Introduction

Good morning! Let us summarise the 24 chapters of Second Samuel. You can treat it as Chapter 25, but Second Samuel does not have 25 chapters. If we were to summarise Second Samuel, what would you summarise? You must learn to summarise because for most people, much of what happens from birth to death is not of your own invention.

I often say: If you invent a word during a primary school test, it is a misspelling; if you invent a law of life, it is likely to be a flawed one. Why? Because people do not invent many things in their lives; most are learned. If you are truly exceptional, thoroughly master what others have invented, and then summarise and elevate their work, you will be remarkable!

Such individuals appear perhaps once every 500 years, and I humbly suggest that I might be one of them. In truth, everyone should consider this: we must learn everything in life and observe the world. Having summarised all 24 chapters of Second Samuel, the theme is: To be a king after God's own heart. You must know God's will; otherwise, your life is ruined. Therefore, we must be acutely aware that David made the right choices at every critical juncture—he was truly exceptional! He always chose according to God's will, not his own!

Diligence in God's Word

The tragedy of life is self-conceit. What good is it? I do not know. One day, a man called me at noon, saying he felt distressed. It was midnight in his time zone. Why was he distressed? If one wants to be distressed, nothing can prevent it. Let us have a discussion on this topic.

Everyone has felt “distressed.” Some say it is due to discerning good and evil, being overly concerned with oneself, not aligning with God's will, failing to see through worldly matters, or disobeying God's word—a multitude of problems. But why do people feel distressed? It is simply because they want to be distressed, and no one can stop them. He told me, “Teacher! I am proficient in academics; I should be quite capable! How could I misinterpret God's word?” Though he did not say these exact words, that was the implication.

Life is quite interesting. In my ministry, the questions I encounter are always peculiar. Consider this from another perspective: he is indeed very accomplished, having read many books, earned numerous degrees, and conducted years of research. He certainly appears impressive, but hearing this, I thought, That is not necessarily the case. Although you have put much effort into your studies and work, if you have not put effort into God's word, how can you learn? From primary school to secondary school, university, postgraduate studies, master's, and doctorate, and then into the workforce, you diligently and earnestly put effort into everything. If you invested that time in God's word, I do not think you would fare any worse.

You would not be as miserable and distressed as you are now. The reason is your lack of time and effort in God's word. Do you think being proficient in one area means you are proficient in everything? If I am skilled as an electrician, does that mean I am also skilled as a carpenter? If I am skilled as a carpenter, does that make me a skilled bricklayer? If I am skilled as a bricklayer, does that mean I can apply plaster or whitewash well? That is only applying it to walls. Try applying it to faces in a beauty salon and see what happens. You will ruin their skin, and they will surely beat you. Never mind applying whitewash; you cannot even apply flour to someone's face. Thinking that you are impressive because you have conducted a lot of research is a misplaced belief.

Therefore, you must have knowledge of God's word. I ask you, have you diligently studied God's word? How much effort have you put in? If all your time is spent discerning good and evil, where is the time to read God's word? I repeat: If you want to be a Christian after God's own heart, a king after God's own heart, a pastor after God's own heart, a person after God's own heart, can you understand without putting in effort?

How much effort did David put in to thoroughly understand God's will? I do not know how he grasped God's will, but even before he became king, he was after God's own heart. After becoming king, he was still after God's own heart. You might challenge me: “Teacher! No, David killed Uriah the Hittite and took his wife, Bathsheba, as his own.” But David repented to God afterward. He did not just repent without changing, unlike some people.

Indeed, many things in life are learned. Whatever one is born with, no matter which sense, is mere guesswork. Some people often say, My sixth sense is very accurate! I ask them, How is it accurate? I do not know; how is it accurate? Because he is not an engineer. Engineers know best: their eyes are their rulers. They think something is straight and good, but when measured with a laser ruler, it is still crooked. It is uncanny! He personally thinks it looks good, but when installed, it is skewed. I believe that if one does not have measuring instruments in life, one is ruined. These measuring instruments are a profound field of knowledge because people’s own feelings are inaccurate.

