God's Not Looking At That
I get it wrong a lot. Don’t know if you can commiserate with me on this one, but I am looking at the wrong thing most of the time. At least I know that I am not alone in this one. Ever Samuel, the prophet and likely the greatest of Judges given to the nation of Israel, also looked at the wrong stuff.
The occasion was the anointing of a new king for Israel. God had rejected the original king, Saul, and now sent Samuel to anoint the new king who would take Saul’s place at some point in the future. Samuel was sent to a specific place, the house of Jesse in Bethlehem. Samuel was also told that the search would be narrowed to Jesse’s sons. Samuel would go and there he would find and anoint the future king of Israel.
Not any of Jesse’s sons would do as king. God had selected a particular one. Samuel would know which one to anoint because the Lord would “indicate” which one He desired. Samuel followed God’s direction, in spite of the certain danger to his life if King Saul found out about these undertakings. Samuel called a sacrifice and consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. He asked Jesse to bring his boys and one by one they were presented before Samuel. The first was Eliab, apparently an impressive young man. Samuel thought to himself that surely, due to Eliab’s appearance, he was the one to be king. But God said, “Do not consider his appearance or his height… The Lord does not look at the things people look at.”
Jesse brought 7 of his sons before Samuel and not one of them was God’s chosen king. There was only one left - the youngest. Evidently, he was not considered important enough to include in the event because he was still out tending the sheep. Samuel would allow the event to proceed until the youngest son arrived. The scriptures say that when the boy arrived he was “glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.” (Jesse seemed blessed with some good looking sons.) The Lord immediately instructed Samuel to anoint this youngest son, by the name of David, king of Israel. And the rest is history.
As I said, I get it wrong a lot. I do not look at what God looks at. It is not the outward appearance that measures a person’s usefulness to the Lord. It is a person’s inward allotment that is to be considered most valuable when determining what God wants. The Lord referred to it as “the heart.” (vs 7) In viewing the heart, the true character of a person, the Lord gets past all the distractions that come with the outside and sees the true potential. What is He looking for? In looking at the heart, I suggest that God is viewing one’s ability to fulfill the greatest commandment. The potential usefulness of a person to God can be measured by their ability to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) What He sees in the heart is a measure of a person’s ability to follow Him - to love Him. David was not chosen because he glowed with health or because of his handsome features. David was chosen because he could become a “man after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
1 Samuel 16:1-13