The Lord looks at the heart

But the LORD said to Samuel,"Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; a for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." – 1 Samuel 16v7

Outward appearance is obviously the first thing to catch our eyes. We see and too often make judgements about people by what we see the first time we see them. Sadly it often takes us a while to get over it and get to know the real person.

But God does not see like a man sees. We look at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. Here, Samuel was at Jesse’s home looking for the new king. The oldest son, Eliab, was sent in and Samuel thought that surely this man should be king. Then God told Samuel to not be so quick to judge by appearance, but instead to wait for God because He sees the heart.

There are two ways we can look at this truth. First we can be comforted that when men see us wrongly and misjudge us based on our appearance that God knows our heart. As long as our heart is truly right we can be comforted, but we had better be sure that our hearts are truly right and we are not using this verse as an excuse for our behaviour.

On the other hand there is a thought provoking and convicting aspect to this. We can put on the right appearance. We can dress right, get our hair cut right, listen to the right music, say ‘amen’ at just the right time, carry the right Bible, and go to the right church. We can certainly make the right impression to everyone who sees us. That is something that we can really get to be good at.

Remember though, that is not what God sees. God looks at the heart. We can do all those things and more and still have a rotten, stinking, filthy heart. We can fool everyone, including ourselves, but we cannot fool Him who knows our hearts.