The Way That You See

Today we come to our final message in this series on 1 Samuel, which has looked at the rise and fall of the house of Saul. And I thought it would be important to recap where we've been up until now as a way of seeing where we've been and how this final passage fits into the whole.

We began, back on January 4, in the days of the Judges with a certain man named Elkanah who had a wife who could not bear children. And after praying, the Lord gave her a son—Samuel—whom she dedicated to the service of the Lord. Samuel grew up at the tabernacle, Israel's house of worship, serving under Eli the priest. Eli had wicked sons, and did nothing to stop them, and one night the Lord visited Samuel with a message of judgment for Eli's house.

That judgment fell when Israel went to war against the Philistines, and the people brought the ark of the covenant to the front lines, where it was captured, and Eli's two sons were killed, and Eli himself died after receiving the news.

None of this was an accident. God was clearing out the corrupt priesthood and destroying a corrupt system of worship in preparation for a wholesale renewal of Israel's leadership.

While in hostile territory, the Lord worked through His ark to show His glory and power among the Philistines, until the ark was miraculously returned to Israel, proving to all that God's people needed Him, not the other way around.

Samuel grew and became Israel's prophet, priest, and national leader. Through him, God delivered Israel from the Philistines and proved His steadfast love for His people.

Still, as Samuel came to the end of his life, and the people saw the rise of new enemies, they weren't satisfied with God's leadership. They didn't want another judge. They wanted a big, tall king like the other nations. And God told Samuel to give them what they asked for. He had a plan.

So Samuel anointed Saul as Israel's first king. He was everything Israel asked for—tall and handsome. But also kind of clueless. And disobedient. He did help deliver a city from the Ammonites, but then everything fell apart. His son had to take the lead more than once, and in between Saul disobeyed direct commands, issued stupid commands, and almost caused as many problems for his people as their enemies did.

Finally, after directly disobeying another clear order from the Lord, and trying to justify instead of repent, Samuel announced that Saul had been rejected as king. And we read at the end of chapter 15, “And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:35).

But like we've seen, none of this was a mistake. God had a plan. What did Samuel say to Saul back in chapter 13? “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you’” (1 Samuel 13:14).

There's a replacement waiting in the wings, chosen by God. A man after his own heart.

That phrase "after his own heart" is very interesting, because it could refer to the character of the king-in-waiting: he was a man with a heart and a character that looked like or sought after God.

It also could mean simply that God sought him according to God's own heart—in other words, it's not talking about the place that God has in the new king's heart, but the place that the new king has in God's heart.

Once again, it's one of those questions where both answers are true. We're going to discover that this new king is different from Saul in that his heart is orientated towards God in a way that Saul's wasn't. But also, there's no question that God chose this king according to His own plan and purpose, and made this new king who he was. So both are true.

But that's all we know so far. All we know is that there is a king-elect in waiting.

Which means that the sad end of chapter 15 isn't the end. We know that there's a new story waiting to be told here.

1. Get Up and Go (vv. 1-3)

And I just love how chapter 16 opens up. It's important to remember that there are no chapter divisions in the original text of the Bible, and so we shouldn't miss how verse 1 is connected to what came before. Just listen to how these flow together:

“And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.  [And] The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go’” (1 Samuel 15:35–16:1)

We don't know how much time has passed while the Lord let Samuel grieve over Saul, but God has decided that Samuel has grieved long enough. It's time to get up and do the next right thing.

"I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons," verse 1 goes on to say. This is the first we've ever gotten any identification about who this new king might be. He's the son of Jesse from Bethlehem.

Now we know from the book of Ruth, which we looked at back before Christmas, that Jesse is the grandson of Boaz, a worthy man from Bethlehem. But look at how the author of 1 Samuel introduces the father of the new king.

It's especially notable when we remember how the fathers of Samuel and Saul were introduced.

“There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite” (1 Samuel 1:1). And the chapter went on to describe this man in a way that pointed to his great wealth.

Then we get to chapter 9: “There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth” (1 Samuel 9:1).

Both of these men are important enough to be given a genealogy that shows their lineage and place in their tribe. Their wealth and their greatness are highlighted.

And here in chapter 16, we get… Jesse the Bethlehemite. And that's it. We know nothing, as far as this story is concerned, about where this man came from or how rich he was. All that matters is that God has provided a son from among his sons.

The word "provided" is really important because in Hebrew it's just literally the word "see." "I have seen for myself a king among his sons." And it does have the sense of provided. Kind of like in English when we say, "I'll see to it" or "please see that this gets done."

But it's important to note that behind the word "provide" is the word see because, as we're going to see, the word "see" is a really important word that brings this whole passage together.

