Intro: How many of you have watched one of the Presidential debates? I watched one of the debates a few weeks ago. I enjoy watching the debates because at lease it gives me some sense of who the candidates are and what they stand for. We know we get to vote on our President and we want to make the best choice possible. What do you usually look for in a President? Someone who is intelligent, has certain values, has a good understanding of what is important to the majority of Americans, has served our country well, can lead internationally, is a good speaker, is a wise decision maker, can discern and act under pressure? There are always traits we look for that decide who we will choose and we choose who we determine is the best candidate. We are used to choosing our leader by the criteria we set.

It wasn't like that in Israel's early history when the time for choosing a king came around. Israel wasn't a democracy where the people decided who would lead them. Instead, that choice was made by God. Can you imagine having a leader that was actually chosen by God? That's a new concept that we can't really imagine. God's prophet - in this case a man named Samuel - would listen to God and anoint the person God chose to be the King over His people. I don't think we have much understanding of how this happened. But it did happen, though some may doubt it. Some may believe that the prophet chose the person of his liking, but the Bible tells us otherwise. As a matter of fact, it tells us that the prophet was directed to choose a King that the prophet would not have chosen himself without God's intervention.

And so it was with both Saul - the first king - and David, the second. Though I don't have time to go into the details of how Saul was chosen to be the first king of Israel, there is a verse of scripture that is significant in listing one attribute of Saul. Listen to this scripture:

I Samuel 9:2: He had a son name Saul, an impressive man without equal among the Israelites - a head taller than any of the others.

Saul was a tall rascal and he was one heck of a warrior. I don't know if that's why God had Samuel anoint his as the first king, but that is the only thing that really stands out about Saul that we find in the scripture. That's the kind of thing people used to look for if they could choose a king, so maybe God went with who the people would accept when He chose the first king. The verse of scripture reveals something that is still important to us today: appearance. It doesn't take long in our society to figure out that appearance is important. When you go to a job interview, you know that your appearance is going to be crucial. When you look at who's popular, you know that appearance rules.
People even go to surgeons to change something about their appearance. And whether we like to admit it or not, it plays a role even in who we choose as our president. A humorous part of the democratic debate was one question that asked the candidates to comment about their colleague standing next to them. They all were talking about how much they appreciated their colleagues - but John Edward made a humorous remark about Hillary Clinton. He said, "I really like Hillary, but I don't know about that colorful coat she's wearing." Again - appearances are what stand out to us.

However, that is not what is most important to God. It is interesting that even though Saul was tall and a great warrior, he still had something lacking - his heart needed an adjustment. After Samuel (the prophet) anoint Saul as king, the scripture reveals in I Samuel 10:9 this important truth: "As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart. Before Saul could be chosen, God had to have his heart. Unfortunately, Saul never would fully gave his heart over to obeying God, so in the end, he was rejected by God.

The scripture we read earlier of how God chose David to be anointed as king, reveals that the heart is the most important attribute God looks at in a person. The scripture says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Even Samuel was tempted to look at the outward appearance of Jesse's sons. When he saw Eliab's height he thought, "Surely this is the new king God has chosen." But it wasn't. Samuel already had already proclaimed to Saul what God was after. When Saul blew it and disobeyed God for his own selfish gains, Samuel said,

"You acted foolishly. You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you….Your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people….(I Samuel 13-14b)

So David was chosen because he was a man after God's own heart….This reveals the kind of heart God chooses - not just in a king, but in those he brings into his kingdom:

1. God chooses the seeking heart. God wants us to seek him - to seek after God's own heart.

We see that David was a seeker of God's heart in the very songs that he wrote:

In Psalm 27:8 David proclaims, "My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek."

Throughout the Psalms we see David continually crying out to the Lord. In the worst of times when he was in the heat of battle and he didn't know which way to turn, he cries out to God over and over, saying he is constantly waiting on God to rescue Israel from their enemies. He constantly calls out that his hope is in the Lord and he seeks that hope.

In Psalm 42:1-2 David gives an illustration of his deep longing for God:

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

These scriptures reveal a man who is seeks God daily and God's word and will is like food and water to him. The passion of his heart is not in the earthly things he can acquire as king, but in the spiritual things that only God can give. He wanted to do what God desired. He trusted God for everything. He wanted to be totally obedient to God.

