Acts 13:22

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) I have found David the son of Jesse.—The words that follow are a composite quotation, after the manner of the Rabbis, made up of Psalm 89:20, and 1Samuel 13:14. The obvious purpose of this opening was, as in the case of St. Stephen’s speech, to gain attention by showing that the speaker recognised all the traditional glories of the people. It is possible that we have, as it were, but the précis of a fuller statement.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:14-31 When we come together to worship God, we must do it, not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God. The bare reading of the Scriptures in public assemblies is not enough; they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is helping people in doing that which is necessary to make the word profitable, to apply it to themselves. Every thing is touched upon in this sermon, which might best prevail with Jews to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah. And every view, however short or faint, of the Lord's dealings with his church, reminds us of his mercy and long-suffering, and of man's ingratitude and perverseness. Paul passes from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed; a Saviour to do that for them, which the judges of old could not do, to save them from their sins, their worst enemies. When the apostles preached Christ as the Saviour, they were so far from concealing his death, that they always preached Christ crucified. Our complete separation from sin, is represented by our being buried with Christ. But he rose again from the dead, and saw no corruption: this was the great truth to be preached.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And when he had removed him - This was done because he rebelled against God in sparing the sheep and oxen and valuable property of Amalek, together with Agag the king, when he was commanded to destroy all, 1 Samuel 15:8-23. He was put to death in a battle with the Philistines, 1 Samuel 31:1-6. The phrase "when he removed him" refers probably to his rejection as a king, and not to his death; for David was anointed king before the death of Saul, and almost immediately after the rejection of Saul on account of his rebellion in the business of Amalek. See 1 Samuel 16:12-13.

He gave testimony - He bore witness, 1 Samuel 13:14.

I have found David ... - This is not quoted literally, but contains the substance of what is expressed in various places. Compare 1 Samuel 13:14, with Psalm 89:20, and 1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 16:12.

A man after mine own heart - This expression is found in 1 Samuel 13:14. The connection shows that it means simply a man who would not be rebellious and disobedient as Saul was, but would do the will of God and keep his commandments. This refers, doubtless, rather to the public than to the private character of David; to his character as a king. It means that he would make the will of God the great rule and law of his reign, in contradistinction from Saul, who, as a king, had disobeyed God. At the same time it is true that the prevailing character of David, as a pious, humble, devoted man, was that he was a man after God's own heart, and was beloved by him as a holy man. He had faults; he committed sin; but who is free from it? He was guilty of great offences; but he also evinced, in a degree equally eminent, repentance (see Psalm 51); and not less in his private than his public character did he evince those traits which were prevailingly such as accorded with the heart, that is, the earnest desires, of God.

Which shall fulfill all my will - Saul had not done it. He had disobeyed God in a case where he had received an express command. The characteristic of David would be that he would obey the commands of God. That David did this - that he maintained the worship of God, opposed idolatry, and sought to promote universal obedience to God among the people is expressly recorded of him, 1 Kings 14:8-9, "And thou Jeroboam hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes," etc., 1 Kings 15:3, 1 Kings 15:5.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. I have found David, &c.—This quotation is the substance of Ps 89:20; 1Sa 13:14; and perhaps also of Ps 78:70-72.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He had removed him; God had taken Saul away by death; for he would not suffer David to hasten it.

After mine own heart; favoured or beloved by me, and obedient to me; my servant, as God speaks of him, Psalm 89:20.

Which shall fulfil all my will; and here, that he should fulfil all God’s will, to wit, in governing his people; for he hath a testimonial upon record in God’s word, Psalm 78:72. He that is according to God’s heart, fulfils all the will of God, and does nothing by partiality; but if it be God’s will either for him to do or to suffer any thing, he is ready to set his fiat to it; as he daily prays (understandingly) that the will of the Lord may be done.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when he had removed him,.... Either by death, or rejected him from being king while he was living; 1 Samuel 15:23

he raised up unto them David to be their king; who was of the tribe of Judah, and who was raised from a very mean condition, from keeping of sheep, to sit upon the throne of Israel:

to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David; a type of the Messiah; he chose him to be king, sent Samuel to anoint him, and at length set him on the throne: the apostle adds, as a further account of him,

the son of Jesse; who lived at Bethlehem, where the Messiah was to be born, and who was a person of no great note and figure in Israel; and this is mentioned as an illustration of the distinguishing goodness of God to David. It follows,

a man after mine own heart; on whom the heart of God was set, and who had an interest in his heart's love, and to whom he was exceeding grateful and acceptable; God took great delight and pleasure in him, in the general course of his life, and in his principles, aims, and designs; he was as he would have him to be:

which shall fulfil all my will; in governing the people, subduing their enemies, settling the order of divine worship and service, and preparing things for the building of the temple; and who also had a regard to all the commandments of God, and walked in them, though he was not without his sins and infirmities: now these words are not to be found together in anyone passage, as they might be thought to be from the manner in which they are produced, they being cited as a testimony delivered by the Lord, saying these concerning David; but where? the first part of them, "I have found David", is expressed in Psalm 89:20 and yet the passage there seems to have respect to David's antitype; and to be understood not literally of David, but mystically and typically of Christ, David's son, with whom the whole psalm agrees; rather therefore this is implied in 1 Samuel 13:14 where also the next words, "a man after mine own heart", are to be met with; where it is thus expressed, though not by the Lord, but by Samuel; "the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart"; and as he sought one, so he found one, which was his servant David; but then what follows, is not recorded there nor any where else, in express terms, concerning David, "which shall fulfil all my will"; what comes nearest to them, are the words of the Lord to Cyrus, Isaiah 44:28 "and shall perform all my pleasure"; and Cocceius is of opinion, that the above words are taken from hence by the apostle, and applied to David, because of his concern in the building of the temple; his heart was set upon it, and he made great preparations for it according to the will of God, and did fulfil all it was the pleasure of God he should, respecting this affair; upon the whole, the apostle seems not to have any reference to anyone particular passage of Scripture, bearing a testimony to David's character, but to what is to be collected from them in general, as a divine testimony in favour of him.

