“When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought,
‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 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.’” (1 Samuel
16:6-7, ESV)
Have you heard the saying “perception is reality”? I used to
believe that but praise God, He has taught me otherwise. All throughout the
Bible we are taught that God does not see the same way that we do.
In 1 Samuel, the king Saul has lost the favor and spirit of the Lord our
God because of his disobedience and his lack of repentance in his heart. God
instructs Samuel the prophet to go to Bethlehem and seek a son of Jesse there.
Samuel does not know his name. He has all of Jesse’s sons brought before him as
the Lord directs him in which God will anoint as King of Israel. Today’s
passage picks up the story when Samuel is looking on the sons of Jesse.
