{"id":6486,"date":"2023-05-25T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T07:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=6486"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:01:40","slug":"1-samuel-167-but-the-lord-said-to-samuel-do-not-look-at-his-appearance-or-at-his-physical-stature-because-i-have-refused-him-for-the-lord-does-not-see-as-man-sees-for-man-looks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=6486","title":{"rendered":"1 Samuel 16:7: \u201cBut the LORD said to Samuel, \u2018Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.\u2019\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

God instructed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king. When Samuel saw Jesse’s first son, Eliab, he said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” Eliab must have appeared very impressive, but God hadn’t chosen him and told Samuel not to look at his outward appearance. He had chosen David. It’s interesting that David’s father Jesse completely left his youngest son out of the family gathering. It seems Jesse thought so little of his son that he didn’t even feel David worth considering. But God looks at the heart; He is heart-sighted<\/em>, and He knew that David had a heart for God.<\/p>\n

The life of a man will reflect what is in his heart. Human sight and understanding are very limited and are bound by our past experiences. So it’s easy for us to miss a thousand other possibilities. Proverb 14:12 warns us: \u201cThere is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.\u201d That’s why it’s so important that we maintain a heart that is constantly listening to the Lord.\u00a0Even the prophet Samuel missed it, making a very human judgment and mistake when he saw Eliab. However he kept a \u201clistening heart\u201d that was open to receiving correction from the Spirit of the Lord.<\/p>\n

We must be careful not to allow any feelings of human inadequacy to hold us back from serving the Lord, whether it comes from others or ourselves. God does not need us to have great talent; He needs us to have a heart of surrender, willing to serve Him.<\/p>\n

“LORD, we surrender afresh to You this day, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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1 Samuel 16 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, he will kill me. And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>whom I name unto thee.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel did that which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the\u00a0LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the\u00a0LORD\u2019S\u00a0anointed\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>before him.\u00a0\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for\u00a0the\u00a0LORD\u00a0seeth\u00a0<\/em>not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the\u00a0LORD\u00a0looketh on the heart.\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the\u00a0LORD\u00a0chosen this.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the\u00a0LORD\u00a0chosen this.\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath not chosen these.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all\u00a0thy\u00a0<\/em>children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And he sent, and brought him in. Now he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>ruddy,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, Arise, anoint him: for this\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>he.\u00a0\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 14<\/sup>\u00a0But the Spirit of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the\u00a0LORDtroubled him.\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul\u2019s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0Let our lord now command thy servants,\u00a0which are\u00a0<\/em>before thee, to seek out a man,\u00a0who is\u00a0<\/em>a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>to me.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite,\u00a0that is\u00a0<\/em>cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>with him.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>with the sheep.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And Jesse took an ass\u00a0laden\u00a0<\/em>with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>by David his son unto Saul.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.\u00a022<\/sup>And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when the\u00a0evil\u00a0<\/em>spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God instructed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king. When Samuel saw Jesse’s first son, Eliab, he said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” Eliab must have appeared very impressive, but God hadn’t chosen him and told Samuel not to look at his outward appearance. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6486"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16167,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6486\/revisions\/16167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}