September 30, 2019: Day 16 – I Samuel 16

This has to be my favorite chapter in this entire book of the Bible.  I want you to focus on vs.7 where we read: “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  What a powerful statement.  I think of the things that we do in order for people to see.  I think of what we say in a crowd, what we post on social media, what we pretend to align ourselves with simply for the reason so that those around us, or those who know us, can see what we are saying at the moment is our feeling or our stance.

What if God were the only who cared and saw what we felt and what we did and no one else would see?  How would our lives be different and how would we spend our time differently?  Samuel is told by God that people judge according to what we can see and what we hear and what we have heard and what we have said.  People judge on outward appearances and so we feel the need to keep up our appearances, to pretend that everything is going perfectly well, even if we are falling apart.  Now, this is not the topic of Samuel’s visit or the primary reason for these verses.

God had given up on Saul and so was determined for Samuel to go now and anoint his new king, who would be David.  When he sees David’s brothers, who would be perfect picks for kings, God says don’t look at them, but look at their hearts.  God looks at the hearts of people, and these hearts cannot be seen from the outside.  You cannot judge a person based upon what they are saying and doing on the outside, what they post on social media which often reflects a story that simply is not who they are or how they are feeling.  Judge a person based upon what is on their heart.  What they say when no one is listening, what they do when no one is watching, what they think when no one could ever know.  Choose that person who is not concerned about image but rather about integrity.