The Lord Looks on the Heart
“The LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ … When they [Jesse and his sons] 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.’”
We know from the rest of the story that God also rejected the next six of Jesse’s sons in sequence, until only the youngest, David, was left. God said of David, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” (v. 12) In Acts 13:22, Paul reminded his listeners, “And when he had removed him [Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’” (See also 1 Samuel 13:14)
We can’t see inside a person’s thoughts to know what’s really going on in there. But God can. He sees right through any facade that we can put up to try to fool our fellow humans. He goes even further than that; He can see the motivations behind our thoughts!
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Often, we don’t even understand our own motivations:
“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.”
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’”
David told his son, “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.” (1 Chronicles 28:9) Jesus told the Pharisees, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.” (Luke 16:15)
It makes me think of the example of a toddler who innocently comes into the living room with chocolate and crumbs all over their face and hands. You ask them, “Did you sneak a cookie from the cupboard?” And they answer, “No!” Or the little girl who comes into the room with an abundance of bright red coloring all over her face, looking as if she’s entering a clown competition. You ask, “Have you been playing with Mommy’s makeup?” Of course, the answer is, “No!”
I think sometimes we approach God in the same way. We can be doing the right things, but for the wrong reasons or with an improper attitude. And we think no one will notice. Are we doing something:
To get the credit or affirmation?
Because we feel like we should, but don’t really want to?
Because it’s expected (but we do it grudgingly)?
Because it looks good on our spiritual resume?
Or are we doing it because:
There is joy in serving?
We know that it pleases the Lord?
It is an expression of love toward God and/or others?
People around us may not notice, but God sees the chocolate or the lipstick on our faces.
A lawyer asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment. And Jesus, quoting Deut 6:5, answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) And that is something that we simply cannot fake. Even if we fool 99.99% of the people around us, we cannot fool God. He knows our hearts, our thoughts, and the motives behind our thoughts. And eventually, the mask cracks or falls apart anyway, exposing what we’re made of (often during an intense trial or difficulty).
It’s a hard question to ask one’s self. “Am I in any way a phony? Am I a poser?” If you honestly ask yourself that question, you probably are not. If you care about the answer, you more than likely are not. You might think, “But what if my thoughts or motives are not always pure?” Well, as long as you’re on this side of heaven, they’re not going to always be pure! It’s when you don’t care about it that you need to be worried. It comes down to who wins that internal battle between pride and humility. Jesus told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to the temple to pray. The “righteous” Pharisee pretty much just praised himself before God. The tax collector, however, approached God from a distance in utter humility, confessing and asking for mercy. (Luke 18:9-14)
That’s the key. We’re going to mess up. We’re going to occasionally have impure or selfish thoughts or motives. But rather than try to convince God that we didn’t sneak a cookie (with the evidence abundantly obvious to Him), we need to simply and humbly acknowledge our shortcomings before Him. And He is more than ready to forgive.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We need to keep short accounts with God. We need to pray as David did, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24) And again, “Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” (Psalm 26:2) The reward for a heart that humbly follows after God will be peace.
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
“Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
