1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him… Admiration for physical height and bulk natural to warlike peoples. Regarded by them as indispensable qualification for leadership. Thus Herodotus tells us that the Ethiopians "confer the sovereignty upon the man whom they consider to be of the largest stature, and to possess strength proportionable to his size." And again, after stating that the armies of Xerxes numbered more than five millions of men, he continues: "But of so many myriads, not one of them, for beauty and stature, was more entitled than Xerxes himself to possess the power." Saul then was just the kind of man to fulfil such conditions as these. "From his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people." Nor was he deficient in other qualities, courage for instance, such as would recommend him to a bold and warlike people. But in judgment he was lacking, and in action self-willed. The malady which came upon him during his later life was the fit precursor of his tragic end. His sun set in darkness and in blood upon the mountains of Gilboa. The gloom of Saul's closing years had been deepened by the knowledge that he had been superseded by the Divine degree, and that as he had been the first so he was to be the last of his family to occupy the throne. Soma years before the death of Saul, Samuel had been seat to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse king in his room. We must not however suppose, because David was chosen by Him Who "looketh not on the outward appearance, but upon the heart," that he was not well-favoured and attractive. Physical beauty even, if more than skin deep, if it result from the shining through the windows of the beautiful tenant within the house, is and always has been a great moral force in the world. The thing to be noted, however, is that while these attractions were well fitted to be the handmaids and helpers of the internal qualities which the fair young shepherd boy possessed, it was not on account of his graces of form and feature that the Lord "chose David His servant, and took him from the sheep folds," etc. (Psalm 78:70, 71.)The principle on which the selection was made is clearly indicated in the words, "The Lord looketh on the heart." What was there in the heart of David to commend him? There was that in the heart of David which in some way or other rendered applicable to him the designation which was thus prophetically given him, and which has clung to him ever since. "Saul had been man's man, David was to be God's man." And yet rash and sinful though Saul was we do not find that he descended to such depths of wickedness as those which David, in his later history, fathomed. We encounter something like the same difficulty here as we are familiar with in the matter of the Divine preference, shall I say? of Jacob to Esau (Malachi 1:2, 3; Romans 9:13). Naturally Esau's was the more generous and open nature, just as there are magnanimous traits in the character of Saul which it would not be easy to find so prominent in the disposition of David. But the truth is that: both in Jacob and in David, with all their faults and failings, there were aspirations after goodness, which were altogether foreign to the natures of the two men with whom, on the page of history, they stand contrasted. We cannot imagine Esau occupying the place, or undergoing the experience of Jacob at Peniel. Neither can we think of Saul as the author of such outpourings of "a broken and a contrite spirit" as the penitential psalms. And one of the best answers that can be given to the question, How comes it that such an one as David could be spoken of as "a man after God's own heart?" is to be found in such words as those of Thomas Carlyle on the subject. The text then presents us with a contrast between human judgments and the Divine judgment of men and things. "The Lord seeth not as man seeth," for "Man looketh on the outward appearance." I. HERE WE HAVE THE SECRET OF THE IMPERFECTION, THE NECESSARY IMPERFECTION OF HUMAN JUDGMENTS. 1. The "outward appearance" may lead us to over estimate the values of things. In small things and in great we are to a large extent at the mercy of the impressions made upon us through the senses. How slow we are to learn that an attractive exterior may conceal a false and faithless heart; that the value of a deed depends not upon the scale on which it was done, but upon the motive which inspired it; that the only true greatness, whether of men or of actions, is that which is moral and spiritual. 2. But, on the other band, we must also remember that we may easily be led by the "outward appearance" to the undervaluing of men's motives and characters. There are a hundred and one facts which ought to be taken into the account before a perfect judgment of any man can be formed, facts of which his fellow men are, and must be, largely ignorant. Again, "The Lord seeth not as man seeth," for "The Lord looketh on the heart" II. WHILE OUR JUDGMENTS MUST BE PARTIAL AND IMPERFECT BECAUSE OUR KNOWLEDGE IS SO LIMITED, THERE IS ONE WHO KNOWS. The features in any man's life and character, our ignorance of which disables us from appraising at their proper worth his words and actions, are all known to God: the hereditary bias towards some form of evil which has made his life a continual battlefield; the educationary influences which surrounded him in early youth, and which have necessarily done so much to make him, for good or evil, what he is today; all these and many other factors in the problem which every human life presents, are fully known to Him. III. THIS GREAT AND SOLEMN TRUTH YIELDS US TWO LESSONS: — 1. One of warning. We may impose upon our fellow men, and even delude ourselves, but we can never deceive God. 2. One of consolation and encouragement for all who have been made the victims of the slander and misrepresentation of their fellows, etc. What does He see when He looks upon your heart and mine? (F. R. Bailey.) Parallel Verses KJV: But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. |
    |