Geneva Study Bible

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Acts 13:22. Μεταστ. αὐτόν] cannot be explained of the death of Saul (Grotius, de Wette, also my former interpretation), because there is no ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν (3Ma 6:12; Polyb. xxxii. 21. 3) or the like added, or at least directly suggested, from the context. The word is rather to be considered as selected and exactly corresponding to the known history of Saul, expressing the divine rejection recorded in 1 Samuel 15:16 ff., and deposition of this king from his office, according to the current usus loquendi; see Daniel 2:21; 1Ma 8:13; Luke 16:4; also in Greek writers.

ᾧ καὶ εἶπε μαρτυρήσας] for whom He also bearing witness has said. ᾧ is governed by μαρτυρ.; and on εἶπε μαρτυρ, comp. Acts 1:24 : προσευξάμενοι εἶπον.

εὗρον Δαυΐδ κ.τ.λ.] Psalm 89:21 is here quite freely blended with 1 Samuel 13:14 in the inexact recollection of the moment, and formed into one saying of God, as indeed in Psalm 89:21 God is the speaker, but not in Sam. Acts 13:14.

εὗρον] God had sought for the kingdom of His people a (so rare) man like David.

κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου] i.e. as my heart desires him. This and the following ὅς … μου is to be left without any more precise limitation (Eckermann, after the older commentators, supposes that it applies to the government of the people; Heinrichs: to the establishment of the theocracy), as the text does not furnish such a limitation, and πάντα τὰ θελ. forbids it. On these last words Bengel correctly remarks: “voluntates, multas, pro negotiorum varietate.” Comp. Ephesians 6:6; Psalm 102:7; 2Ma 1:3.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 13:22. μεταστήσας, Luke 16:4 : refers here to Saul’s deposition from the throne, 1 Samuel 15:16, cf. Daniel 2:21, 1Ma 8:13, not as Bethge thinks to his removal from the presence of God, cf. 2 Kings 17:23, nor to his death, 3Ma 3:1; 3Ma 6:12. Saul therefore could not have been the bringer of the promised salvation.—εὗρον κ.τ.λ.: a combination of two passages, Psalm 89:20 and 1 Samuel 13:14, and freely referred to as a saying pronounced by God Himself, but the latter part was pronounced by Samuel in God’s name.—τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαί, but in LXX τὸν δοῦλόν μου. ἄνδρα to mark the dignity (Bethge).—κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν, cf. Jeremiah 3:15.—ὃς ποιήσει, cf. Isaiah 44:28, Psalm 40:8. The fact that these quotations are thus left in their present shape with no attempt to correct them justifies the belief that we have here St. Paul’s own words. With the first part of the quotation cf. Clem. Rom., Cor[261], xviii. 1, a striking agreement; see on the one hand as against its dependence on Acts, Wendt, p. 41 (1899), and on the other hand, Bethge, in loco, and Introd., p. 37.

[261] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. I have found David, &c.] This sentence is a combination and adaptation from two separate verses out of the O. Test. First, “I have found David my servant,” Psalm 89:20, and “The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people,” 1 Samuel 13:14.

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 13:22. Μεταστήσας, when He had removed him) This is said appropriately (seasonably): for from this it might be understood that the economy of GOD admits of variation.—αὐτὸν, him) The kingdom (dynasty) of Saul presently after expired in the person of his son.—ἤγειρεν, hath raised up) This denotes more than gave; for it signifies firmness.—ᾧ, to whom) Construed with μαρτυρήσας, having testified.—μαρτυρήσας, having testified) as of a thing hidden deeply in the breast.—εὗρον Δαυὶὀ, I have found David) So the LXX., Psalm 89:20 : εὗρον, I have found, as something rare, and not forced.—τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ, the son of Jesse) 1 Samuel 16—ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου, ὃς ποιήσει πάντα τὰ θελήματά μου) 1 Samuel 13:14, in LXX., ζητήσει Κύριος ἐαυτῷ ἄνθρωπον κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐντελεῖται Κύριος αὐτῷ, κ.τ.λ.—κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου) according to Mine own heart) Dost thou wish to know what is right, and who is right? Examine the question according to the heart of GOD. We ought to refer all things for decision to the heart of GOD, but the heart of GOD we ought not to judge according to our heart.—ὅς, who) A type therein of Christ.—θελήματα) wishes, which are many, according to the variety of the matters in hand.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Raised up for raised up unto them, A.V. and T.R.; bare witness for gave testimony, A.V.; my for mine own, A.V.; do for fulfill, A.V.; who for which, A.V. This is not an exact quotation, but the combined meaning of 1 Samuel 13:14 and Psalm 89:21. Acts 13:22