the heart of God in action on a human level. His example in the Four Gospels, you read the example of Christ and His teaching, how He dealt with people. You can see God's heart in action because He was God in the flesh. His example is a perfect example. Beginning in Philippians 2, verse 5, you read this, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That's something I pray about every day. And I ask God to help me to have the mind of Christ, to think like Christ did, because Christ had God the Father in Him and directing Him. In verse 6, it says, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. But in verse 7, He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of servanthood, of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him, given Him the name that is above every name. Now, I want you to notice, one of the qualities of God, of the heart of God, is humility. The fact that Christ, as God, as a glorified being in the family of God, the Word, before He came to the earth, was willing to divest Himself with the glory and the power He had as a spirit being, come down and dwell in flesh. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. He was willing to come down and die for us. So you find humility is a characteristic of the mind or the heart of God. It says, therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, talking about Christ. So we do have the perfect example of God in the flesh by studying the example of Jesus Christ. What this section is describing is humility being a part of the mind of God. Jesus Christ was willing to give His existence on the spirit level, come down to dwell on the physical level. The Father was willing to give His Son. Remember the Bible says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that all who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So we have the perfect example of a man, God in the flesh, with God's own heart. We also have the example of David. So Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of Man. He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Emmanuel with us. Remember, Christ said constantly in the Gospels that He could do nothing of Himself. He gave all credit to the Father. He didn't take credit to Himself. When somebody was healed or a miracle was performed or a sign or a wonder, He gave the credit to God, to the Father, not to Himself, but to the Father. He said He could do nothing of Himself.

But He made a profound statement on one occasion. When He said, If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. So if you've seen Me, you've seen how the Father is. So when they saw Jesus Christ, in essence, they were seeing how the Father would act or live. Notice how this point is brought out in John 17, verse 11. We'll begin to read there. John 17, verse 11. Now, I'm no longer in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given Me, that they may be one as we are. So you prayed that we would be one as He and the Father were one. In verse 20, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word. That's us. We have the Word of God right here. You have it on your lap, the Bible, the Scriptures. So we believe because we've studied the Word and God's opened our mind. In verse 21, that they may be one as you, Father, or in Me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent Me. In verse 22, in the glory which you gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are. So Christ and the Father are one, and you and I are to be one, too. We're to have that same unity. And harmony that they have. Jesus Christ and the Father are one, perfectly united in attitude and approach, or united in love, one for another. We are to have the same mind and approach. If you see, in Study Christ's example, you have a perfect model of what we're talking about. You see how He always gave the credit to the Father, and so should we. You know, we can do nothing on our own. Anything spiritual that is accomplished is through the power of God, the Spirit of God. So Christ and the Father are one, perfectly united in attitude and approach. They're united in love for each other. We're to have the same. If you study Christ's example, you'll see His attitude and His approach. And that's the same approach that the Father has. Christ said, if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. So Christ was a perfect example and reflection of what the Father would be like if He were here. So what is the heart of God like? It is a heart of love. It is a heart motivated by love, a heart filled with love. You might remember in 1 John 4, verse 8, the Bible says God is love. Not that just God has love, but God is love. That is what He is.

When you look at David, you find that David was in love with God or he loved God. Can you say the same? That God is motivated by a heart of love.

Let's go over to Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 5, and we'll read verses 5, 9, and 11. Paul uses a Greek word here that has tremendous meaning that conveys the idea of desire, even a heart's desire. In verse 5 we read, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Good pleasure of His will, or the will of God, is an important New Testament word indicating God's choice and determination, emanating from desire. Now notice verse 9, having made known to us a mystery of His will, you find His will mentioned again, and His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself. In verse 11, in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, meaning predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. The word will here is thelema. It means a desire which proceeds from the heart, and it is emotive, meaning emotional. The word is usually translated as will in the New Testament. The will of God, but the English word will sublimates when you just read it in the English. Sublimates the primary meaning of the word. The Greek word is primarily an emotional word. God's will is not so much God's intention what He intends to do, but it is God's heart's desire. It flows from His heart. It's His desire. It's what He desires. And so you find that this plan of salvation was created by God's counsel, as verse 11 shows, which is the Greek word belay. It means to plan out, to take counsel. Christ and the Father sat down and planned the plan of salvation before the physical creation. That was part of the plan of salvation. Behind that plan, and the counsel was not just a mastermind, but a heart, the heart of love and good pleasure. What motivated God to create the plan of salvation was a heart of love and good pleasure. It was motivated out of His heart. God so loved the world that He gave His Son for our sins. And Christ so loved us that He was willing to become one of us and to die for us. A heart implies passion and motivation. The heart of God is motivated by love. God wanted to share His level of life and His level of existence with others. So He had come up with a plan of salvation where you and I were created, but where we had to choose right from wrong. We had to make a choice to follow Him, not to follow Satan in this world, our own lust and desires. Everything that God does is motivated by love. Is that true of us? Is everything we do motivated by love, by God's love, by God's grace and forgiveness?

