Hebrew Word Study – A Heart Like God’s  YHWH Kilavav  – יהוה כלבב   Yod Hei Vav Hei  Kap Lamed Beth Beth

I Samuel 13:14: “But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart.”

One of the most common questions I get as a Hebrew teacher is what does it mean that David was a man after God’s heart.  The first thing I would reply is that the Hebrew does not say “after” God’s heart. Although he was truly a man who sought to know the heart of God.  The Hebrew does not say “after.”  There are a couple of modern translations that will say according to God’s heart.  A couple says loyal to God’s heart and I would not say these are incorrect.  But they are just a commentary and not a direct translation. The only translation I found that translated the passage directly from the Hebrew was the English translation of the Aramaic Bible or Targum which is an Aramaic translation of the Old Testament from the time of Christ. 

Translators will not give a direct translation because it would be a problem.  The word in Hebrew for after is ‘achar. In the Hebrew text the word we render as after is simply a prefix to the word heart and the prefix is a Kap which means like or as. In other words, David had a heart just like God’s.  Do you see the problem?  Can a human actually have a heart just like God?  Most people find that problematic so to be safe the translator, recognizing the ambiguity of the Hebrew language has no problem adjusting their translations to their world view of God. We cannot have a heart just like God’s but we can have a heart after God or according to God.  

If our Christian translators can play around with the Hebrew will so can I. Exhibit one, the word heart has two Beths.  It is taught by the sages that when the Beth is repeated in the word heart it indicates two hearts joined together.  Yeah, I know there is a grammatical reason to repeat the Beth but I believe God has given us a built in commentary with these Hebrew words.  

You can have a heart like the heart of God if you join your heart to God’s heart. God does do that look at Jeremiah 24:7: “I will give them a heart to know (be intimate with) Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.” God can and will give you a new heart.  However, we do have a free will and to receive this new heart we must ask Him for it.  We call it getting saved or born again. How often do you hear an evangelist ask: “Who here wants to give their hearts to God?”  When you give your heart to God, like any gift, He can do anything he wants with it and He does, He makes it like His own.

This ministry that I started is based upon the heart of God and seeking God’s heart. I have talked many times about how I enter God’s heart and I feel God’s heart.  I feel His heartbreak, his sadness over a lost world.  Having Asperger’s I struggle with empathy and feelings of sympathy.  So, whenever I am overwhelmed with the plight of another person, I know I have entered God’s heart and it is not my compassion I feel but His compassion for that person.  I get very emotional when I enter God’s heart.

I have spent the last 15 years searching for God’s heart and I am still learning more and more each day about His heart. I am learning from experiencing his heart and being obedient to the call of His heart.  My first book Hebrew Word Study – Revealing the Heart of God, speaks of my journey.

For example, today I am just peacefully driving my disability bus which at this time was empty.  When I have an empty bus I spend a little quality time with God.  However, as I opened my heart to God, I was suddenly aware of the fact that I entered God’s heart. I felt an overwhelming sadness, heartache. It was so deep I pulled to the side of the road and wept.  I knew and recognized I entered God’s heart but I had no idea as to why this overwhelming sadness. My mind shifted to Afghanistan. I have been half-heartedly following the events in Afghanistan as the result of our military leaving. My passengers love to talk about it, so that is the extent of my knowledge on the subject.  I had heard reports from Christian sources that there was a mass slaughter of Christians going on, Christians being beheaded and hanged by the Taliban. There was nothing of this on the mainstream news media.  I have found Christian media to be quite biased sometimes.  The fact is I don’t know who to trust, I figured it is pretty obvious that the Taliban would search out Christians and that some would be put to death. I really have no idea as to the extent. However, God’s heart revealed more to me than than mainstream media, social media, and Christian media.  As I sat in my bus weeping over the sadness, I felt from God’s heart over what was going on in Afghanistan I began to pray.  Then I felt I had to do something to get others praying so I did something I never do and that was to go on social media and ask that other believers pray with me. I had no idea how to pray but then I heard a song on my I Pod called the Spirit Song by Maranatha.  So, I prayed that song.  Odd, it was only a prayer of encouragement, more of a blessing for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you
With his Spirit and his love
Let him fill your heart and satisfy your soul
Oh, let him have the things that hold you
And his Spirit, like a dove
Will descend upon your life and make you whole

Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs

 Perhaps I am just a sentimental dusty old professor but I have spent many years searching for the heart of God and I have to believe that I am getting closer and closer to having a heart like God’s. Not like David I am sure,  I may never reach that point here on earth, but one day I shall, one day my prayer for a heart like His will be answered. 

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