This article is the first in a monthly series of articles published by the pastoral team to equip and encourage the church through brief biblical & theological studies and reflections. Would the Lord use them to glorify himself as he grows in us a desire to know and understand his word.

GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART & SO SHOULD WE

1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that, “the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” In other words, we are prone to look at the externals, but God is focused upon the “heart” - the real essence of who someone is. He looks at the inner disposition of a person that reveals what they’re bent toward doing and desiring, what makes them tick, and sees what’s truly there, not what they want others to see.

As God looks on the heart in 1 Samuel 16, he is looking at something that we need to see.

WHAT IS THE HEART?

1 Samuel 16:7 contains one of over 800 references to the human heart in the Old Testament (OT) and one of 33 occurrences in 1 Samuel. Some of these occurrences refer to the human heart in an anatomical way, but beyond this bodily reference, “heart” (Hebrew leb, lebab) very often describes the state of one’s soul. In this sense, the authors of Scripture use the word “heart” to mean the center of a person’s thinking, willing, and affections - where “the vital decisions are made” (Hans Walter Wolff). Our hearts are the control-centers of our lives, out of which our words, worship, wanting, and willing all proceed.

WHY LOOK AT THE HEART?

In 1 Samuel, God looks at the heart because he is looking for a certain kind of heart. He’s looking for a certain kind of heart toward him from among his people, his priests, and, ultimately, his king. What sort of heart is God looking for? He’s looking for a heart that beats like his.

In other words, as God looks on the heart of his people, his priests, and king he’s looking for a heart whose control-center is utterly controlled by God’s holy will, and not man’s selfish and sinful will. A heart that loves what God loves. A heart that wants what God wants. A heart that bears a resemblance to and provides a reflection of the glory, goodness, and beauty of who God is.

In 1 Samuel, God desires a heart in his people that is wholly devoted to him and not divided in its affections by loyalties to lesser kings and love of idols (1 Sam 7:3, 12:20, 24).

He desires a faithful priesthood that would serve God and his people “according to what is in [his] heart and in [his] mind” (1 Sam 2:35), and not according to their own preferences and will when it comes to how God would be worshipped.

And ultimately, he desires a king who would be “a man after his own heart” (1 Sam 13:14), unlike King Saul, whose heart was after his own gain and glory, as opposed to the good of his people and glory of God.

More than anything else, God is concerned with the hearts of his people. And amongst all his people, God is especially concerned with the heart of the king. Why is this? Because, as the saying goes, “So goes the king, so go the people” – meaning that the morality, conduct, and example will set the tone for how the people live. God’s people rarely rise above the godliness of their leaders. But even more than that, because God is in search of a king that would reflect his heart for his people.

This is ultimately why Saul was not the man for the job. He had the wrong heart. He appeared to have what it took to be king according to the externals – he was wealthy, handsome, and a head taller than all his countrymen (1 Sam 9:1-2) – but he was not “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam 13:14). His lack of love for what God loved, lack of conformity and obedience to his will, and desire for his status, security, and gain and not the well-being of God’s people did not reflect the glory, goodness, and beauty of God. In 1 Samuel, Saul is the bad king who burdened his people, led them into harm’s way, and led them away from God’s will and toward his own. He makes God’s people to long for another king, a better king, a truer king, not because he’s a hopeful reflection of the one who is to come, but because he is revoltingly opposite to him.

WHO IS THE MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART?

Into this longing, enters David. It is his anointing to the office of king which is taking place in 1 Samuel 16 when God tells Samuel that he doesn’t look upon the outward appearance but instead looks upon the heart. Neither Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, or his 6 younger brothers are chosen by the Lord to be the king. The implication is that none of them have the right heart. None of them are the man after God’s own heart.

After seeming to exhaust all options, Samuel asks Jesse if he has any other sons. To this Jesse replies he has one more son, “but behold, he is keeping the sheep” (1 Sam 16:11). This son wasn’t even invited to be considered by the prophet! He was discounted by his father from the start as being the one the prophet would choose. Yet, as the story goes, he is the one of whom the Lord says, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he” (1 Sam 16:12), and his name is David.

This tells us that David is the man after God’s own heart that 1 Samuel has been looking forward to. He is the one who is possessed of the very heart God was looking for! The narrative of 1 Samuel will reveal that David’s heart beat for what God’s beat for. He was concerned for God’s glory and the good of God’s people. He wanted to do God’s will and not his own. His heart bore a resemblance to God’s own heart for his people.

