MESSAGE - "The Lord looks at the heart”

Have any of you ever watched a film or TV programme where a crime has been committed and a witness - perhaps the person who has been assaulted or robbed - has had to walk along a police line-up to pick out the offender?

So, for example, if Mark had his mobile stolen outside Iceland and the police believe they have arrested the person responsible, then they might arrange a line-up of a number of fairly similar looking people. Mark would then need to go to the police station, walk along a line of people holding up numbered cards and see if he can identify his assailant from the police line-up.

Are you with me? Do you know what I am talking about?

Actually, it isn't done like this anymore. When I was in practice as a Solicitor in Hampshire they trialled something called the "Promat Procedure", which I imagine is pretty well standard nowadays. It is basically a "virtual line-up". A number of people had been paid £10 each in various shopping centres around the county to have their photographs taken.

SHOW HOW THE INDIVIDUALS HAD BEEN ASKED TO STAND

Hampshire police thus created a large computer bank of images. If a suspect was arrested, following a descriptor, who was, say, a white male, of more mature years, receding hair-line etc then those details could be keyed into the photo-bank to select a number of persons with similar physical characteristics. Then a virtual identification parade would be created on a laptop and the images on the computer screen viewed by the victim instead.

SHOW AGAIN HOW THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN

A really good use of technology, for a number of reasons.

To the passage from 1 Samuel that Lindsay read to us earlier. Some background. From the time that the Israelite people had entered the Promised Land they had been ruled by various judges - Gideon, Samson, Deborah and the suchlike. But they had wanted a king. So God instructed the last judge Samuel to anoint Saul, a man who I Samuel 9 says was "an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites - a head taller than any of the others”.

But Saul was disobedient and ultimately rejected. So God told Samuel to visit a man called Jesse in Bethlehem and anoint one of his sons to be king instead.

That must have been quite a thing for Samuel. He would have to do this without Saul's consent or even knowledge - because if Saul ever found out then Samuel would undoubtedly be regarded as a traitor and his life most likely in danger.

But he obeyed God and went to Bethlehem, under the pretext of holding a sacrifice to which Jesse and his sons would be invited.

Verses 4 and 5:-

"Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?”

"Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.”

No one is exactly sure what happened next. Was Samuel waiting at the side watching the guests arrive and observing them from a distance? Or did something akin to that old-fashioned police line-up take place as Jesse introduced each of his sons to the great prophet?

Verse 6:-

"When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord."

We don't know exactly what Eliab looked like, but can guess. He was probably very muscular with a fairly evident six-pack. A natural warrior. Maybe even talk, dark and handsome! He certainly caught Samuel's eye.

But Samuel had to learn a very important lesson. God is not concerned with physical or other outward characteristics.

Verse 7:-

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

What a damning indictment on Eliab, the oldest son! Yes, he was tall. Yes, he did look very much a fighter. But God knew what he was like inside. As a potential leader of God's people he was not suitable and was rejected.

The story continues. The next two sons were introduced to Samuel. First Abinabad and then Shammah. No good. Then four more of Jesse's sons. They were not chosen either. And that seemed to be it.

But Samuel had been told by God that one of Jesse's sons was to be anointed as the future king, so he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?”

Verse 11 :-

"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him, he is the one."

And so the Bible introduces us to David. Someone who was regarded as being so insignificant by his own family that he had not even been invited to the feast! Just think about it. The visit of Samuel would have been an event of great importance - for the great prophet of Israel to visit a family was a very rare and special event. Perhaps even a 'once in a lifetime’. Yet his own family had seen fit to exclude the one person that Samuel had been specifically sent to meet.

God's ways are not our ways. He saw David on the inside. Although he was not considered important by his own family, he was chosen by God because God knew that he was "a man after His own heart. And they were the credentials needed to be God's king.

A few points:-

Firstly, let's think about that 'police-type' line-up for a moment. Imagine yourself as one of the seven brothers presented to Samuel. What sort of judgment would be passed on you by a God who knows all your secrets, who knows your real desires, your motives, your deep-seated attitudes towards others, who knows your heart, who sees you on the inside?

