Seeing As God Sees

Introduction

A. 1 Samuel 16 is really two stories in one. The main story is about God’s selection of David as Israel’s new king. But there is a second story which often goes unnoticed. This less familiar story is found in 16:1. In this one verse, we learn something about seeing things as God sees them. This is our theme this morning. In songs and prayers and the message we want to refocus our eyes so that we can at least understand something about our God.

B. At the end of chapter 15, God has rejected Saul as king of Israel. While Saul will continue as king, it is just a matter of time until God will take him off the throne. Samuel in 15:35 mourns for Saul. He mourns for the loss. He mourns for a friend. He mourns for failure. Samuel cut off contact with Saul, but he did not cut off his emotions. We don’t know how much time transpired from chapter 15 to chapter 16, but the intent seems that Samuel has been mourning for Saul for some time. God approaches Samuel in verse 1 with a question which rebukes Samuel.

C. “How much longer will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him?” Is God unconcerned about our feelings? Is God telling Samuel, “get on with life”? Is God rebuking Samuel because he is grieving? Samuel had a unique role. He was God’s prophet. He was God’s spokesman. Samuel had forgotten whose he was. His mourning for Saul had impeded his work. It isn’t that God didn’t care about Samuel and his feeling, it was instead that Samuel’s emotional attachment to something lost kept him from doing his work as God’s prophet. God doesn’t tell Samuel to quit mourning, but he does tell him that his work is not done.

D. God’s rejection of Saul didn’t mean that life was over for Israel. It meant that there was still work to be done and Samuel was the one who was to do the work. As long as there are life and breath, there is something for us to do. I am not saying to ignore grief. But God gives us life in order to bring honor to him. Giving up while there is still life is a waste of God’s gift. We belong to God. As Christians our lives are at his disposal. Samuel is holding on to something which no longer is a part of God’s purpose. The rebuke is not for grieving, but for giving up his work. God doesn’t just tell him to get on with life. He gives him a new job to do. He is to go and anoint one of Jesse’s boys as the next king over Israel. There is life after Saul and it is in Bethlehem. ILL “Focus on the Important: Insignificant.” Our God sees a bigger picture than we do. As long as there is life and breath, there is some way for us to honor God. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Don’t lose sight of what is truly important.

The Second Story

A. The second story in 1 Samuel 16 is better known. Samuel is to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem and anoint one of his boys as the new king over Israel. Samuel is rightfully concerned about Saul’s reaction. Bethlehem was probably not a city that Samuel went to very often. Saul already knew what God’s will was. He may have been carefully watching Samuel’s actions. We know from chapter 22 that Saul is capable of killing anyone who gives aid to another. The priests at Nob had helped David escape from Saul as he was trying to kill David. Saul killed all the priests at that city in retaliation for their helping David. Samuel is right to be concerned about his physical safety.

B. God tells Samuel to take a heifer with him and to tell anyone who might ask that you are going to Bethlehem to sacrifice. Samuel’s arrival at Bethlehem was met with fear. The elders of the city welcomed him with the question “do you come in peace?” Such a reaction could come from three possibilities. The elders greatly revered Samuel, but that wouldn’t explain the question. Or they knew that Samuel’s coming to a town might mean a pronouncement of judgment against them. Or they knew that the rift between Samuel and Saul was of such a magnitude that anyone supporting Samuel may incur Saul’s wrath. The intent of the elder’s question is to determine Samuel’s purpose in visiting and how much they need to prepare for consequences.

C. Samuel invites the elders and the household of Jesse to a sacrificial banquet. This would have been a great feast and celebration. The cow would be sacrificed then the meat from the heifer would be eaten as a way of having fellowship with God. Of course, the purpose is to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king, but Samuel does not reveal his purpose. Jesse and his boys arrive at the feast. Jesse’s first boy, Eliab walks into the banquet hall. Samuel is impressed with what he sees. So impressed that he figures this is the one who is to be anointed. But God told Samuel not to look at the height and looks. These things are unimportant. What is important is the heart and that is what God is looking for.

D. Each son is brought before Samuel. And each boy is rejected. Samuel is perplexed. “Are these all your boys?” Almost as an afterthought, Jesse says he has one more boy, but he is out tending sheep. That is nice way of saying, the runt is away, there really isn’t any reason to get him. Samuel commands that David be brought in. In fact, there will be no feast until Jesse’s youngest is brought in. David arrives. He is good looking. Ruddy means either he has red hair or a fair complexion. This is the one God has chosen and Samuel rises and anoints David as the next king.

E. So what? Our theme is that God sees things differently from the way we see things. There are at least two lessons we need to get from this second story. The first is obvious while the second is more obscure.

Lessons

A. The first lesson is that God is unimpressed by the externals. Samuel like all human beings are tuned into the externals. We are physical creatures. God has given us touch, taste, smelling, hearing, and eyesight. We use these gifts to learn about our world. We grow to depend on these gifts to verify much of what we believe and think. When Samuel sees Eliab, he is using those tools of this life that God has given to all. He sees a tall, good looking young man. Eliab is an impressive young man. An ideal looking king.

B. We are impressed by things that can be seen with the physical eyes. We live in a world where physical beauty outranks spiritual depth. We live in a world where success in business and in the church tends to be defined by materialistic terms. We are more impressed with charisma than character. It is said that since the age of television, elected officials work hard on their appearance to sway voters. We voters are swayed by what we see. The physical appearance of a person can sway our thinking. Study after study has shown that in all areas of life, the more appealing a person’s physical appearance the better they are treated. Efforts to change that type of thinking have been fruitless.

C. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t look at the physical appearance? Aren’t you glad that God looks at your heart when he sees you? God isn’t impressed by all the things that our world finds enticing. He is concerned about your character and motives. While we make judgments based on what we can see, God is looking at something that we cannot see. So what does this mean? First, it means that we need to emphasize the externals less. Looking good outside does not determine the inside. A person can look honest and be a liar. A person can look religious and be spiritually dead. ILL. “Appearance: Deceiving.” Only God can see the inside and know the truth.

D. Second, it means we need to emphasize the internals more. Jesus’ harshest words were for those who had the externals down pat but didn’t have a heart that coincided. In fact in Matthew 15, Jesus announces for all time that it is what comes out of the inside which defiles. This is not to say that we can act like the devil and please God, but it does emphasize that the attitudes of the heart matter to God.

E. But there is a second lesson that we need to learn from this passage. Where was David when Samuel sent for him? David was doing the one thing which is used to define leaders more than anything else in Scripture. He was shepherding. The Bible uses the shepherding image over and over to emphasize the nature of a leader. The lesson is that what we look for in a leader must be what God looks for. God went after a man with a shepherd’s heart. He wasn’t chosen because of the externals. He was chosen because his heart knew something of compassion and patience in dealing with sheep. David demonstrated the very heart of God in his work. The leaders we choose must be people who shepherd. If we choose leaders by virtue of the externals—their ability to manage, their business savvy—then we will have missed a real opportunity to look at things the way God does. God went after a man who had the heart of a shepherd. So should we as we look for those who will shepherd us. For at the very core of the heart of God is a shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd.”

F. Why didn’t God tell Samuel that David was to be anointed king before Samuel ever went to Bethlehem? It could have saved a lot of confusion. I think it is because Samuel needed to learn the lesson that God sees things differently than he did.

G. We can easily be impressed by what we see. But our God is unimpressed by things that impress us. God is constantly looking at our character and motives. He is impressed with a heart of caring compassion. What kind of heart do you have? When God looks at you, what does he see? Does he see a heart set on honoring him or a character which only pretends to honor God? Invitation.

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