1 Samuel 16:6-13
Judging Character
In our western society, we truly value outward appearances. People in America spend thousands and thousands of dollars on face lifts, behind lifts, and everything in between. Don Knotts, the actor who played Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show, once said, “What I need is a body transplant!” Maybe you’ve felt that way at time. We value our looks. And we value that first impression, whether in a job interview or meeting a new resident. We worry about our children’s weight, our friend’s wacky hair style, or our own attempts to exercise and diet.
Yet, what about the inside? While we need to care for our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, today’s passage speaks to the value of character, the inner self. Are you a good judge of character, in others as well as in yourself? Or do you sometimes find yourself the victim of a scam, taken advantage of by a seemingly fine-looking and trustworthy person but with ulterior motives?
The setting for today’s story is a major transition in the history of Israel. Their first king—Saul—was tall and regal looking, but he constantly rebelled against God, thinking he knew best. He had a character problem. So Saul is on the way out, to be replaced with a second king. History will record David in his weaker moments as an adulterer and murderer, with his tragic give-in-to-temptation with Bathsheba. But history will also remember a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22), a writer of psalms, a shepherd king, a unifier of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, the one who prepared for the first Temple, a fellow who wanted more than anything, most of the time, to follow God and care for God’s people. David would become the most famous king in the history of Israel.
But in today’s story he’s almost overlooked. His own dad forgets about him. When Jesse scrambles to line up his eligible sons to pass in review before the famous prophet and kingmaker Samuel, he forgets about the runt of his litter, his youngest boy, out in the fields tending the sheep.
And Samuel learns an important lesson: that God cares for the inside much more than the outside. God values character over looks. God values heart over body. God values obedience over appearance.
So out of this shift of focus—from outward appearance to inward character—I catch three major implications for us. Lesson #1, we need to …
1. Focus on pleasing God more than looking good. David spent a lot of time in the fields around Jerusalem, singing to God, talking to God, listening to God, before he ever became a king. He patiently ran from Saul’s homicidal attacks, trusting in God’s perfect timing and refusing to put down God’s anointed, until it was his time to take the throne. David’s #1 priority was to please God, not to look good or acquire power.
If Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, maybe that’s more important than looking like you have it all together. The most refreshing Christians I’ve met are those who first and foremost serve Jesus humbly. They know they are desperate for God’s grace. As D.T. Niles put it, they are “one beggar simply leading another beggar to bread.”
Jesus’ biggest enemies were seemingly religious people. Jesus compared these guys to whitewashed tombs, looking all good and pure on the outside but dead on the inside. Our relationship with God matters most. That will define our character.
Anne Graham Lotz once said, “I'm living my life for an audience of one. I live my life to please God. And I believe if He's pleased, that people like my mother and my daddy, my grandparents, you know, my husband, my children, they'll be pleased.” Make your first focus to please God. Second implication, we need to ...
2. Value character over appearance. Samuel had to learn that in today’s story. He looked at the oldest boy and thought, “This fellow looks like a king. It must be him!” But God said no. On and on it went, with the second and the third, and the rest of the boys are like extras on a Hollywood set; they’re not even named! Until finally, Samuel cries out in exasperation, “Is this all you have?” Then Jesse remembers the forgotten boy, out in the fields caring for the sheep. Samuel says, “This is so important we’re not sitting down until you fetch him!” And when David walks in, the Lord gives Samuel a thumbs up, and Samuel says, “That’s the one!”
If God values character over looks, and if we’re going to seek to build our godly character above all else, then we should look for that and promote that in others, too. We should help our grandsons and granddaughters value godly character. We should model and teach doing the harder right instead of the easier wrong. We should compliment character just as much as we do beauty. “You look so beautiful in your new dress!” And, “I really like how you helped your mother out by taking care of your little brother. You are so responsible!”
Kids aren’t the only ones that need character compliments. Adults need them, too. I heard about a wife looking at herself in the bedroom mirror. She wasn’t happy with what she saw. And she said to her husband, “I feel horrible. I look old, fat, and ugly. I really need to hear a compliment from you right now.” The husband replied, “Well, your eyesight is near perfect!”
That’s not a helpful compliment! As much as we need to compliment our spouses on their looks, we also need to build up their character. And we can praise our adult children when they get it right as parents, or as business men and women, or as husbands or wives. You can praise the giving spirit of neighbors and friends here at Blue Skies. You can praise a hard working or attentive staff member. You can even write a politician and praise them when they get it right! When you do one of these things, you are helping to build and reinforce and value strong character. We need to be people after God’s heart; we need to build that kind of character in others, and then lastly, we need to …
3. Trust God to guide. We need God’s help to discern the true character in others or to even be about it for ourselves. The world spends a fortune in marketing and facelifts, so we have to be careful. Some will try to take advantage of or mislead or deceive us. Not every preacher on television has a godly motivation. Not every friend can be trusted. Not every family member will love us unconditionally. People don’t always follow the Lord. They didn’t in David’s time. They don’t today. So we need God’s help.
Listen, the famous prophet and kingmaker Samuel struggled to get this right. In today’s story, you see him buying into the world’s value system. “The firstborn, he’s tall and royal looking; it must be him!” But the one thing Becky and I have learned in our lives is that, when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you’re probably wrong. Even Samuel had to receive mid-course corrections from heaven until he got back within God’s perfect will.
The pilots among us understand mid-course corrections. An airplane doesn’t follow perfectly the flight plan between point A and point B. Even with autopilot, the plane must make a series of constant corrections to get back on track.
You never become so godly that you don’t need God. In fact, the godlier you become, the more you know you don’t know; the more you grow in your dependence upon God. Even Jesus made a priority to rise early in the morning and get alone with God to seek God’s will.
We need God’s help to correctly discern the hearts of others, as well as to discern when our own hearts may be off course, and to adjust and correct and protect ourselves as needed.
You know, I think David learned a valuable lesson that day, as he was chosen to be the next king of Israel. Many years later, as he would prepare his own son to secede him on the throne, he would say (in 1 Chronicles 28:9): “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought.
Our Father is the great discerner of character. May we turn to him, to groom our own character and to correctly discern that of those around us. Let us pray:
Father, thank you that your priority system is so different from ours. We get caught up in the coolest cars and dresses and tummy tucks and toupees. But you care most about what is on the inside. Help us to value that, too. Help us to love you most and seek to please you more than anything. Help us to build up the character of those around us. And help us to trust you to guide us in making right decisions when it comes to discerning the character of others. We pray this in the name of our Savior, who loves us so, amen.
