Camp Meeting Devotions - Day Thirty-Two

 Acts 13:22 (NASB)

²²  "After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'

STEVE CAMP

After God's Own Heart Lyrics

I have come through an empty place
Through the wilderness of my soul
The selfish life that I once embraced
Seldom satisfies me anymore

I have been tried, I have been tested
Now I know the only way for me
Is to follow after God's own heart

After God's own heart
How I long to be what He wants me to be
After God's own heart
No other love means so much to me
So I will follow after God's own heart

I will tell of His faithfulness
How He carried my iniquity
I will sing of His holiness
That demands a life of purity

I must obey, I must be broken
If this world is ever gonna see
Oh, a man after's God's own heart

After God's own heart
How I long to be what He wants me to be
After God's own heart
Oh, no other love means so much to me
I will follow after God's own heart There's no shadow of turning

As I'm headin' straight for Him
Oh, His calling is my yearning
I will follow, I will follow

After God's own heart
How I long to be what He wants me to be
After God's own heart
How my soul desires to be
After God's own heart
Oh, no other love means so much to me
So I will follow after God's own heart, yeah

After God's own heart
Listen, listen to each other

Those words were written and sung by Steve Camp back in the late 1980's. What does it mean to be a person after God's own heart? God's testimony about David was that he was a man after God's own heart. Take note of that. That is not what David thought about Himself. It is not even what some other person thought about David. That is God's sentiment about his servant David. Read the Psalms and you see this passionate heart for God. 

Psalm 42:1-2 (NASB)
¹ As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.
²  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 63:1 (NASB)
¹ O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

 Psalm 63:8 (NASB)

⁸  My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

David had a heart to stay close to God. To come after Him. To pursue Him closely. To be deeply attached. It is amazing that God would testify this about David in Acts 13:22 even though David was an adulterer and a murderer. David suffered the consequences for those sins. In the end, his failures did not define him. God defined him as a man after his own heart. How does God define us? Do we allow our failures to cause us to falter in our walk with God? 

Like a sleuth with a magnifying glass in hand meticulously looking over every detail of a crime scene to discover clues, may we be found pursuing God. To increasingly become deeply attached. To follow Him as closely as possible. Painstakingly searching every part of Him. A journey of discovery that has no end. Each day we follow after God's heart we have the opportunity to experience more of Him. God leads us into grand encounters. As we are drawn closer to Him, He at the same time is drawing nearer to us. 

Is God what we are really after? Are we on the search for Him like a detective searching to solve a case? There is always more of God to know, more of Him to discover, more of Him to experience, and more of Him to obey. God also testified about David that he would do all of God's will. That speaks to surrender, faithfulness, and courage. Courage to face a giant. Surrender to inquire of the Lord before making decisions. Patience to wait on God's timing to become king when David was hunted down like a fugitive by King Saul. 

Being a person after God's own heart means living life in pursuit of a close relationship with Him. Is that our experience. Steve Camp sang that he had come through an empty place through the wilderness of his soul. Is that our reality? Are our souls empty? Are we walking through a wilderness? Such experiences can throw us off track. They can hinder our pursuit of God unless we are doggedly determined to remain on the case to follow hard after Him. That is our assignment. Following after His heart is our mission. May following after God's own heart be our passionate pursuit. 

• How do you think God testifies about you?
• Do you think you have been defined by your failures or by your relationship with God?
• Identify what you are chasing after?
• Describe your present willingness to do all the will of God.