Being a Person After God’s Own Heart

Brothers and sisters, you must begin to contemplate that everything is learned. Put in the effort to learn and understand God's will and how to act according to His will to become a person after God's own heart. If you do not understand God, you cannot accomplish this because Second Samuel describes David so that you and I can read it and see how David acted. If we were to do it, we would surely mess it up! Observe how David handled things.

David handled matters one way but we start messing things up. Let us move towards this direction. I will guide you through this piece by piece, counting the ways in which David made choices that were after God's own heart. I find this truly amazing! David had a profound understanding of God's will. As for how he understood it, let's not dwell on that. However, the Bible has already revealed this to you and me. Let us define what it means to be a person after God's own heart. Let us motivate ourselves to choose to be people after God's own heart. Amen!

During dinner, I spoke with some brothers and sisters, including the parents of one of them, saying, “There are rules for driving. Violating those rules will undoubtedly result in a ticket.” Soon enough, a ticket arrived,requiring payment and demerit points. If God keeps giving you tickets throughout your life, you will be numbed by them. David understood the rules, so God at most gave him a ticket; He did not revoke his license. However, many people have had their licenses revoked by God, and living without a license is a tragedy.

Therefore, let us learn from David. When studying Second Samuel, some brothers and sisters told me, “Teacher! This chapter is speaking about me.” After some time, I ask them, “Do you remember?” They tell me, “I forgot.” They were moved at the time but did not change, and afterwards, the emotion was gone. So, I tell you, be careful about this; do not incur tickets and do not have your license revoked.

David was remarkable! When someone came to David and said “King David! I have killed your enemy Saul,” David’s reaction was truly astounding. If your enemy were killed, you would happily say: “Thank God!” In this way, people carelessly fall into sin , yet thanking God!

David knew that Saul, despite being his enemy, was also his father-in-law, his lord, and his king! How dare you kill the Lord's anointed? As a result, he punished the person who killed Saul. It is interesting concept. Are there people like David among us? If there are, congratulations! You are after God's own heart! After reading this,I think, what a way of thinking! David had two opportunities to kill Saul, but he did not. This means God was testing David and is testing you and me. Can we learn from David to be a king after God's own heart? David wrote a lament for Saul and taught the people to sing it, and he recorded the lament in a book.

How the mighty have fallen! O Israel, your glory lies slain on your high places. (2 Samuel 1:19)

This is awkward, not jubilant. David did not say, “Yes! It's great that I can finally be king!” David’s mind is not the same as ordinary people because it is after God’s own heart. If it were one of us, we might open champagne and Maotai to celebrate! So, faithfulness is what God desires in a king. It is being faithful to the Lord's anointed. Even if he is as awful as Saul, he is still the Lord's anointed, David's king, and nothing to do with you. You cannot kill him, nor can you celebrate his death.

Kingship Comes from God

In the second chapter, David began to seek God's permission, asking, Where should I go? I cannot stay in Ziklag forever; I must go to a town in Judah. When he asked God, everything became miraculous. David was not in a hurry to become king of Israel but first reigned as king of Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months. The first thing he did as king was to reward those who were loyal. Know that kingship comes from God.

As the head of a business or a small enterprise, that is God's grace to you. David treated the people kindly and was not in a hurry to become king of Israel. These are all examples of being after God's own heart. As a result, David grew stronger while the house of Saul grew weaker, and then God gave the kingdom of Israel to David. David treated the people kindly, and all the people were pleased with what he did.

Brothers and sisters, do you deeply feel this? David was anointed to be king of Israel, but he reigned in Hebron as king of Judah for seven years and six months without disturbing the Israelites, until the Israelites voluntarily accepted David. Would you be anxious? Look again at what we do: are we giving people enough grace, or are we always trying to take advantage of them? Before David became king of Israel, he had the attitude of a shepherd in him, so God called and anointed David to be king of Israel.

God did not anoint David so that he could live in luxury, indulge himself, or exploit the people; rather, it was to shepherd God's people. This was God's responsibility to David. How did David manage? He managed exceptionally well. People like this, God will fight for you. Many kings around him submitted to David. They began to admit defeat as soon as they heard David's name because the Davidic dynasty was the strongest dynasty in that era. Despite being so famous, David was still learning to be humble, viewing himself as insignificant.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor. (2 Samuel 6:20-22)

Some people are not humble and think their face is important! But the more you care about your face, the less I can show you respect, because your priorities are wrong. David was remarkable! The first thing he thought of was the ark of God.