Samuel is initially a little hesitant to obey God's command. Verse 2: “And Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.’" Apparently, the road from Samuel's home in Ramah to Bethlehem ran right through Gibeah of Saul, and Samuel's a pretty famous guy. Even Saul knows who he is by now. So this little trip isn't going to be a secret.

And Samuel already knows—long before any spears get thrown at any walls—that Saul is not anywhere close to resigning his kingship. He doesn't care that God has rejected him. He's going to hold on to power and kill anybody who gets in his way.

And the Lord instructs Samuel with a cover story that is actually key to how all the events here will tie together. “And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you’” (1 Samuel 16:2-3).

Samuel is going to perform a sacrifice. And once again, we see that it's not a lie to withhold the truth from an evil person.

2. Journey to Bethlehem (vv. 4-5)

So, verse 4, “Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?”’” (1 Samuel 16:4).

Are they scared simply because Samuel is a powerful man? He prays, and thunder roars from heaven. Is he there because someone sinned and they're in trouble? Or do they know about his tension with Saul, and they're hoping he's not going to get them in trouble with their impulsive king?

There are a lot of reasons they could be scared, but Samuel reassures them in verse 5 that he's there peaceably—he's there to sacrifice to the Lord. He tells the elders to consecrate themselves, which included following a few steps from the law of Moses to make sure they were ritually pure to eat the sacrificial meal.

Remember, with many of the sacrifices, a significant portion of the sacrificial animal wasn't burned on the altar but was cooked and eaten by the priests and the people afterwards.

And verse 5 finishes by saying that "He consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice." It's perhaps a safe assumption that Jesse was one of the elders of the town (1 Sam 17:12), but I wonder if it seemed strange that his sons, out of anybody else, were included in the sacrifice? Were they wondering, why us? If so, this wouldn't be the first time that an unexpected guest at one of Samuel's sacrifices ended up being anointed as king.

3. Seven Sons (vv. 6-10)

Verse 6 takes us to the gathering itself. “When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him’” (1 Samuel 16:6).

We know from the next chapter that Eliab is Jesse's firstborn, and a warrior. We know from the next verse that he's tall. And Samuel, faithful Samuel, who has been through so much with Saul, looks on him, which in Hebrew is that key word sees again, and he makes the assumption that this is the Lord's anointed.

All Samuel is doing here is putting two and two together and getting four. The Lord said it would be one of Jesse's sons, so obviously it's the firstborn, because that's how things worked in the ancient world, and also this guy is seriously physically impressive.

But of course Samuel is jumping to major conclusions. Because how often in Israel's story had God deliberately not chosen the firstborn to be the key leader in a family or to be the one through whom the promises came? Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Moses—the list is long of people who were chosen by God though they were not first in line in terms of birth order.

And hadn't Samuel learned his lesson with Saul? Saul was tall and physically impressive, and look where they got him. After his heartbreak with Saul, Samuel should be the last to assume that Eliab's appearance means he's a good fit for king.

But instead of chiding him, the Lord tells him, in one of the key verses in this whole passage, “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” (1 Samuel 16:7).

There's a command here in verse: don't look on his appearance. That word "appearance" in Hebrew is connected to the word for "see." Don't just look on what you can see. And don't look on how tall he is.

Why? Two reasons. First, "I have rejected him." That's a strong statement. That's the same word as God used for Saul in verse 1. God has tested Eliab and found him unworthy of the kingship. And why is that? For the second reason we're given here:

"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

In Hebrew that key word "see" is all over this phrase—it's there in the word "see" and the word "look," both of which come from that same Hebrew word.

Samuel sees Eliab and sees what he can see with his eye—his appearance. But God doesn't see the way that people see. The Lord sees past our appearance to our heart—who we really are on the inside.

And the implication here is huge: the implication is that our appearance is not a reliable indicator of our hearts.

And in order to feel the weight of that point, we need to recognize that some things that we do with our appearance do show our hearts. If I came up here this morning in my pyjamas, that would say something about my heart, and not a very good thing.

So that's not what's in view here. This is talking about the stuff that we can't change. The way our bodies are in ways that we can't change. In this case, height.

As humans we often have this basic assumption that good people look good and bad people look bad. And we think we can tell who someone is on the inside from what we can see on the outside. It's called physiognomy.

Kids, you might not have heard that word before, but you know the idea. If you were reading a story and you read about a beautiful young woman with a glowing smile, and next to her was a bent old man with a hooked nose and wheezy breath and a crooked smile, tell me—who is the bad guy?

It's obvious, right?

