By Pamela Rose Williams
1 Samuel 16:7 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.
This verse in 1 Samuel chapter 16 comes right after the LORD rejects the evil King Saul from reigning over Israel. In the previous chapter He used Samuel (a judge) to announce to Saul that he was rejected because he was rebellious and obeyed not the LORD’s voice. This was very hard on Samuel and he received chastisement from the LORD who told him to basically quit complaining and get busy to find another king
As the LORD would have it, He let Samuel in on His plan when He sent Samuel to see Jesse the Beth-lehemite because the new king was among Jesse’s sons (1 Samuel 16:1). But Samuel was afraid Saul would kill him as he traveled to do the LORD’s will. Even so, he went and of course the LORD protected Samuel as he went to Bethlehem.
Samuel met with Jesse and immediately believed that the first born of his sons, Eliab, was the one the LORD chose to replace Saul. But he was wrong and it was not until Jesse saw each of the seven sons that the LORD revealed that the chosen one was, in fact, the youngest, a young and little shepherd boy named David.
It was not David’s size or strength that made the LORD choose David, it was David’s heart that the LORD loved. Samuel could not see what the LORD saw.
Isn’t this true even today? Don’t we judge a book by its cover? Don’t we sometimes totally get it wrong? We often mistake a lovely meek person as a weak person. We even sometimes choose to follow a person because they have much confidence and when they walk in the room they appear to control it all. Only later to learn that they were so full of themselves that they were not a wise choice at all.
God sees it all. We can run but we cannot hide from Him (Genesis 3:8-10; Jeremiah 23:24).
- He knows every hair on our head (Luke 12:7).
- He knows our thoughts (Matthew 12:25; Luke 6:8).
- And he knows are heart too.
Are you happy with what God sees in your heart? Can you ask what the psalmist asked in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting”?
Oh! that we could humble our self before the LORD and then follow where He leads.
