But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.
Now thy kingdom shall not continue. Saul had for some time been swerving from his proper and bounden allegiance to Yahweh as king of Israel, by acting as an autocrat in appointing a standing army (1 Samuel 13:2) - a great innovation-and now in not patiently waiting the time fixed for celebrating the solemn rites of religion. He seems to have been desirous of exercising independent authority, like the pagan rulers in the neighbouring countries, and to have become imperious and self-willed, giving unmistakeable indications that, under his government, the divine law, as established by Moses, would soon have been superseded, had not Yahweh, in this first stage of the monarchy, interposed, raising up a new dynasty, and thus vindicated His theocratic supremacy by a precedent set up as a beacon, too much disregarded, for the warning of future kings in Israel.
The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart - namely, David, who in his public and official conduct acted for the most part as a constitutional king of Israel under the theocracy, conforming to the laws, upholding the worship, and testifying devoted allegiance to the authority and revealed will of Yahweh. No doubt he was at one unhappy period of his reign guilty of adultery and murder, and by the commission of those heinous transgressions he was a great sinner. But the phrase, "a man after God's own heart," has no reference to the piety or virtues of private and personal character; because no mere man in that respect has come up to the standard of the divine law. It is used solely with regard to official fidelity in the service of Yahweh in Israel (cf. 1 Samuel 2:35); and David was certainly entitled to be characterized as "a man after God's own heart," from his ardent zeal and undeviating exertions for the interests of the true religion, in opposition to idolatry.
And the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people х naagiyd (H5057), leader, prince] - specially a theocratic prince or ruler (cf. 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 25:30; 2 Samuel 6:21; 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Kings 1:35; 1 Kings 14:7; Isaiah 55:4; Daniel 9:25).