The Lord Sees the Heart

The Lord Sees the Heart

1 Samuel 16:4 – Samuel did what the LORD said and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came out to meet him trembling, and said, “May your coming be in peace.” 5 – He said, “Peace, I’ve come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Samuel consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

Verse 6 – When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab, and said, “Surely he’s the LORD’ anointed.” 7 – The LORD told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or his height, for I’ve rejected him. Truly, God does not see what man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

Samuel was looking for a suitable replacement for Saul. Naturally he was looking for someone who had similar physical characteristics as Saul, for Saul looked the part of a king: tall and handsome. Unfortunately, even with the Spirit of God upon him, Saul refused to have the heart of a king. More specifically, Saul refused to have the heart of God within himself. So the Lord “sought for himself a man after his own heart…” 1 Samuel 13:14.

1 Samuel 16:10 says: Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, and Samuel told Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.”

God had not told Samuel in advance which son of Jesse He had selected. Samuel had to wait for God to confirm which one He had chosen. It is interesting that the act of consecration did not make any of Jesse’s seven older sons suitable for kingship. If anything – consecration revealed the identity of the one who had literally been set apart from the beginning. He was set apart as the unworthy youngest by Jesse, but as worthy by God.

1 Samuel 16:12 – So he sent and brought him He had a dark, healthy complexion, with beautiful eyes, and he was handsome. The LORD said, “Get up and anoint him, for this is the one.” 13 – Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came on David from that day forward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah. 14 – The Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

It was sad that even with the Spirit of the Lord within him, Saul chose his own will over God’s. We are faced with the same choice today. Jesus encourages us to ask the heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit – Luke 11:13, but in verse 23 He says: “The person who isn’t with me is against me, and the person who doesn’t gather with me scatters.” Samuel had set apart Jesse’s older sons for God’s service, but God knew their hearts: none of them had set apart God in their lives as special. Only David, the last son of Jesse. The one who was set apart from the beginning had already set apart God as special in his heart.

God knows our hearts as well. What would we choose to do if we were filled with the Holy Spirit? May the Lord Jesus convince us all, by His love, to use the power of His Spirit to work with Him to gather many more to His kingdom today.