That's a pretty big question. But surely one that we should continually ask ourselves, remembering that God "desires truth in the inward parts." Others may look at the outward appearance, "but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most famous of American Presidents. Here is a quote from one of his speeches - it has been used by others since, but it is credited as originally as being from him:-

"You may fool all the people some of the time. You can even fool some of the people all of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

Think on this - "You cannot fool God any of the time!”

REPEAT - "You cannot fool God any of the time!”

There is quite a challenge here. For each of us to continually examine ourselves according to the standards that God requires.

Consider, for example, the passage that we often read at the Communion service.

From 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul tells us that "a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." As Christians there is a daily call upon each of us to continually rededicate ourselves and seek to become more like Jesus.

So, a pretty big question. Where do I, where do you, stand before God? If you had been in that line-up, what would God have said about you? Could it, would it, will it be said of you that you are a man or woman after God's own heart?

This is from Psalm 139:-

"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Repentance, turning back to God is key. Of vital importance. And with the tremendous encouragement that runs throughout the Biblical text - that is, the promise of restoration if we turn back to God.

This is from Isaiah 55:-

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him,; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

And some words from Psalm 51:-

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.”

Do you see something interesting there? The first step in others coming to Christ has to be a renewal in our relationship with Him - "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.”

And also this. A few moments ago I made a comment about David not being regarded as important enough to be invited to the sacrifice, the feast, when Samuel came to his parents' house in Bethlehem. Rather he was left out in the fields looking after the family's sheep while all his brothers went to the party. Yet God chose Him and David became the greatest leader that the nation of Israel ever had.

Even modern day Israel celebrate his achievements with the star of David being on their national flag.

Had David been rejected by his family? He was certainly thought little of, completely side-lined. But because his life was right before God he was used mightily for His kingdom.

The Christian life is not really about what we do or what we say or even about what we know - although all of those things have some importance. Primarily, it is about our relationship with our God and the continual need to live lives that are pleasing to Him, that heartfelt desire to know and love and worship Jesus not for what He can do for us but rather for who He is.

Two final things:-

FIRSTLY, is there a message for us not just as individuals but also as a Church? Could there be a call here for a rededication as a Church to our God? This is not to suggest in any way that Gorse Hill Baptist Church has failed to remain faithful, or "lost its first love" like the early Church in Ephesus mentioned in the book of Revelations. Rather, that for all churches at all times there should be a rededication to our God, a self-examination, an ongoing repentance as a body of God's people.

Revival! Is this something that we desire to see? You know, as Christians we can make the mistake of desiring, praying for revival without understanding what the word actually means. 'Revival' means to 'make alive again'. It is referring to the Church, not the non-Christian world outside.

These are some words from an old hymn:-

"Revive Thy work, O Lord!
While here to Thee we bow;
Descend, O gracious Lord, descend!
Oh, come, and bless us now!
"Revive the work O Lord, Thy might arm make bare,
Speak with a voice that wakes the dead, And make thy people hear.”

You may know these words from 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14:-

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

And finally, finally this. Returning to our own personal relationship with our God.

Psalm 51 was written by David after he was challenged by the prophet Nathan and was convicted of his sin. You may recall the story. An extra-marital affair with Bathsheba had led to an unplanned pregnancy and conspiracy to murder. Pretty, pretty bad - but not that unusual for kings. How far do we have to go back into our own history to see similar sorts of behaviour?

But David was no ordinary king. He was God's choice to lead His people Israel and what he had done was wrong, wrong, wrong. God had looked upon his heart, the heart that once was so in tune with that of his Creator - and it was found wanting.

But David knew what to do - he threw himself upon the mercy of the omnipresent, all-loving God. And in Psalm 51 he wrote these words:-

"You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

Maybe the prophet Samuel, as part of the instruction and teaching that he undoubtedly gave to that young shepherd boy, had told David what God had said to him those many years ago when he came to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse's sons as the next king of Israel:-

'Man looks upon the outward appearance, but the Lord looks upon the heart.”

Amen