Paul was teaching in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia on his first missionary journey. He wanted to talk about Jesus but started by describing the heroes of Israel, who were all disappointing in one way or another. After settling His people in the Promised Land, God gave them a succession of fifteen 'judges' or 'deliverers' to bring them back to His plan. The same cycle repeated itself: Israel turned away from the Lord … He allowed their enemies to bring hardship to them … they cried out to the Lord and He sent a deliverer. The last of those was Samuel.

But the people wanted a king. They thought a king would make them safer from external attack: although their greatest danger was from internal backsliding. They persisted in demanding a king so the Lord gave them all they wanted in Saul. But he was a big disappointment to God, who removed Him after forty years. He was given every chance to serve the Lord but his heart was not right. He was God's leader on earth but he was leading for his own sake, not God's.

God was looking for a leader whose heart was beating in tune with His own. Samuel told Saul that his problem was not incompetence but that he did not love what God loved and hate what God hated. 1 Samuel 13:13-14 says: 'You have done a foolish thing,' Samuel said. 'You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command.'

God’s perfect 'heart-man' was Jesus – and Paul was warming up to speak about Him (Acts 13:23-31). Until then, David was the nearest to 'a man after God's own heart' – but even his personal behaviour was very disappointing (2 Samuel 11:1-27). Nevertheless, the Lord blessed him because he had a soft and repentant heart. This is a healthy reminder about what God is looking for in us. Not primarily competence, skill, knowledge, or spiritual gifting, but a heart which is at home with His … a person God can trust and who makes it his business to love what God loves and hate what God hates. God's searching gaze demands our repentance before our service ... as David understood that in Psalm 51:10-12.