We’ve all done it. We’ve met someone for the first time, or even seen someone from across the room, and we make a judgment on their personality, their character, and whether we would even want to know or like them. We make these judgments based solely on what they look like. We see someone who is overweight, so we think they must be lazy and have no self-control. We think someone has shifty or beady eyes, and decide they are dishonest. We see someone with a nice tan and well-toned body, and we immediately have good and positive thoughts. We want to be friends with the person dressed in expensive, designer clothes, but shun the person with more worn clothes. In our Scripture to start off the fourth week of Lent, we read of someone who also started to make judgments based on a person’s looks, and what the Lord God had to say.
As our Scripture from the Old Testament Book of I Samuel begins, God had rejected Saul from being king over Israel. This was due to the stubborn, unrepentant disobedience of King Saul. So the Lord sent His prophet Samuel to anoint a new king. Samuel was initially afraid to carry out this order from the Lord. Though Saul had been told several times before that his disobedience to God would cost him and his family the throne, he didn’t want to accept that. Samuel knew there would be trouble if Saul knew what he was doing (vs. 1-3), but nonetheless, he obeyed and headed to Bethlehem.
The Lord had told Samuel to call together the family of Jesse, a resident of Bethlehem, and that he and his sons were to be at the sacrifice, as one of his sons would be anointed king. Now Samuel began to do what we all have done, and that was to make judgments based on what each son of Jesse looked like. When Samuel saw Jesse’s son Eliab, he thought that he would be a good choice for king, making that judgment based solely on the way he looked. Perhaps he was a tall, handsome young man. However, God wasn’t going to pick His man based on what they looked like (vs. 6-7). Seven sons of Jesse came before the prophet, and all seven were rejected.
Jesse had eight sons, and he only had seven of them in attendance, as the youngest, David, was out in the fields tending the sheep. One wonders why Jesse didn’t include David, as Samuel had told him to bring his sons. (Psalm 27:10 hints that Jesse wasn’t the most loving or caring father to David.) Samuel indicated that God had not chosen any of the seven, and insisted that David was to be included (vs. 8-11).
When David arrived, God spoke to Samuel and told the prophet that he was the one that He had chosen to lead the nation in place of Saul. God chose the youngest of the eight sons. God chose the one that the others had left out and had not even thought to include. Jesse hadn’t called David to the sacrifice and ceremony. Maybe he felt David wasn’t important, and that he didn’t matter. However, it didn’t matter what Jesse thought. It only mattered what God thought. God had chosen David.
When people judge by outward appearance, they may overlook quality individuals who lack the particular physical attributes that society currently admires. Appearance doesn’t reveal what people are really like. God judges by faith and character, not appearance. God does not choose anyone because of physical attraction. He doesn’t pick people because they weigh the right amount, or are the ideal height. He doesn’t pick them because they have the looks to be on a magazine cover or in the movies, or wear the best clothes. None of that is important to God. He looks at what’s inside, which is where we need to look, too.
In spite of the fact that this Scripture passage is often cited as a warning to not make superficial judgments, Christians still often do about how people look. A look into many congregations will show that it’s the “beautiful people” who are the most popular. People may look good on the outside, but are rotten on the inside. Many of us may have bitten into an apple that looked fine, but we instantly spat it out because underneath the shiny skin the fruit was rotten.
Never judge by externals, like looks, wealth, popularity, or position. God knew that there was nothing genuinely appealing about David’s brothers. He knew that they were not men He could use. It was the youngest, the overlooked and forgotten one, that God wanted.
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