Homilist 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… I. IT IS EXCLUSIVELY DIVINE. It is not given to man, not given perhaps to the highest created intelligence, to peer into the depths of another spirit, and there sound all the motives and impulses of action. In sooth, man is unable to detect or ascertain all the varied forces even within himself, which prompt his own actions. "Who can understand his errors? cleanse Thou me from secret faults." Still less able is he to penetrate into the motives of his fellow men. II. IT IS MANIFESTLY JUST. 1. To judge from appearance would be very inaccurate judgment. (1) Some of our external actions have no intentions at their root. They start from blind impulse, break forth from a sudden rush of passion. Such actions are scarcely ours. From a sudden gust of feeling the soul has lost its balance, and an act is performed which is regretted the moment after its execution. Surely it would be wrong to judge a man from these sudden outbreaks of impulse, the rare exceptions of his life. (2) Actions apparently bad spring sometimes from good intentions. Saul persecuted the Church of God from good intentions. (3) Sometimes actions apparently good have their rise in bad intentions. 2. To judge from appearance would be a very partial judgment. Suppose it were possible to catalogue all your external actions, say for one week of your existence, and then catalogue also the unembodied desires, wishes, volitions, cravings, aspirations of the soul during that week, what would be the one compared to the other? A page to a volume. Our inner activities are incessant, varied, and almost innumerable. Therefore to judge a man by his external conduct would be a very partial judgment. From this it seems clear that God's method of judgment is after all the true method. III. IT IS ALARMINGLY SUGGESTIVE. 1. It suggests the imperfection of the best of us in the sight of Heaven. 2. It suggests terrible revelations at the last day. 3. It suggests the necessity of a heart's renovation. (Homilist.) 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. |
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