Everything God does is motivated by grace and forgiveness. God's grace flows from His heart of love. And His willingness to forgive us flows from His heart of love. Likewise, it's all based on love. It is a heart of grace and forgiveness. It's a heart of service and giving. God is our helper. The Bible in the Old Testament, the book of Psalms, uses the word. A lot of times David will talk about, God is my helper, or God helped me. Now God has given us marriage. One of the great lessons in marriage that we learn is it's meant to teach us the lesson of helping. God created the woman, you might remember. He told Adam that he needed a helper. He needed someone who could help him and assist him. And when you're married, you help one another. You serve one another. You give to one another. Jesus Christ explained that if you want to be great in the New Testament, you see He taught the same principle in the New Testament. In Matthew 20, verse 25, Jesus told His disciples, He called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you, whoever desires to become great, among you let him be your servant. Verse 27, whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Matthew 20 and then verse 28, Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So you and I are called to learn to be servants.

If we want to be great, if we want to be great in God's kingdom, be given authority and rulership, we have to learn how to serve one another, serve humanity, become a waiter, help others. And it's got to be done out of a heart of love, motivated, out of grace and forgiveness. So that's what God is looking for. When you look and you start talking about the heart of God, what is the heart of God like? Well, these verses put it very succinctly and show the basis, the foundation of what God's heart is like.

When we read about the heart of mankind, we find something quite different, the unconverted, carnal heart of man. Jeremiah 79, we read, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Deceit is totally contrary to the nature and purpose of God. God is not deceitful. God cannot lie. As the Bible says in John 17, 17, Why a word is truth? The word of God is truth. Nothing that God does is deceitful. Everything the devil does is deceitful. So often you find human beings are deceitful in dealing with one another. Notice in Genesis 8.21, it describes God's heart again. Genesis 8.21, it shows that we can rely upon God's heart. The Lord smelled a soothing aroma, and the Lord said in his heart, something God said in his heart, I will never curse the ground for man's sake again. Although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will I destroy every living thing as I have done. God made a decision in his heart and his mind. When God saw after the flood what had occurred, he decided and thought about it in his heart. He made a decision not to destroy the earth again by a flood. So he's able to make decisions based upon what he sees and what's going on. So here's a promise from God. God says every time you go out and you look at the rainbow, we are to be reminded of this promise from God.

Let's go back to chapter 6 in the book of Genesis. You find God's heart mentioned again in verse 5. We'll start in verse 5. Genesis 6, 5. Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made men on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart.

I want you to notice that God can be grieved in his heart. God is grieved over the wickedness and sin that he sees, for he knows the harm of sin. He knows the pain and suffering that sin brings on human beings. Now the question is, are we grieved over the wickedness of sin? What we see going on around us in the world today, the evil going on, are we grieved at that? You might remember in Ezekiel 9.4, Ezekiel 9.4 talks about those that God will protect in the future, and those that God protected in the past in Jerusalem.

The Lord said to him, Go through the midst of the city in Ezekiel 9, verse 4. Through the midst of Jerusalem, put a mark on the forehead of the men, who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done. Do we sigh and cry over the evil, the sins, and the wretchedness that we see going on in the world today? Is that something that we do? God looks down and he became so grieved over it that he said, He was sorry he made man when he saw what they were doing to one another, the violence and the evil that permeated the earth at that time.

We find at the end time in Matthew 24, it says, So shall be in the day when the Son of Man returns. So what's going on today that we see around us are the same type of actions and sins that were predominant during the days of Noah. So you began to see a little bit about the heart of God. God is a great lawgiver. The law of God is God's love and action.

We're told we're to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbor. We're to love God with all our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, all of our strength, all of our ability. We're to love our neighbors, our self. How do you do that? Well, the first four of the Ten Commandments show you how to love God.

Last six, how to love your neighbor. In the rest of the Bible, take those principles and amplify them. You expand them, put them into action. So God is a great lawgiver. The law shows God's love and action. How to love God and how to love your neighbor. Now we find in Hebrews 8 and verse 10 that the law of God is to be written in our hearts. And in our minds. You see, if we're going to have the mind of God, God's law needs to be written in our hearts and our minds.