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down there, and he died beside the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:6-7)

Uzzah reached out to hold the ark of God and was killed. It is a tragedy not to know God. If you want to help God by saying, God, let me help you build the church, it will be destroyed, because it does not please God but angers Him. Thus David said:

I will become even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor. (2 Samuel 6:22)

Therefore, when David brought the ark of the covenant into the city of Jerusalem, he danced and leaped before it like a child, offering a bull or a sheep as a sacrifice after every six steps. As a result, David’s wife Michal saw this and felt that David’s dancing was unbecoming of his status, like a national president wearing a small vest and breakdancing. It was utterly ridiculous, and the image of the king was completely ruined. The king’s image is esteemed, but before the ark of the covenant, David regarded himself as lowly.

Obed-Edom was formidable! After the ark struck down Uzzah, Obed-Edom of Gath took the ark into his own home, which was like bringing a ticking time bomb home. Even someone as mighty as David did not dare to say, Bring the ark of the covenant to my house. Yet Obed-Edom took the ark home, and God blessed his household.

David learned a profound lesson from this and later welcomed the ark, considering himself lowly. If we encountered such a thing, could we make a choice? If you're not after God's heart, you might say, The ark kills people, get rid of it quickly! If you are any less brave, you might actually discard the ark. Doing so would be devastating! Therefore, David had a heart to build a temple for God.

Now when the king was settled in his palace, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” (2 Samuel 7:2)

However, David's response was met with a regret from God:

That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day, but have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. As I moved about with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now therefore say this to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make you a great name, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a place of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the first, and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. 'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human beings. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ (2 Samuel 7:4-16)

Building a Temple for God is Grace

I encourage everyone to start building God’s glorious church; don’t think I’m trying to harm you. As David said, Is this the usual way of man? I have unexpectedly received this immense grace. To be blessed with building a temple for God, that is not a common blessing. When I decided to build a glorious church for God, it was an extraordinary grace, overflowing with blessings.

David’s ability to receive God's blessings, his words and reactions, truly exceeded my expectations. If it were me, and God said, You will not be disturbed by enemies all around, I will establish your kingdom, I think I might shout, Great! and then open champagne and Mao Tai to celebrate. But David’s reaction was one of awe and humility. This is what he said:

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be the usual way of man, Lord God! (2 Samuel 7:18-19)

Because David wanted to build a temple for God, God treated David with such favor, granting him these benefits. Therefore, David also said:

Therefore you are great, Lord God. For there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel 7:22)

May your name be held high forever, so that it will be said, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of your servant David be established before you. (2 Samuel 7:26)

Sometimes I feel saddened! Seeing some brothers and sisters so enthusiastic about their micro-businesses, but when it comes to building God’s temple, they think, What is that? and claim they have no time. How could such people be after God’s heart? Not to mention before God tells you, but if God said these things to you, and then you say, I want to build God’s glorious temple, I want to seek God’s heart.

God will truly establish this covenant with you, give you His promises, and you should be in awe and humility like King David: Who am I, and what is my house? Know that I learned all of this! If you want to be a person after God's own heart, read 1 and 2 Samuel thoroughly again. If you emulate David, you will be remarkable! Know that wherever King David went, God went with him, enabling him to be victorious in all circumstances. That is because he was a man after God’s own heart.

Cherishing God as a Treasure

Know that you have already touched the treasure, but after you have touched the treasure, do you truly cherish God as a treasure? Can you join me in declaring: I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord! You must not get confused; sometimes it is this way, sometimes it is not. If you reverse it, it will be even worse! Counting everything else as treasure, and then considering Jesus Christ as rubbish, unable to let go of anything, except Jesus Christ: God, I’m taking a few days off. Fine, continue taking that vacation indefinitely!

From the moment I knew Jesus Christ, I knew He was a treasure. I was willing to give up everything, even die for Jesus Christ. Are you saying, Can you really let go? I can really lay down my life. I am not joking, because Jesus Christ is truly the greatest treasure in my heart. Sometimes, when wronged, I say, God! May you remember me and be gracious to me! My grace is all in God; it is exceedingly good.

