The heart of the matter, 1 Samuel 16:7

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

This is so contrary to the world. First, this is contrary because it’s something that only God can do perfectly. Only God can look at the heart of man and know it completely.

Second, it’s contrary to the world because people are concerned with what we can see. And what we can see means more than just physical appearances, but it often starts with what a person looks like.

The world views “good-looks” as a leadership quality

“A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that candidates’ physical appearance strongly influences voters, and that people around the world seem to agree about what constitutes a “good-looking” leader. To test their theory, MIT researchers took photos of political candidates from Brazil and Mexico and showed them to voters in the United States, India and Mexico, asking them to choose the person they thought would make a better elected official. The respondents had surprisingly similar choices — the U.S. and Indian participants chose the same candidate about 75 percent of the time and agreed with Mexican participants about 80 percent of the time. And the respondents’ choices closely correlated with the actual winner in each pair. It shows “how universal people’s judgments are about who should be their right leaders,” said MIT associate professor Gabriel Lenz, who co-authored the study. “It’s kind of surprising that everyone seems to agree, and hard to know why.” (Politico article)

In fact, the first every televised presidential debate in 1960 proves the impact that appearances can have on the way we view leadership. Going into the election Nixon had a 6pt lead in the polls. On the day of the televised debate, Nixon was ill, he had a knee injury, he didn’t attend the pre-debate tv prep, and he refused make-up. In contrast Kennedy worked on his tan during the week, showed up for the debate, and had his team use make-up right before the debate….

After the debate Kennedy had a slight edge in the polls. Interestingly enough, Nixon’s running-mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, had watched the debate on tv and accused Nixon of losing the election when the debate was over. But, Kennedy’s running mate, Lyndon Johnson, had listened to it on the radio and considered Nixon the winner of the debate. TV ushered in a new way for appearances to influence people… and now we have social media, in particular Instagram and Tik-Tok where attractive people lead the way with their opinions and products because of how they look.

We live in a country where people are looked up to because of their entertainment value rather than their character, integrity, or ability to lead.

The world looks for leaders who entertain and appease

The world wants you to please it. This happens in a myriad of ways, but all roads lead to doing what others approve of and like rather than doing the right thing or being the right person.

The basis for the news is ratings, the basis for political positions is ratings, the basis for what you post on social media is ratings… That’s what it means to get a like, share, or follow… its ratings.

The world would rather have someone who looks strong and wealthy rather than have someone who is strong and leads by conviction.

The problem with wanting to be entertained or appeased is that it flows from our hearts. And it reveals a deeper problem with how we view God. The same people who want their political and social leaders to cater to them, are people who in turn want the same things from God.

“We want character but without unyielding conviction; we want strong morality, but without the emotional burden of guilt or shame; we want virtue but without particular moral justifications that invariably offend; we want good without having to name evil; we want decency without the moral authority to insist upon it; we want moral community without any limitations to personal freedom. In short, we want what we cannot have on the terms that we want it.” - R. Albert. Mohler, Conviction to Lead

3. What we look for in our leaders reveals a great deal about our own hearts

This is the situation at hand in Israel in 1 Samuel… the people want a king, but their hearts are not in the right place.

They don’t want a king who will lead them to do what the Lord says. The want a king like the pagan nations around them… and God grants their selfish desires with the punishment they deserve… they get a king who falls short in his own heart of what God desires.

1 Samuel 16:7 happens when God sends Samuel to anoint the second king of Israel. He does not know who the man will be, so he can only assume what he will be like. And, like we have mentioned a normal assumption of a leader is that he will be impressive to look at, be physically gifted, and stand out from the others around him. But, God made His point with Saul, the first king of Israel… and now He is going to make another point with the second one, David.

