Most Christians are familiar with the story of God sending Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king of Israel. The old prophet went to Bethlehem and one by one Jesse, the proud father of 8 sons, paraded 7 of them before Samuel’s eyes. And as he looked upon the first son Samuel said within himself, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him?!” 1 Sam 16:6 But the voice of the LORD said back to Samuel – “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Remember that before David was Saul, son of Kish. Saul was head and shoulders above all others in Israel…an obvious leader in the eyes of men.
And yet David is the unlikely choice God made through Samuel to be King. He is the smallest and youngest of the sons of Jesse. Nothing about him attracted attention outwardly–but inside of his heart was a burning fire for his God. The Zeal of the Lord consumed David.
Like Samuel we all tend to judge by the seeing of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. I have failed to discern rightly many, many times. But God makes no mistakes. Every time we choose something based upon that outward look we get it wrong.
Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
Isa 11:3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
Jesus demonstrated the loving heart of the Father which does not see as man sees. Jesus did not judge by the sight of the eyes or the hearing of the ears…therefore he knew Nathaniel had no guile…he knew Peter was a rock….he knew all men and He knows you.
You may judge yourself through your own human senses and reasoning—but your God sees your heart my friend. God is for you and loves you very much. He never judges you according to outward appearance- God is an encourager and speaks of your inner nature. God build you up according to who you are in your inner person.
That inner person is very precious in the sight of God…
1Pe 3:3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—
1Pe 3:4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
It is very easy to dress a certain way in order to attract the attention of others to look at our outer form. But what is more precious is a gentle and quiet spirit. And if you live focused upon who you are in spirit—you will not need to dress to attract the eyes of men to your outer form.
Do you know who you are? You are not just a body…a butt…legs…breasts….a waist…No….you are spirit!! You are made in the image of God! God is SPIRIT….AND YOU ARE HIS BODY….therefore glorify God in your body and spirit. When we parade ourselves before the eyes of men by our outer appearance, we are asking them to judge who we are by what we look like. And they will most likely make the wrong judgment about you unless they have the Spirit of God speaking in their heart as Samuel did.
The world operates in the opposite manner than God does.