WHAT WE SEE IN DAVID’S HEART

In 1 Samuel, David is chosen because unlike Saul, his heart will reflect the glory, beauty, and goodness of God’s heart toward his people. He’s a good king because he brings the goodness of God’s reign to bear upon his people. But, our reasons for looking upon the heart of David don’t stop there.

In the grand storyline of the Bible, we need to see the heart of David because it reflects the heart of Christ.

David is the good king, who, though he is himself imperfect, draws us into the heart of the true king who is to come: Jesus Christ. This is why God chose him then, to help us long for the true king who would come by giving us a glimpse of his beauty.

The beauty of the king who is a good shepherd over his people. Protecting his church just as David protected his flock from bears and lions (1 Sam 16:11, 17:33-37).

The beauty of a king who demonstrate his greatness through service. Who served us by laying his life down even as David served selflessly in Saul’s court (1 Sam 16:14-23).

The beauty of a king who courageously faced our enemies of sin, death, and Satan head on. Who did battle with them upon the cross and conquered Satan with his own weapon, even as David faced Goliath with the courage that God would defeat the enemies of his people through him and slew the giant with his own sword (1 Sam 17:41-54)!

The beauty of a king who pursued his bride the church by paying the bride-price of his own body and blood. Even as David won his bride from the jaws of death and destruction by obtaining her hand through the defeat of 200 hundred foes (1 Sam 18:20-27)!

We could say more, but it is clear: The “heart” of 1 Samuel is none other than the heart of Jesus Christ, the true King over God’s people. He is the Good Shepherd, the Suffering Servant, the Victor over sin, death, and Satan, and the Husband to his bride, the Church. As we read 1 Samuel, we, like the Lord, ought to look at the heart in order that we’d look upon the very heart of Christ.

MARK FEBRUARY 19 FROM 10AM-1PM IN YOUR CALENDAR

To be a Christian man is to carry a high calling. It’s a calling, above all things, to use the life you’ve been given to bring glory to Christ, your Savior. This importantly includes using your body to bring Him glory.

On Saturday, February 19, the men of Cross of Grace Santa Ana will be gathering to learn and have an honest conversation about Biblical sexuality. Erik Rangel, senior pastor from Legacy Church in Yuma, Arizona will be our guest speaker. We’ve reserved The Lost Bean in Santa Ana for the whole day, thanks to Jason Roenicke. Every man, high school-age and older should plan to be at this seminar. Take a moment and register today and expect God to make us men after His own heart.

Click here to register for the event

MAKING AND MATURING DISCIPLES ON FRIDAY

This Friday, our small groups will be meeting for the first Friday in October. The Erkelens and Roenicke small groups will be meeting at their regular locations at 7pm. The Houlton small group, however, will be taking the OC Rescue Mission Chili Van out into our city to share a meal - and the Gospel - with our homeless neighbors. They’re going into our city to speak to our city. If you’re not a member of the Erkelens small group, but would like to join the Chili Van outreach this month, let your small group leader and Christopher Erkelens know.

And as we ask God to make disciples through this outreach, we’re asking him to mature disciples through our small group meetings. As you prepare for Friday, whichever activity you’re engaging in, please pray for God to work among us and through us for His glory.

JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 6

Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4: SMALL GROUPS OR OUTREACH OPPORTUNITY

• 6:00 pm - OCRM Chili Van (Erkelens small group)

• 7:00 pm - Houlton or Schlieder Home

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

PARENTING BY PAUL DAVID TRIPP

This month’s book of the month falls in line with our 2022 spring class. If you’re participating in the spring class, you’ll need to purchase this book anyway, so why not get a head start on it, buy it now and start reading it this month? While today’s Christians have the blessing of a wealth of parenting books at our disposal, many of them are practice and strategy-oriented. They’re more “how to” than anything else. Paul David Tripp takes a different approach. He starts with the Gospel and says, “if the Gospel tells us that we’re fundamentally unable in our own strength to be the parents we need to be, we need to start somewhere other than "‘how to’”. So instead of giving a book full of tips, he supplies the reader with 14 fundamental principles, borne out of the Gospel, to help you to see yourself, your children and your task first and foremost through the lens of the One who has called you to be a parent in the first place. A massively encouraging and illuminating book, this month’s book of the month will be a sure bet to ground your heart and your parenting deeper into the soil of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Purchase a copy of the book here