But who says that having a bent back and a crooked smile and a hooked nose means you're a bad person? Maybe that's just the way your body is. And maybe the beautiful young woman is only beautiful skin-deep. Maybe her smile is hiding a heart of wickedness.

Somebody's body is not a reliable picture of their heart. And so Samuel is not supposed to look on Eliab's appearance. That's not what God is looking at. He's looking at the heart.

So Samuel keeps going. Verse 8: “Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one’” (1 Samuel 16:8).

We should recognize that at this point, we don't know if these people had any idea that Samuel was looking for a king. Maybe Samuel had a special blessing, or a word from the Lord, or was going to invite someone to join the school of the prophets. We don't know what they knew. But somehow Jesse catches on that Samuel has something for one of his sons, and one by one he makes all seven present pass before Samuel.

And Samuel tells him, even if Jesse doesn't fully know what this means, "The Lord has not chosen these."

4. The Lord's Anointed (vv. 11-13)

But Samuel knew that the Lord said he'd provided a king from among Jesse's sons. So without waiting for a response, he asks Jesse, “Are all your sons here?'"

And Jesse says, *'There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.'"

Wow. So Jesse has eight sons. He's been really blessed. But apparently he's not rich enough to afford servants to keep the sheep for him. One of his sons is doing it—the youngest.

Now we might think that this is a Cinderella kind of situation. That they didn't think this youngest was important enough to come to the feast. That might be the case. It might just be that somebody had to look after the sheep, and in a culture that favoured the firstborn, the youngest got the short straw.

This does tell us something important about this youngest—that he's responsible enough to be left out there with the sheep, alone, without a cell phone. Unlike Saul, who couldn't find his dad's donkeys, this son is trusted with his father's sheep.

I can't imagine, though, that this youngest son was too happy about being out by himself with the sheep while his brothers are off eating a special meal with the celebrity prophet. This is hard, any way you slice it.

And it's not good enough for Samuel. “And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here’” (1 Samuel 16:11).

“And he sent and brought him in." Suddenly they found a way for the sheep to be looked after! And verse 12 tells us, "Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome."

Okay, this is important, because when he comes in, we are told about his appearance. We are told that he was, first of all, ruddy, which just means "red." It's funny to me how some Bible translations trip over themselves to say things like "glowing with health" or "dark," because the word is just "red." It's the same word used of Esau.

And the earliest interpreters of the Bible took it fairly straightforwardly that this meant Jesse's youngest son was a redhead. We tend to associate red hair with European ancestry, perhaps specifically Irish, but globally, 1-2% of the population is red-haired and this is well-attested even in the Ancient Near East. So it seems most straightforward to understand that he was a redhead.

We next read that he had "beautiful eyes." Some take this to mean that he was good to look at with your own eyes, but either way, it highlights that he was a good-looking kid, which is summed up by the word "handsome," which just means that he was good-looking.

Does it surprise you that, after telling Samuel not to judge by appearance, the youngest son is highlighted for his good appearance? Well, we should note that it doesn't say he's tall. He probably lacked the one physical attribute connected to kingship. But otherwise, he was good-looking, and that's not bad.

Good looks don't prove you have a good heart, but neither do they prove you have a bad heart. We can't pendulum-swing here, like some Christians who seem to think that frumpiness is a fruit of the Spirit.

Samuel sets eyes on Jesse's youngest son, and he sees a good-looking kid, and there's nothing wrong with him noticing that—as long as he knows that his good looks don't qualify him for the kingship. What qualifies him for the kingship is in the heart—like we've seen, the place that God has in his heart, and the place that he has in God's heart.

And this is the one. God has chosen, not the oldest brother, not the second-in-line, but the youngest of them all, the most unlikely son, the one that didn't even get invited to the feast.

Look at the rest of verse 12: “And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him, for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers” (1 Samuel 16:12–13).

That oil that the Lord told Samuel to take up in verse 1 is finally put to use. What must this have been like for this to happen? Did they even understand what was going on, as the brothers looked on while the old prophet smeared or poured oil on the boy's head? Did they even know that this was an anointing for kingship? I have as many questions as I'm sure they did.

But Samuel knew what was happening. And so did God. Verse 13 makes an important connection for us—that the oil was the human sign of God's divine empowerment. Isaiah 61 says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me…” (Isaiah 61:1).

And here in verse 13, as the oil still glistened in the boy's red hair, we read that “…the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13).

Here at last we find out his name. Did you notice I've been careful not to use the name "David" until this point in the sermon? Because our passage doesn't use his name until now. It holds it back until this grand reveal at the end. David—which probably means "beloved"—is finally introduced to us by name, but by now he's no ordinary person anymore. He is the Lord's anointed, and a young man who has been filled and gripped by the Holy Spirit.