We need to have those principles guiding us and leading us and directing us. In Hebrews 8 and 10 it says, For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them in their hearts. And then in Hebrews 10 and 16, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts and in their minds I will write them. The law explains how God demonstrates love, how he treats others. Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. When you were baptized, we made a commitment to put God first in our life. Did we not? We counted the costs as Luke 14, 26, the rest of that chapter talks about. We made a commitment to follow God, put him first above all, and to follow him.

That means that we strive to do the will of God, to do what is right. I want you to notice in the New Testament when it describes David, Acts 13, verse 21. Beginning in verse 21, says, Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. After he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he also testified and said, I found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. Notice he knew that David would do all of his will. Verse 23, from the descendants of this man, according to a promise, God is brought to Israel as Savior, Jesus.

So David was a man after God's own heart, and he knew that David would do his will. He would do whatever he asked him to do. Saul did not do what God commanded him to do. So therefore, God rejected him. The New International Translation says here, after removing Saul, he made David their king and testified concerning him, I found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do everything I want him to do. So God knew that he would do everything he wanted him to do. Now David had killed Uriah, you might remember, committed adultery with Bathsheba, and had counted Israel. David's sin made mistakes. Now David's weaknesses and mistakes are all listed in the Bible. How would you like to have all of your sins listed in the Bible? A book or two of the Bible written, you know, here is the sins of Saul and Saul, and everything that we've done, our thought wrong, our actions that are wrong. What it shows is that the servants of God are human, that we do sin, we do have faults, we do make mistakes. All of us sitting here are standing here today, make mistakes. We all sin, we're so human. Let's take a look at David and see what we learn about him having the heart of God. As I said, there are two examples. The example of Christ, the example of David, as men who had the heart of God. Look at David and see what we learn about him having the heart of God, a man after God's own heart. Now we know this because God said it, not because it's just something I surmise, but as mentioned a couple of times in the Bible here in the book of Acts, and we read it back in the book of Samuel also. David sinned, but he genuinely repented when he sinned. And he sold God's forgiveness. You can jot Psalm 51 down. It's good to read that at least once a week. I read that Psalm several times during the week. It's a wonderful Psalm. It shows how David repented of his sins when Nathan came to him and told him that he had sinned with Uriah and Bathsheba. His son died as a result of it.

God chose him to be king, but he knew that he was still human. God has chosen us out of the world, but it shows that God still works through people who are not perfect. You know that God can work through people who are not perfect.

If he's working through us, then we know he's working through people who are not perfect. David had a wholehearted commitment to God. He had adoration of his Creator. The Psalms give us an absolute insight into the attitude and thoughts and hearts and heart of David.

Reading the Psalms are good occasionally just to go back and read, where you see how David, when he was confronted with a trial or a test or a problem, how he sought God's help. David had courageous faith in God.

This was exemplified in his willingness to take on Goliath when he was around 17 years of age. In 1 Samuel 17, in verse 36, you read this. He said, Your servant has killed both bear and lion, David said, or lion and bear. And the sudden, the circumcised Philistine will be like one of them, saying he has defied the armies of the living God.

Over David said, The Lord, who delivered me from the pall of the lion, from the pall of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. So he had absolute faith that God would be with him. He trusted God. He knew that God would help him. You find, on many occasions, as you read through Samuel, in 2 Kings 2 and verse 1, as an example, that David inquired of God.

He would go and inquire of God and pray to God. He would go to the priest and ask, you know, please ask God, should we do this or should we do that? He sought God's direction and asked him to guide them. In 1 Samuel 23 and verses 1 through 2 is another example of David inquiring of God. There are many, many times you find where David went and inquired of God, he would go to the tabernacle and pray and ask God to show him the way to go.

And God would give him direction. David had an absolute passion for God and worshipped him in prayer and in song and in study. He had a close loving and worshipful relationship with God. He worshipped God and adored him. You might remember when he was a youth, he was out watching the sheep. There were many times at night he would just sit out there looking at the stars, looking at the moon. Out there by himself, he could sing, look at the flock, and know that God was with him, and meditate and think about the Word of God, study it.

And so God was with him. He looked to his Creator, he trusted in God with his whole heart. In Psalm 119, Psalm 119, I want you to notice beginning here in verse 97 what David said. Psalm 119 is written, I think it's called an Acropolis, it's written in a way you might remember. Each section here is eight verses, and each one has a letter of the Hebrew alphabet to start at. Each verse starts with that letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse talks about the law of God.

