September 16, 2017

Looking at the Heart

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  1 Sam. 16:7

It was time to pick the teams.  Those wanting to play in the game stood along the fence and waited to hear their name called by one of the captains.  The pressure of school yard pick-up games can be agonizing.  No one wants to be picked last.  Everyone wants to be on the best team and the winning side.

The first name is called: “Eliab!”  Of course that is a natural pick.  Eliab is the oldest of Jesse’s sons and who wouldn’t want him on their team.  He is bigger, stronger, and a little more mature one would think.  He looks like a leader.    The other captain calls out his pick, “I’ll take Abinadab.”  This is another excellent choice – the second oldest and he is really starting to give his brother a run for his money.  Everyone in town knows how much he has grown in the last six months.  Yes, he is an up and comer – the captain knows he needs him to have a chance of winning the game.  The turn goes back to the first team as the captain prepares for his next choice.  He sizes up the group and then spots Shammah.  Maybe a little family rivalry would be a good thing, so he picks Shammah.  Excited, Shammah joins his older brother Eliab.  The brothers high five each other, confident of victory.

It is the other team’s pick and as the captain is trying to figure out who to pick, a young man walks up and asks if they are playing a game.  When they say yes, the man looks at the two teams and then glances over at the rest of the boys, still waiting to hear their name called.  He sees at the end of the line a small boy who looks like he couldn’t make it to second base.  And yet, there is something about this boy.  Without even knowing his name, the young man points to the end of the row of boys and says, “I’ll take him and we will play the winner of your game.”  Little David points to himself with surprise and then walks over to the young man.  The other two teams are laughing – this is a total mismatch!   They agree to the deal, finish picking teams and of course, David’s team wins.  The analogy may be a mismatch, but hopefully the point that gets across is what the Lord looks at is different than what the captains looked at.  The young man saw something in David’s heart, his character, and was drawn to it.  Samuel was told to keep passing over the older brothers until he got to the baby boy.  It was David whom Samuel anointed to be the next king of Israel.  The Lord had seen his heart and the Lord chose him.