GOD WON’T ALWAYS PROTECT YOU FROM, BUT WILL ALWAYS PRESERVE YOU THROUGH YOUR TRIALS

In 1 Samuel 18, David just kept on winning. Saul was trying to kill him, but David was blissfully unaware. As his life progresses, though, Saul’s intentions, driven by jealousy, become painfully clear to David. Cross of Grace Intern, Jason Roenicke showed us from this passage that God was no less present with David in chapter 19 than chapter 18. The difference, however, is that God’s grace was present to preserve him - not necessarily to shield him entirely - from his trial. This preservation is a particular grace that God uses to teach and form His disciples. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

ALL LADIES, HIGH-SCHOOL AGED AND OLDER ARE INVITED

Women at all stages of life are invited to come and learn how to be women whose lives honor God - women who live in light of the Gospel.

Women’s Meeting takes place on the 4th Thursday of every month at 7pm. Tonight it will be at the Houlton Home. We hope to see you there!

BRING YOUR LUNCH TO FRENCH PARK AFTER SERVICE ON SUNDAY

Immediately after Sunday service, we’ll be walking over to French Park to eat lunch and enjoy one another’s company while in the midst of the neighborhood God has placed us in. Here are the details:

• It’s “BYOL” (bring your own lunch). If you forget your lunch or your favorite lunchbox isn’t clean, there are plenty of great restaurants nearby in DTSA.

• It’s optional - but we highly encourage coming!

• Bring some folding chairs - unless you like sitting on the grass, bring something to sit on.

• Expect the Lord to build existing relationships and create new ones with our neighbors

JANUARY 24 - JANUARY 30

Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27: WOMEN’S MEETING

• 7:00 pm - Houlton Home

SUNDAY, JANUARY 30: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

SUNDAY, JANUARY 30: PICNIC IN THE PARK

• 12:00 pm - French Park

WE ARE ALL MADE IN HIS IMAGE

This past Sunday morning, our church observed Sanctity of Life Sunday. This special Sunday comes in the midst of the Sanctity of Life Month of January and began in January of 1984, when President Reagan issued a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of January to be National Sanctity of Human Life Day. He issued this proclamation on January 22, 1984, coinciding with the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision of January 22, 1973 which ruled that access to abortion was a constitutional right. Sanctity of Life Sunday was declared in order to bring awareness to the opposition to the sanctity of all human life in our country and recognize the lives of God’s image-bearers that were lost to abortion - a number that, since 1973, exceeds 62 million.

But ultimately, we don’t observe this day or proclaim the sanctity of all human life because the president issued a proclamation in the 80’s, but because God has issued a proclamation in his holy word (see Gen 1:26-27, 5:1-2, 9:1-7; Ps 139:13-16). God’s own proclamation of the inherent dignity and value of all human life is summed up in our Statement of Faith. The Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith, section 4, paragraph 2 reads:

Man’s Creation in God’s Image - God created man, male and female, in his own image as the crown of creation and the object of his special care. God directly created Adam from the dust of the earth, and Eve from Adam’s side, as the parents of the entire human race. They were created to know and glorify their Maker by trusting in his goodness and obeying his word. God gave them dominion over all creation, to fill, subdue, and steward the earth as his representatives. All human beings are likewise made in the image of God. Despite the effects of the fall on sinful humanity, all people remain God’s image bearers, capable of fellowship with him and possessing intrinsic dignity and value at every stage of life from conception to death. Redemption in Christ progressively restores fallen men and women to their true humanity as they are conformed to the image of Christ.

WE ARE CALLED TO PROCLAIM THE RIGHT TO LIFE FOR EVERY PERSON MADE IN HIS IMAGE

As image-bearers of God who have been remade in the image of Christ, we have a calling from God to promote and protect the sanctity of all human life. We encourage you to join us in the following ways:

• Praying that God would:

  • Protect the unborn in our country by changing the hearts of men and women participating in abortions, changing unjust laws that promote abortion, & passing legislation which protects the right to life

  • Pour out his mercy and grace upon those who have participated in abortions and provide them with his forgiveness in Christ

  • Provide his people with a zeal to proclaim the the intrinsic dignity and value of every person at every stage of life

• Learning more about Sanctity of Life Sunday.

• Getting involved with our local crisis pregnancy center, Living Well Pregnancy Centers, through prayer, volunteering, or financial support.