David was a covenant-keeping and trustworthy man. He made a covenant with his good brother Jonathan and took in his son, not calculated based on benefits. The return he sought was solely in God! Victory is exceedingly good. David was very vigilant, paying attention to what displeased God. David was not vigilant at one time and committed a wrong: standing on the balcony, he accidentally saw Uriah’s wife bathing, made her pregnant, and killed Uriah.

He thought this was done in secret, but it gave the enemy a great opportunity to blaspheme God. This is crucial. If you say, It’s over, it’s completely over! then it truly is completely over! But David knew that God was his salvation: Although I have made mistakes, I am willing to repent; although I have fallen, I am still willing to get up. God is still the God who gives me victory!

If we say, I am terrible, and my God is terrible, then it is bad! If we say that God is still a good God, even though I am terrible and have fallen, but tell God, I am willing to repent! the sword will not depart from David’s house. When these things happened in his house, David knew clearly how it came about. When David's son Amnon was killed, it was deserved! Although you are David’s son, you do not know God’s heart; curses come upon you. That demon finds people accurately! Among a family of brothers and sisters, they will target whoever they find interesting, so we must learn to be wise; look at David's wisdom, that is extraordinary.

David’s throne was seized by his own son Absalom. His reaction was beyond ordinary imagination: What is the throne? I have God! As a result, someone cursed him. Let them curse; my own son treats me this way, isn't it right for others to curse me? Like some of our brothers and sisters, I said a few words to them, and they gave me a bad look. We must learn from David not to take ourselves too seriously, and not to take the throne too seriously. The throne is just a responsibility. Learning not to view the throne as important is the greatest wisdom in life.

David's reaction after losing the throne, being cursed, and being betrayed was pleasing to God. He passed the test before God. David was fleeing when his throne was usurped by his son. God saw his reaction and said, Good, he passed the test. God once again restored David’s throne. We must learn from David; do not take your foolish things as wisdom. If you take your own things as wisdom, you will be ruined.

We need to know, what exactly is David's internal logic? We need to sort it out step by step. In 2 Samuel chapter 18, if you read it carefully, you will find that David is incredible; if you sort out my internal logic, you will find that I am pretty incredible too. David shepherded the people of Israel, restored their hearts, and handled all kinds of things comprehensively.

When David began to manage the people of Israel, he handled every matter according to God's heart. Later, David wrote a poem, The God Who Delivers Me. If you read 2 Samuel chapter 22 carefully, you will see how deep David’s understanding of God was. God made an everlasting covenant with David. Thank God.

On the matter of being after God’s heart or not, you must make a choice. Sometimes the people’s intentions are not God’s intentions. Although it is the will of the people, it is not God’s will. Therefore, you need to figure out whether you want to provoke God’s anger or appease God’s anger, because a person’s life is closely related to provoking God’s anger and appeasing God’s anger. If you often provoke God’s anger, the results will be interesting; your life will definitely be miserable!

Summary

So, people cannot violate the rules established by God: for example, do not covet other people’s property. Observe carefully: a brother's uncle coveted his grandmother's property and died of cancer; another person’s uncle coveted his grandmother's property and is now extremely poor; another brother’s brother is already sixty, and his mother is over ninety, yet he still covets his mother's money all day long, and as a result, he lives with many ailments. It’s truly terrifying! Do not violate God’s rules; understand God’s heart.

What exactly is God’s heart? We must study it. If you do not study, you cannot understand God’s heart. What can you come up with by just thinking? God’s heart is clearly written in the Bible. It depends on whether you are willing to pay the price. If you put in the same effort, spirit, and sense of responsibility as you did when you studied for college or did your job, it should not be difficult for you to understand God’s heart. If you understand God’s heart, and can be a person after God’s own heart, a covenant person with God, a person who builds God's glorious church, your life will be so wonderful!

Study hard to understand God, know God, and seek God! Be a person after God’s own heart. Why care about face? Do not establish your own righteousness, but establish God’s righteousness. Seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and be a king after God’s own heart!

May God bless everyone.