But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
All of us have encountered situations where we have seen someone who just presented a certain image that led us to form opinions about them, even before we have had a chance to meet them. It may be the dirty homeless man with long unkempt hair and a beard. It may even be the woman dressed in a mini dress and high heels, covered with makeup and tattoos. Or, it might be the group of bikers that walk in the door of your favorite little restaurant wearing the colors of a local motorcycle gang. In most cases, right after we formulate a hasty opinion, we look over the person and mull over in our mind what their story might be. In some cases, we might even ignore the person or take evasive action to get away from them so we do not have to talk to them. On the other hand, most of us have also heard stories about people who were scammed by someone who appeared to be professional, well groomed, and very polite. Or, they sent money to someone in a foreign country to pay processing fees so that they can receive winnings from a lottery that they were told they had won.
Not long ago I saw a commercial where a well groomed, clean shaven man was dressed in a suit discussing financial planning with a variety of customers. At one point he asked the customers if they would trust him to be their financial planner. Each person responded that they would. He then admitted that he was actually a DJ and played a video showing him playing music dressed in long dreadlocks, bicep bracelets, chains, and a mustache and beard. He added that he had no financial experience at all. The looks on the faces of the customers was priceless as the man got up and started dancing to the music playing on the video.
In today’s Scripture verse, Samuel was sent by God to Bethlehem to anoint a new King of Israel after God rejected Saul from being the king (1 Samuel 16). God sent Samuel to the house of a man named Jessie to anoint one of his sons as the new king. Not long after arriving, Jesse presented his sons to Samuel. Samuel looked upon the oldest, Eliab, and said surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But, at that moment God told Samuel the way Samuel made the choice was not the same way that God used to make the choice. God added that Eliab was not the one and neither were his younger brothers as each one of seven boys was presented to Samuel. After looking at the boys a second time, Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other children. Jesse replied that he had one more, the youngest, that was tending to the sheep. Jesse sent for the boy and when he arrived, he presented him to Samuel. The boy was “ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look at” (1 Samuel 16:12). This description described a boy who had a healthy, attractive glow because he spent a lot of time outside. At that moment God told Samuel to anoint him with oil because he was the one. Samuel anointed him and at that moment the Spirit of the Lord came upon the boy, now identified as David, from that day forward. Likewise, we know from later passages, that this anointing did not make much difference to the attitude of his brothers, who were considered to be much better candidates in man’s eyes to be king.
This passage teaches us that God does not consider how we look or how tall we are when it comes to making a judgment about us. Instead, God looks at what is in the heart of the person. This is because only God can see a person’s heart and know what kind of person they really are. (Psalms 7:9; Proverbs 15:11; Proverbs 17:3; Proverbs 21:2; Zechariah 8:17; Matthew 9:4; Mark 2:6-8; Mark 3:5; Acts 1:24; Acts 15:8; Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Hebrews 4:12). In fact, this very thing was said by Simeon to Mary when she and Joseph presented Jesus at the Temple (Luke 2:34-35), that this baby, the Word of God, would pierce her soul like a sword to discern her thoughts and intents along with everyone else (John 1:1, 14; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 20:13-21).
This concept also has application in what we should believe when it comes to someone presenting a message from God’s Word. Just because someone may look professional, have advanced degrees, or have a commonly understood way or flair with presenting things, it should never be used to convince us to believe what they say (Galatians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1). In fact, the very opposite is also true. Just because someone may NOT look professional, NOT have advanced degrees, or NOT have a commonly understood way or flair with presenting things, it should never be used to PREVENT us from believing what they say. The importance of this is stressed when God pointed out to us in Isaiah 53:1-3 a description of the coming Christ. In this description God says in verse two that He (Jesus) would grow up before Him as a tender plant and a root out of dry ground. This means, amongst other things, that He (Jesus) would not be from a rich and famous family that is able by man’s standards to send Him to the top schools or dress Him in the best fashions. God adds that, “when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
God’s Words tell us that Jesus was not the attractive man with the free flowing hair we see in paintings that people are attracted to in droves. Instead, we could imagine that He probably blended into the crowd along with many other Jews that may have been short, have a hooked nose, and maybe even turn heads away when He walked by, just like someone we might encounter that we form an instant judgment about. The reason this is so important is that people were attracted to the message that Jesus preached and lived. The message is what brought out the masses. The message is what people desperately needed to hear. The message contained the Words of Life that only Jesus could provide that makes a difference in our eternal destiny (Philippians 2:14-16; 1 John 1:1-4). Therefore, it is the Word of Life that we should seek after, just like Peter and the other Apostles did when Jesus preached a message that resulted in others leaving because they were offended. When asked by Jesus if they would leave, Peter said to Jesus, “to whom shall we go? thou hast the Words of eternal life” (John 6:60-71). May God bless us with discernment as we use God’s Words of life to determine if the person presenting a message to us is approved by God. Likewise, may God bless us with the patience and love not to discount someone because of the way they look because we may never know if they too have or need to hear the Words of eternal life.
