The Lord Looks At The Heart

The LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

GOD HAD REJECTED SAUL and was preparing to give his people a king after his own heart: the kind of leader through whom he wanted to reign over his people. When Samuel got to Bethlehem and saw Jesse and his sons, Samuel was sure he saw Saul’s replacement. David’s oldest brother, Eliab, was tall and handsome and looked positively kingly. But the Lord told Samuel that Eliab was not what he was looking for.

It is the way of human beings to make external and superficial judgments. Certainly our children pick up on it when we make these types of judgments about people based on the way they appear physically, financially, or socially. This is not the way of the Lord. The living God looks at a person’s heart to see what his or her true character is, what his or her real life is all about.

Some of us look so put together on the outside that no one would guess what is going on inside our hearts. People around us can’t always see the stubborn disobedience, the steady stream of defeats in our battles against ongoing sin, the stifling darkness that permeates our inner lives. But God does. Likewise, other people can’t always see the secret sacrifices, the costly surrenders, and all the little deaths to self that shape those hearts that have been invaded and ruled by King Jesus. But you can be sure that God does.

Lord, I know that the heart is deceitfully wicked and that I fool myself when I think I completely know my own heart. But I am grateful that you do and that you show mercy to those whose hearts are not pure. As I seek to walk in your ways, would you close the gap between the image I try to portray and the reality of my heart’s condition before you? And as ________ considers the truth that you see the heart, may that realization bring comfort rather than condemnation. Give ________ a heart of integrity before you.