Saul. He was taller and stronger than the rest of the men in the nation. It made sense to everyone that he would be a king. So, naturally Samuel obeys the Lord and goes to Jesse and asks to see his sons. When Jesse brings his sons out, the first and oldest son looks to be the right kind of man. But, the Lord tells Samuel not to look at his outward appearance for the Lord looks at the heart. Israel had made the mistake of looking at the outward appearance before when he first saw King Saul. And, King Saul proved with his life and reign, that the heart matters more than appearances, material possessions, strength, abilities, and talents.

Flip back with me 1 Samuel 15…

In 1 Samuel 15:24 Saul reveals what he was living for when he says, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.”

Saul said this after leading Israel into great sin because he lived for the praise and adoration of others. His heart beat for the approval of others rather than the approval of the Lord. And, because he lived for the approval of others he did not live for the approval of God.

Scripture says that Saul rejected the word of the Lord. Saul rejected the Word of the Lord by failing to follow through and obey God.

Saul was sent by God to conquer the Amalekites and destroy the people and all of their belongings. But, when he returns from battle he claims that he has done all that God asked… and at that point Samuel said in 15:14, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”

Saul had defeated the Amalekites, but he had not committed everything to destruction. He saw the value of everything, and along with the people they brought it all back to sacrifice to the Lord.

(They tried to take what God said not have, and make something done or given to the Lord… and you can’t do that)

Saul couldn’t see what he did wrong in this moment. Samuel said to him in vs 19-21, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight o the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

Saul claims that he did all that God asked of him, but the people wanted to bring everything back rather than to obey God. But in 1 Samuel 15:22 we find that the people have misjudged God by misjudging what pleases God. Samuel asks them “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”

The answer to this question drives at the core of Israel’s struggle with God… they wanted to make religious sacrifices without having to obey.

But, Samuel answers this question with the rest of verse 22… “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

They brought sacrifices to the Lord instead of obedience. They didn’t listen but they brought the spoils of the battle.

God wants obedience, but He offers forgiveness. The offer of forgiveness does not supersede God’s desire for obedience.

You cannot make up for ignoring and disobeying God with your sacrifices and offerings.

We must guard against the idea that because God offers forgiveness He doesn’t want us to obey. One way that we guard against abusing the grace of God is by reminding ourselves of the truth that our positive actions toward or for God do not make up for our sins against Him. Righteousness isn’t achieved by tipping the scales of your life in the direction of good rather than evil. God wants your heart and its desires to be for Him and not for yourself.

When you do what you want (disobey) but then offer praise, sacrifice, or offerings to make up for it you reveal the condition of your heart. And the heart is at the center of who we are and what God values above all things.

Who you are and what you do flows from your heart

Luke 6:45 (ESV)

45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Proverbs 4:23 (ESV)

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

God delights in pure hearts

2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him…”

Psalm 147:10–11 (ESV)

10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, 11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 (ESV), 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

The problem is that we are all born with wicked hearts

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Romans 3:9–12 (ESV)

“9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

The solution is spiritual and it requires a new heart

God prophesied through Ezekiel in 36:26–27 (ESV), “26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Jesus said in John 3:3 (ESV), 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

God changes our hearts because of His heart for us

Later in his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus explains this further… John 3:16–21 (ESV) says,

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

A new heart comes through the transforming power of God to those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

A new heart means a new love that prioritizes the approval of God

Matthew 22:37 (ESV)

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

A new heart comes with a desire to obey by walking in the ways of the Lord.

This means your desires, intentions, emotions, thoughts, and actions.

A new heart means you look at people differently because of how God looks at you.

A new heart means you look at yourself differently because of how God looks at you.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 (ESV)

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

God sees the heart… and that means we look for leadership in those who are walking according to His ways.

God sees the heart… and our church must be a place where we exhibit His heart to one another.

God sees your heart… and that should lead us to humility and repentance because he sees through your attempts to cover up your guilt and shame. This should also result in the church being a place where we are truly known by one another and are truly encouraged to press on and trust the Lord.

The Lord looks on the heart… what does He see in yours… and remember what’s in His.

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