David says in verse 97, O how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day. So notice he meditated on the law of God daily all day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies. So he studied the commandments and the statutes and the laws of God, and made him wise. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies were my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your word. I have not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. So you notice here how the law of God, he loved it, and how it guided him and directed him, prevented him from walking off in the wrong direction. Notice from verse 113 also, I hate the double-minded. I love your law. You are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in your word. Verse 119, you put away all the wicked of the earth like dross, therefore I love your testimonies. You read throughout the Psalms that David loved God's law, his way of life. This is one reason why God chose him, because he had this absolute passion for God and love for God in God's way.

This is one reason why he had a heart like God. He loved God, he adored God, he had a right relationship with God. He looked at God and trusted him, he had faith in God, he relied upon God.

David loved God's law, he talked with God constantly, he studied the word of God, he meditated on it. His mind was filled with God, with God's goodness and God's grace and power and majesty. David had a heart for God. True religion is a matter of the heart, of the inner man, and our mind, our attitude, and our approach to God. The great commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Again, we are to have a great depth of feeling, not just a mild interest in God. It's something that we are to be motivated by and drives us. I want you to notice in 1 Kings chapter 15 and verse 5, we read a summary of David's life. 1 Kings chapter 15 and verse 5, David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the manner of Uriah the Hittite. So, it summarizes David. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He always strove to do what was right. In 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, we read this when David instructed Solomon on how to be king. David took the lessons that he had learned, tried to convey them and give them to Solomon. As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your Father, and serve him with a loyal heart and a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intents of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you all forever. I want you to notice how the net translation translates this. It says, serve him with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit, for the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one's thoughts. The NIV says, serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind. That's what God is looking for in all of us. To have a perfect heart and a willing mind.

I want you to notice what happened to Solomon. This is how Solomon started out. You might remember he prayed to God for wisdom. He said, I feel like a little child. I don't know how to come in and go out. I don't know how to judge these people. Help me. So he started out, and David gave him wonderful instructions on what he ought to do if he was going to be king. And you find in 1 Kings 11.4 what happened to Solomon. 1 Kings 11.4 For it was so that when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods. His heart was not loyal to the Lord, his God, as was the heart of his father, David. So one thing we find about David, he was loyal to God. Solomon was not at the end of his life. He allowed his wives to turn him. You might remember he had 300 wives and 700 concubines. He took wives from many of the nations around him. And he made peace with these nations. If he married the daughter of a king, then they would be less likely to attack Israel. But they had their own gods, and he built temples, places of worship to their gods. They let him astray. Now the word loyal here comes from the word shalem. It means completion or fulfillment, a state of holiness or unity, perfect, full, whole, at peace. We get shalom from this word. You read about Melchizedek being the king of Salem, king of peace. And so you find here, his heart was not whole and in unity with God the way that it should be, as David's heart was. We've been called out today, those of us in God's church, as saints to obey God and to have... We have the opportunity to be first-roots. We have the opportunity to be first-roots in the kingdom of God and to rule with Christ. You know, we will win. The reason I know that, because I've read the book, read the Bible, read not only the beginning, but I've read the end. Now I say that because we've had a recent presidential election. Many will not accept that Donald Trump won the election to become president in this country. What is he doing right now? He's in the process of selecting his cabinet and fulfilling administration positions and appointing counselors, those who will advise him and advisors. God is doing the same thing. Because in the world tomorrow, God has not given irresponsibility to the angels, but to his sons and daughters, to the family of God. We will be in that family. We'll be first-roots. We're being prepared for greater service, for eternity. God is preparing us not only for the Millennium and the White Throne Judgment, but for all eternity to assist him. So we have been called and been given a wonderful opportunity today. We're being prepared for greater service, for eternity. God is looking for those who have hearts like his. Let me sort of summarize for you what I've touched on here about the heart of God. The heart of God is based on love. You and I are to love God with all of our heart. The heart of God has an attitude of grace and forgiveness. It is motivated by humility.

We are to strive and serve and help other people. We are not to be deceitful in our actions, our motives, and our mind. We are to sigh and cry over the evil that we see around us going on. God wants to know what's in our heart. God sees what's going on in our heart. In Deuteronomy 10, verse 12, you read this.

Deuteronomy 12, 10, it says, Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, serve Him, the Lord your God will give your God with all your heart and with all your soul. In Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 6, notice, and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. When you were baptized, God circumcised our heart spiritually to have His heart in us. So we have two examples in the Bible of what it means to be a man after God's own heart. We have the example of Jesus Christ, the Son of man and the Son of God. The example of David. We need to study their lives, especially Christ, to see what it means to have the love of God or the heart of God and put it into action.

So, brethren, we need to have that, follow that example.