“And Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
– 1 Samuel 13:13–14
Oh, there is so much here in these two packed verses, as Saul is ultimately rebuked by Samuel as king and we find out that God has raised up another after his own heart, a reference to David, to serve as king. So think about both Saul and David. Saul disobeyed the commands of God. His heart was not after God’s heart, and as a result, he missed out on all that God had for him, and not just for him, for his kingdom, for those who lived under his leadership, they missed out because Saul did not keep the commands of God. It’s mentioned multiple times. You have not kept the command of the Lord your god with which he commanded you.
This Verse Hearkens to God’s Commands
The Lord has commanded him to be prince because you’ve not kept what the Lord has commanded you. It is so vital in our lives for us to keep God’s commands, to live according to God’s word. This is the way to life, not just life for us but life for others, for those around us, those whom we influence, it all revolves around obedience to God’s command and sensitivity to God’s heart, a reflection of God’s heart. Samuel says the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart which is a clear rebuke against Saul because he was not a man after God’s heart.
The way to life is living according to God’s Word. Lord, help us to trust that following You is for our good.
1 Samuel 13:13–14 Encourages Christians to Pursue God’s Heart
Think about what that means, to be after God’s heart. If you were to say this person is after my heart, this person reflects my heart. What would that look like for you and I to have our lives described that way when it comes to God’s heart? That we desire what God desires. So, we love what God loves. We delight in what God delights in. We want for our lives and for others’ lives what God wants. Oh, doesn’t this just provoke us to pray. Oh God, please keep us fro being Saul. God, may it not be said of us that we have not kept the commands of the Lord our God.
May it be said of us that we kept your commands. Oh God, please help us to walk in your law, to walk in obedience to your word. It is good, it is for our good. God, help us to trust that, and not just for our good, it’s good for others’ good that when we walk in your word, this is good for others’ lives, for the people around us and our families, for the friends around us, for the church around us, for those who are without Christ around us, for co-workers around us. It’s good for them that we walk according to your word.
1 Samuel 13:13–14 Prays for Hearts Turned Towards God
God, please help us. Help us to walk according to your word, your commands, and God, please we pray, make our hearts more today like yours than they were yesterday. God, we pray for that. We pray that we would love what you love more today than we did yesterday, that we would desire what you desire more today than we did yesterday. That we would think more today according to your word and your ways than we did yesterday.
God, we pray you would make us men and women, children, students after your heart. God, please may it be so. Please may it be so, my life and those who are listening to this right now, so that you might be glorified us and so we might experience all that you desire for us, which we know your heart desires our good. Your heart desires our joy. We are children. You’re are father. We trust your love for us, so help us to reflect our father’s heart, your heart, we pray, as we obey your commands. May it be so today in us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
