After God’s Heart (Part 2)(1 Samuel 16:1-7)                                                                     2008.10.26    Pastor Edward Cheng

When you purchase a home, you first spend time looking at several “potentials” to see which you like.  For the average home-buyer, myself included, what do you find yourself looking for?  If you’re like me, you probably look for the very basic things.  What’s the square footage?  How many bedrooms and bathrooms?  How old is the house?  What color is the carpet, or does it have hardwood flooring?  However, go to the same house with someone in the real estate business, or better yet, take along a home inspector, and you find out there’s so much more to look at than just the square footage.  These professionals have an eye for things that the common person doesn’t look for.  While we pay attention to the surface, they look much more closely to things that are essentially invisible to us.

This is somewhat like the difference between the way God sees people and the way we see them.  Whether it is homes or people, we look at the surface things – how tall a person is, how pretty they are, how talented they are, or how many degrees they have.  However, the Lord makes it very clear to us in 1 Samuel 16 that He is not concerned with these things at all.  He tells us in v. 7, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

In chapter 16, we find ourselves nearing the end of Saul’s reign and at the anointing of the new king of Israel.  Samuel was given clear instruction by the Lord to anoint the new king from the house of Jesse.  Samuel’s response?  Fear (v. 2).  I mention this because it will become relevant to us in a subsequent sermon why Samuel’s fear is so startling.  In any case, Samuel sets out for the house of Jesse to find one of Jesse’s sons who would become the new king of Israel.  But how would Samuel identify this person amongst all of the sons of Jesse.  What does a person who is “after God’s heart” look like?

As soon as Samuel arrives at the house of Jesse, he encounters first Jesse’s eldest son, Eliab.  Immediately Samuel assumes that this must be the new king chosen by God to replace the “rejected” Saul since Eliab just looks like a king.  However, the Lord makes it very clear to Samuel in v. 7: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  What was it about Eliab that made Samuel think this was the one?  Apparently he was tall and had a “regal” look about him.  Incidentally, it’s worth noting that Saul had similar features, which was probably why he was anointed by Israel in the first place.  We know that Saul was also quite tall and had an impressive look about him (1 Sam. 9:2).  However, the Lord specifically says he has “rejected” him.  Of whom does the Lord speak?  Was Eliab really the rejected one, or was it someone else?  I propose that while Eliab is the closest referent, the Lord really is not thinking about Eliab when He says, “Do not look at his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.”  Rather, the Lord is reminding Samuel of the fact that Saul is the “rejected one,” that he is the one who was chosen because of his height and appearance, and remind Samuel not to make the same mistake.  This is really a comparison not between David and Eliab, but between David and Saul. 

What does it mean that the Lord looks at the heart, and what does this have to do with being “after God’s heart”?  Simply put, if the Lord looks at the heart and character of people rather than the outward appearance, then it would do us well to do the same.  To focus on the character of a person rather than to be impressed by the outward things.  This is a problem especially for us who are Chinese because we are a very achievement- and outward-focused culture.  We are easily swayed by those who are tall or good looking, by those who have seemingly “made it” and are financially or professionally successful, and by those who have academic accomplishments.  However, in doing so, we neglect to pay attention to the very thing that the Lord pays attention to – the content of a person’s heart.

Not only do we do this in regards to other people, we do it in regards to ourselves as well.  We should be spending more time in self-reflection than in front or our reflection (in a mirror).  We should be spending more time on our hearts than on our hair.  We should be working on character-building more than body-building.  Do we have such an attitude?  God cares about the heart, looks at the heart, and selects and desires those with good hearts.  We should recognize this so that we might have the proper emphasis in our lives too and move one step closer to being people “after God’s heart.”