January 3, 20127

INWARD VERSUS OUTWARD APPEARANCES

1 Samuel 16:7 (1 Kingdoms 16:7 LXX)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his outward appearance, nor for the maturity of his stature, because I have refused him. For man does not see as God sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord sees into the heart.”

Encouraging Words

God's way of doing things is so different than how we do things. We always look at the outward appearances of people to make judgments of who they are. God always looks at the heart of people for He knows that is what represents our true nature. In this situation, Samuel has been told to go to Jesse and crown one of his sons as the next king. Jesse had eight sons. Seven of them were stout, strapping men who surely met the qualifications of being a king. And Samuel even kept trying to choose one man after the other with God telling him each time that the selected man was not the one chosen by God. When Samuel and Jesse ended with these seven men and none of them were chosen they were extremely frustated. As Samuel was getting ready to give up he asked if there were any other sons. Reluctantly David was brought forth. He was the youngest son, a shepherd, and definitely not someone that looked like kingly material. But God knew Davids' heart and chose him as the king and the rest is history. The moral, look for people's hearts and not the external appearances.