God Sees The Heart

GOD SEES THE HEART (Lent, March 19, 2023)

Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

1 Samuel 16:1-13  The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons."  (2)  Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'  (3)  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you."  (4)  Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"  (5)  He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.  (6)  When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is now before the LORD."  (7)  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."  (8)  Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."  (9)  Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."  (10)  Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these."  (11)  Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here."  (12)  He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one."  (13)  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

When we make choices, we tend to go for the eye-candy factor and make choices based on appearances. God always looks at what is inside the person’s heart, where we look at their appearance. God’s children took the eye candy view of having a king like all the other nations of the world when God had called them to be His chosen people.

A quick lesson in Old Testament history will tell us that God did not think that mimicking other nations by having an earthly king was such a good idea. God had been their king in what was known as theocracy where God is king and now they wanted to change that to a monarchy. Daniel Webster defined a monarchy like this: A state or government in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a single person. (Webster's Dictionary of American English 1868). Like children who thought they knew it all, God our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. The people insisted on a king. God gave them one. Now you have heard the wisdom of caution many times: “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it”. When they got what they asked for which came against the grain of God’s warning, they learned why hindsight is as they say is “20/20”. Saul was Israel’s first king whom God rejected. Today we want to talk about God’s agent and God’s choice.

GOD’S AGENT

Who is God’s agent in today’s text?

1) Amnesia The obvious answer is Samuel. Samuel told an assembly at Mizpah that was asking for a king was not a good thing because it was rejecting God who had delivered the from Egyptian bondage (1 Samuel 10: 18- 19)! The people chose Saul to be their king but as time would tell the decision to make Saul a king was not

2) Adamant: They were warned about what having a king would do. A king would make their sons warriors in a military, farmer, weapon manufacturers. Daughter would become perfumers, cooks and bakers. A king will take from you best of things and give it to his courtiers. A king would take the best of the best of everything. Yet, they still insisted that they wanted a king so that they could be like other nations (1 Samuel 8:10 - 20 paraphrased).