God chooses the heart that thirsts for God's presence and hungers to be in obedient relationship with him.

This week our hearts have gone out to the families and those 6 miners trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah. Rescuers are searching round the clock as they drill down into the depths of the cave with microphones and listening devices to try to pick up any sound of their voices. They are diligent in their efforts and this is the most important thing to them right now. There who being is focused on seeking these miners.

That's the kind of heart I believe God is looking for in seeking God's presence and will. He desires constant seeking, constant focus, constant effort. Prayer, worship, meditating on his word… seeking his voice with all of our heart just as those rescuers are seeking the voice of those miners with all of theirs. That's the kind of heart God desires.

When we have a heart that seeks what God desires, it always leads to other traits God desires for our hearts that David exhibited. One of these is sevanthood.

2. God chooses the servant heart. God saw something in David's heart that he did not find in Saul's. In Acts 13:22 God says, 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'

Could God say that of you? Boy, that's really a challenge - to have a heart that is willing to do everything God wants us to do. Only God can give us that kind of servant heart. However, to have that kind of heart we must be willing to give up our selfish motives and desires.

When we look at David's life, we see that David put God's desires and plans first, and not his own desires. At one time in his life David was asked by King Saul to come and play his harp for him and David's playing soothed the king. I Samuel says, "David came to Saul and entered his service." David was glad to be of service to the king and was loyal to him. But Saul was going crazy and he almost killed David. Still David remained faithful. David had a couple of opportunities to kill Saul once and for all. This would have been a grand revenge for the things he had done to David. But David didn't kill the king. Why? Because he knew God had anointed Saul and he could not go against God's plan. This was the king God had chosen for now. So David honored Saul and submitted himself to his servant out of his servant heart to God. When Saul was slain in battle, David cried like a baby. He still loved the king and remained his faithful servant.

All through the Psalms we read how David sought not to be praised as the king, but he continually lifts up God as the King and Ruler of the Universe. This is very strange in a day when many kings heralded their own great deeds and proclaimed themselves as gods in their kingdoms. David knew better. He always saw himself as a sheep and God as the Shepherd. His heart was set on following God and not his own desires. Even when he sinned and went astray, he always came back to God, seeking to serve only him.

How could David do this? Because his seeking heart gave him such a heart of love for God. He loved God so much he didn't want to disobey God. He loved God more than anything…even Bathsheeba.

God chooses the heart that serves out of love.

Look at the people you know who serve out of pure love - no other motivation. Can't you see the light of God shining through them like a beacon? That's the evidence that God has entered their heart and is giving that love through them. They have allowed their hearts to be totally filled with God's love.

The heart that seeks God and serves God is also totally surrendered to God.

3. God chooses the surrendered heart.

David was not a perfect man. He fell short many times and had sin and short-comings in his life. However, when he did sin, he was not above repentance and turning his heart back to God. He wanted his life to be totally surrendered so that God could forgive him and renew him.

One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible is David's plea to give him a renewed heart:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

David knew that only God can give us a pure heart. David knew what was in his heart and he knew that it was only God that could remove the lust, hurt, hatred, doubt, and all the other stuff that he had allowed to come in. He knew it was necessary for his heart to be totally surrendered to God so that God could make him clean and right.

David called out to God, "Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths." (Psalm 25:4)

David had been in enough battles to know that there is a path that leads to victory and a path that leads to defeat. He wanted to choose the path in life that led to a victory in serving God. That could only come when he surrendered his ways and his paths, to learn God's ways and God's path.
David never wanted to wave the white flag to surrender to his enemies. But he always waved the white flag of his heart to God. He wanted to be surrendered to the LORD who could give his life hope and meaning.

David's skill in playing the harp taught him something very important. I don't know is he made his own harps, but he probably did. He knew when he made his harp, that he had to shape the wood just right. He had to cut away the rough edges and smooth them out. He had to shape the harp so the strings would fit in at just the right length. Then the strings had to be inserted and stretched to produce just the exact tone. Before the harp could make beautiful music it had to be flexible and molded in the hands of its maker.

So it is with our hearts. Before our lives can be beautiful and produce the music God is calling us to produce, we must be shaped and stretched and cut. Our hearts have to be shaped by God.

God chooses the heart he can shape. That heart must be totally surrendered to God.