LOOKING
ON THE HEART
Samuel
was given the responsibility of anointing the next king over Israel
after Saul's rejection by God as their current king. He was told by
God to go to the house of Jesse, "For I have provided Myself a
king among his sons." (1 Sam. 16:1) His instructions regarding
this selection process was, "I will show you what you shall do;
you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you." (vs. 3)
Obviously, God was doing the selecting and Samuel was His spokesman
in revealing whom God had already chosen.
When
Samuel and Jesse's family gathered together, and Samuel saw Jesse's
eldest son, Eliab, he said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is
before Him." (vs. 6) However, Eliab was not the Lord's choice.
In fact, as each of Jesse's first seven sons passed before Samuel,
they were each one eliminated as God's chosen one. Finally Samuel
asked Jesse, "'Are all the young men here?' Then he said, 'There
remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.'"
(vs. 11) Surely, Jesse did not consider his youngest son to be a
candidate for the highest office in the land. The fact that he
wasn't part of the "lineup," makes it quite obvious that
this young lad who "...was ruddy, with bright eyes, and
good-looking." (vs. 12) was not even a consideration because his
father did not bother to bring him in out of the fields for Samuel to
see him.
When
the young boy, David, was brought before Samuel, "the Lord said,
'Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!'" (vs. 12) No doubt
this came as a surprise to both Samuel and Jesse, as this young boy
may have stood beside his older brothers who towered over him, the
three oldest ones being warriors in Saul's army (1 Sam. 17:13). How
could they have known what lay in the heart of this lad? They
couldn't, but God
could,
and
did.
Later,
David, still a youth, would prove that his courage and faith in God
exceeded that of his three oldest brothers who were among those who
"...were dismayed and greatly afraid" in the presence of
Goliath (1 Sam. 17:11).
When
Goliath called upon Israel's army to "Choose a man for
yourselves, and let him come down to me" (vs. 8), no one, not
even king Saul, was inclined to consider David as a match for the
giant. Saul told him, "You are not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of
war from his youth." (vs. 33) But David convinced Saul by
saying, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and
from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine" (vs. 37), and he was allowed to face their enemy.
This
story underscores God's reply to Samuel's first impression when
looking at Jesse's oldest son, Eliab; "Do not look at his
appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (vs. 7) We must
remain conscious of this fact lest we find ourselves trying to set in
God's seat, yet as unworthy judges of men. We are not capable of
making judgments regarding men as God does because of the fact that
we do not have His ability to look upon the heart.
Jesus
warned of hypocritical judging (Mt. 7:1-5), pointing out that we can
be in danger of ignoring our own condition of heart while busying
ourselves, trying to help someone else with their
heart problem. Because we do not have the ability to look into the
heart of another as God can, we are limited to observing the fruit
that is born by those whose hearts are darkened before being able to
draw any conclusions regarding their motives. Jesus said, "Beware
of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so,
every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good
fruit...Therefore by their fruits you will know them." (Mt.
7:15-18, 20)
Some
in the church at Corinth had not learned this lesson and were quick
to make judgments regarding Paul's true character. It appears
obvious that he was accused of being bold in his letters, but not so
in person. He responded to this by asking them, "Do you look at
things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced
in himself that he is Christ's, let him again consider this in
himself, that just as he is Christ's, even so we
are
Christ's...Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word
by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we
are present." (2 Cor. 10:7, 11)
This
problem of judging others based on opinion or superficial observation
only emphasizes the fact that we cannot look into the hearts of men
in order to judge as God judges. Consequently, there is the
temptation to use ourselves or others to be the measuring rod by
which we judge others. Paul addressed this when he said, "For
we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who
commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves,
and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise...For not he
who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends."
(2 Cor. 10:12, 18) Only the Lord has the ability to look into our
heart and commend or condemn us.
Are
we ever guilty of "sizing up" others based upon how they
dress, or what kind of car they drive, or where they live or some
other "external" evidence of social status or lack
of such? If we were God, would we automatically reject those who do
not fit our idea of who is worthy? Hopefully not, otherwise we would
be guilty of what Jesus condemned. God does not choose as we would.
"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise
according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame
the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to
shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world
and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things
which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that
no flesh should glory in His presence."
(1 Cor. 1:26-29) Only God, who sees into our hearts, is worthy to be
glorified by us mortal beings whose hearts need mending.
-
Gary V. Womack - November 2004