Looking on the Heart – Sunday, February 01, 1998
Long ago, the prophet Samuel was taught: “. . . the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”1 This passage of scripture is familiar to many. But, like Samuel, we may find it difficult at times not to be distracted—or even misled—by appearances.
Samuel was struggling to find a replacement for King Saul when the Lord gave him this counsel: “Look not on [the] countenance, or on the height of his stature,” but rather look on the heart.2 He was still mourning the downfall of this great leader when, as prophet, he was commanded to anoint a new king. At that point in time, looking on the heart of any other man—even a future king—required the opening of his own heart.
And so, it goes for each of us. Think how our lives are enriched when we choose to look on the heart—and when others look on ours. How we value the friend who at first seemed so different from us, but who we took the time to get to know. How we cherish the family member who sees past our shortcomings and never fails to find goodness in us. For who we are on the inside—how we think and feel—matters so much more than what we appear to be.
Appearances can be deceptive, to be sure. The clothing we wear, the company we keep, the car we drive, the house we occupy are all outward measurements that can keep us from each other’s hearts. They allow for quick and easy classifications. But the stature of a person’s soul is so much more difficult to qualify, let alone discern.
Henry David Thoreau had much to say about looking deeper: “We know but few men,” he wrote, and “a great many coats and breeches.” So often, our evaluations of each other don’t extend far past coats and breeches. But, as Thoreau decides, “. . . if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do, will they not?”3
Certainly, the Lord is less concerned about outward appearances. His all-seeing eye penetrates to the very heart and discovers there the greatest treasure. He sees goodness, because He is good. He knows truth, because He is truth. He discerns real love, because He is love.
The more our own hearts are full of His goodness, truth, and love, the more we will be able to see as the Lord sees and really look on the heart.
1Old Testament, 1 Samuel 16:7.
2Ibid.
3Henry David Thoreau, Walden and Civil Disobedience (New York City, New York: Penguin Classics, 1983), p. 66.
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February 01, 1998
Broadcast Number 3,572