"From that day forward." Every great exploit David performs, he performs as a man filled with the Spirit. Don't forget that when we get to the battles, the victories, the Psalms, the dead giant. This is no mere brave human. This is the Lord's anointed, filled with God's spirit, a man after God's own heart, raised up in place of Saul to shepherd the Lord's covenant people.

But all of that is for another sermon series. Don't get mad, we have to stop somewhere.

5. And Us?

a. Fruit vs. Appearances

As we draw this sermon to its close, and really this whole series to a close, what does the author of 1 Samuel want us to see here in these 13 verses? It's not hard for me to see that verse 7 is the beating heart here. "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

And I believe that 1 Samuel, as we think especially about the contrast between Israel's first two kings, is inviting us to reflect on what we see. Bruce Cockburn once sang, "Depends on what you look at, obviously / But even more it depends on the way that you see." Could it be that 1 Samuel is inviting us to consider how we see?

Like we've seen, this doesn't mean that we ignore beauty. It doesn't mean that good appearances are bad. It just means that they aren't reliable. And it does mean that, like God, we are interested in the heart—of others, and of ourselves.

Now you might think, "That doesn't work, because we're not God. We can't see someone's heart like he can." And that's true to a point. But throughout His word, God has told us that there are ways of knowing what is in a heart.

Kids, you'll know this one. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34).

What is in a heart is revealed, not by someone's height or how beautiful their face is, but by their words. And their actions. Jesus later said,

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:18–19).

This is why Jesus could say, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).

Haven't we seen that with Saul? Tallest and best-looking man in Israel, and a total disaster as a king. And 1 Samuel is telling us, today, that we need not be so impressed or disgusted by appearances.

I can't help but think about young people looking for a marriage partner. Beauty is not bad, but many a beautiful body hides an ugly heart, and many a beautiful heart resides in a body that would never make it to any magazine covers.

We have to look past appearances to fruit.

b. The Training of Technology

And this is hard for us, because if Samuel had a hard time not judging by appearances, how much more do we, who have been trained by technology to be so image-oriented?

Beautiful faces and beautiful bodies are used to sell products everywhere we look. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent around the world on cosmetics and cosmetic surgery every year, fuelled by social media face filters that make people judge themselves and others based on impossible beauty standards.

Parents, I hope you know that the science on social media is rock-solid. It is a fact and not an opinion that the more time teenagers spend on social media, the worse they feel about themselves and their bodies, and their risk of depression and anxiety grows.

Social media is toxic—which again is an established fact, not an opinion—and it's been designed to be addictive by really smart people who have deliberately designed these apps to hijack attention and hook young people's brains the exact same way that alcohol and gambling do.

And it's not just a problem for teenagers too. It's a problem for children—I was just reading this morning about 8-year-olds doing skincare routines on TikTok. And it's a problem for adults.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't concerned, as a pastor, about the way that social media might be negatively affecting our relationships even as adults, even in this church.

And maybe you're thinking about all of the other people for whom it's a problem, but you're pretty sure that you're fine. One important study showed that people are quick to point out how bad social media is for other people, but we tend to underestimate its effect on us.

So let me just encourage you today to take a look at your screen time history, or your browsing history, and consider just how much time you spent scrolling this past week. Compare that number to how much time you spent talking to God or reading His word.

And consider how the very image-based nature of all of that screen time was training you to do the opposite of what 1 Samuel 16 is teaching us. Social media disciples us, minute by minute, to look on the outward appearance, and to care less and less about the God who looks on the heart—including our own hearts.

3. No Form or Majesty

See, God sees the jealousy and the insecurity and the pride and the shame we feel as we scroll on our phones or as we do or say anything else in our lives.

And that could be scary news. That could be depressing news.

If it weren’t for another Anointed One. A man who had no form or majesty that we should look at him. A man who we would have walked by on the street without noticing. A man so ordinary that not once in four biographies of him do we get a single reference to how he looked.

But a man with a heart like no other. A man anointed by the Holy Spirit who let himself be "marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind" (Isa 52:14), in order to pay the price for all of the ugliness that has come out of our hearts. So that we too could be filled with His Spirit who transforms our hearts to look like His.

If you've been heavy-laden by a world—and maybe even a church—that puts the crushing weight of unrealistic appearances on you, Jesus offers you rest. He sees your heart, and not just sees it, but is able to make it truly beautiful.

And will make it perfectly and finally like His when He returns, and we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Until then, we have bread and a cup and the Holy Spirit, and by faith we get to turn to Him together now.