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.
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