What Does It Mean To Be After God’s Own Heart?

1 Samuel 13:14 ESV But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

In many translations of 1 Samuel 13:14, David is described as “a man after his [God’s] own heart” (KJV, ESV, NIV, NASB). This traditional rendering, “after his own heart”, is often understood to mean that David was actively pursuing an intimate relationship with God.

The Hebrew expression for “after” in these translations is the k- prefix. However, the k- prefix does not mean “after” in the sense of motion toward. Rather, in this context, it denotes accordance with. Thus, the Hebrew expression actually means “according to his heart”, that is, in accordance with God’s desire. After all, in Hebrew thought, the “heart” was the organ of the mind, emotion, and will.

Elsewhere in the Jewish Scriptures, the k- prefix is used with the word for “heart” in order to communicate accordance with one’s desires:

1 Samuel 14:7 ESV And his armour-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul [literally: “according to your heart”].”

Psalm 20:4 NIV May he give you the desire of your heart [literally: “according to your heart”]
and make all your plans succeed.

The Apostle Paul described David using the same expression:

Acts 13:22 NIV After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

Again, the Greek expression for “after” here is the preposition kata, which does not mean “after” in the sense of motion toward, but rather denotes accordance with.

Conclusion

It is certainly true that David loved God intimately and actively, and we should certainly follow his example in this regard. However, the text of 1 Samuel 13:14 was not intended to convey that David was going after God’s heart. Rather, the expression “according to his heart” simply indicates that David was the one whom God wanted to be king, as opposed to Saul.