Ver. 14. (Gll,GAL.)--A rnan after God's own Juart. This expression occurs only !here and in the quotation (Act8 xiii. 22), "I have found D;i,vid the son of Jesse (Ps. lxxxix. 20), a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." 1. It was uttered by Samuel on the occasion of hi8 reproving Saul for not obeying- the ,commandment of the Lord (ver. 13). 2. It formed a part of the announcement of the purpose of God to appoint another man to be "captain over his people" in con- -sequence thereof. The time of its fulfilment was not defined, nor was it known to the prophet who rhe should be; it is uncertain even whether David was yet born. 3. It was descriptive of his cliaracter in contrast to that of Saul, and it had respect to him in his public official capacity as theocratic sovereign rather than in his private moral life, although it is impossible wholly to separate the one from the other. He would obey the. commandment of the Lord, and, as it was predicted of "a faithfol priei,t" ( eh. ii. 35; .iii. 10), "do according to that which was in his heart and in hi.s mii:id ;. " he would "serve the will of God in his lifetime" (Acts xiii. 36), and secon(l ,'8nd carry out his purposes concerning his people (Isa. xliv. 28); he would be trnly ", his servant,lland therefore his throne would continue and (in the full realisation ,of th!l theocratic .idea it represented) be established for ever (Ps. lxxx.ix. 19-37). In" a man after God's own heart'' (such as David was) there is- I. THE RECOGNITION, OF THE WILL OF GoD as supreme. His will is above that of king and people; declared in manifold ways, it is the rule of human life; and he who perceives it most clearly and observes it most humbly and constantly approaches nearest to perfection. Saul paid but little regard to it, and, when it was opposed to his own inclinatiol) or judgment, set it aside and went his own way. With David it was otherwise. In his royal office especially he embodied the spirit of loyalty to the invisible King of Israel, and of zeal for his law and ordinances. "The vain ca,-iis of infidels appear to have arisen from not considering that the phrase to which they object may be, interpreted with equal propriety as referring to the Divine purpose, design, or intention as to designate peculiar favour and affection. The latter. undoubtedly was true, yet the former is most clearly the meaning intended here" (Poole). . II.. THE CONVICTION OF THE CALL OF GOD to his service. Unlike Saul, he felt deeply· and constantly that he was individually an object of Divine regard, and appointed to do a certain work from which he neither desired nor dared to shrink. And a similar feeling exists in every true servant of God. "The life of David is the life neither of a mere official fulfilling a purpose in which he has no interest, nor of a hero without fear and without reproach; but of a man inspired by a Divine purpose under the guidance of a Divine teacher" (Maurice). III. DEVOTION TO THE HONOUR OF GOD from the heart. Although Saul possessed many admirable qualtie~, he sought to honour God by outward sacrifices rather than real .obediE>nce, his noblest deeds were the offspring of sudden and transient impulses, r.nd hie.predominant motive was his own honour and glory. "He had none of the work of Divine grace upon the heart, turning impulses into principles, ruling all actions .by the law of an unseen Judge. He never experienced what the apostle calls the powers of the world to come, that is to say, the sense of God, of another world, smiting upon his soul through the veil of visible things, and making him £eel the presence and the real, awful personality of his Maker. His soul was not like David's, a harp touched by the hand of the Almighty, and attuned to celestial melodies. It was only an instrument over which the wind swept wildly, waking ' a fitful and irregular music which soon died away into the confused murmurs of a harsh and tuneless discord" (A. Blomfielcl). IV. DEPENDENCE ON THE Hl!:LP orr GoD for success. Saul was proud of his own strength, and both in ruling the people and contending against their enemies he relied on his own skill and prudence, and "an arm of flesh." David trusted in God for everything. "He never represents himself as a compound of strength and weakness. He represents himself as weakness itself- as incapacity utter and complete. The Lord is his strength. He has faith in God as his physical Inspirer or Protector. He has ll deeper, a far deeper instinct than even that-the instinct of a communion, personal, practical, loving, between God, the Fount of light and good- Des~, and his own soul, with its capacity of darkness as well as light, of evil as well 2-W THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. [cu. xm. 1-23.
a~ g-o,Kl. In one word, David is a nrnn of faith and a man of prayer'' (King·sley, • Four Sermons'). Y. REPENTANCE AT THE REPROOF OF Goo on account of sin. The head of Saul' trc>m l~l;,d not a_t the word of the ~ord. When the prophet said, 11 What hast thou· don<' . he offered excuses for !us conduct, and when 011 a subsequent occasion he- was eoi:istrained to s_ay, '.' I have _sinned," his confess\on was _insincere and hypocritical. How different was 1t with David when Nathan smd to !um, "Thou art the man." "Ne,:er w:is repentance _more severe, or sorrow more sincere; so that he may justly he said (Ins repentance mcluded, though not his fall) to be a man after God's own, heart" (Yonge). VI. SYMPATHY WITH THE PEOPLE OF Gon in their experience. He identified him• self with them, made theiI ,aried joys and sorrows his own, and thereby (as :well _as by other mean~) promoted their ~ighest g_ood. His character II gathered mto itself-so far as might be-all the vanous workmgs of the heart of man. This is the special attribute of the life and character of the son of Jesse. There is o hard, narrow separateness of soul marked in every line of the character of Saul. He is _a wayward, wilful, self-determined °:an, well-nigh i~capable of any real sympathy ",th others. Such an one could learn little of the workmgs of the human heart, which is so immeasurable in the multitude and compassion of its tones. Deep as were bis sorrows, be never knew the grace of contrition. Thus his dark heart is full of sullenness and suspicion, inviting the entrance of the evil one, who came at his bid- ding, and closed with yet sterner bars all the avenues of his soul. In every one of these particulars David is the most complete contrast to Saul" (Wilberforce,' Heroes of Heb. Hist.'). VII. SINCERITY IN HIS WHOLE RELATION TO Gon and in the main course of his life. 11 What are faults-what are the outward details of life, if the inner spirit of it, the