God Looks at the Heart

Our culture today is so focused on beauty. Outward appearance is highly valued, and people spend inordinate amounts of time and money to look beautiful. Some even have plastic surgery to look younger, better, more attractive. But God has a different view of beauty. If we want to know what true beauty is, we need to look at what God says about beauty in the Bible.

When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint the next king, Samuel was obviously looking for something different than what God had in mind. In 1 Samuel 16:1, God told Samuel to stop pouting over King Saul, and go anoint a new king. You see, Samuel had originally anointed Saul king, but Saul disobeyed God and lost his anointing. God told Samuel to go see Jesse the Bethlehemite and that He had chosen the next king from among his sons.

Samuel was a great prophet, and as he arrived, the elders of the city trembled and asked if he came in peace. Samuel did come in peace. He sacrificed with them and consecrated both Jesse and seven of his sons, but Samuel did not know that one son was missing. Jesse presented his sons before Samuel. As Jesse’s first son Eliab passed before Samuel, he thought surely that this was the one to be anointed. But God had a different choice. God told Samuel to be careful and said to him in 1 Samuel 16:7 New American Standard Bible:

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This gives us some idea of what God was looking for. One by one, as Jesse presented each of his sons, every time God told Samuel, “No, not this one.” At this point, Samuel had worked his way through all seven of the sons, and he was out of options. He then asked Jesse whether he had any more sons. Jesse must have thought there was no way his youngest son could be the one God wanted to anoint, so he had left David out in the field tending the sheep. He did not regard David highly enough to include him in the gathering of his sons. David had been forgotten. I want to take a moment here to speak to anyone who is not highly regarded by their family. Please know that God has not forgotten you. God regards you. 

Jesse finally brought David in from the field, and though David’s family did not even consider him, God saw something special in David. David was the one God chose. In 1 Samuel 16:12 King James Version, we read:

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look at. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he.”

David was “goodly looking”, but what God was really after lay deep within David. God was looking at David’s heart. David also had a “beautiful countenance”. In 1 Samuel 25 KJV, we see the same expression “beautiful countenance” is used to describe Abigail. Abigail was a very godly woman, who by her wisdom saved her husband Nabal’s life and then later became David’s wife (when her husband died). 1 Samuel 25:3 NASB says:

..and the name of his wife Abigail; and she was a woman of good understanding and of beautiful countenance.

This word “countenance” H5869 (1 Samuel 16:12) means “an eye, a fountain, face, presence.” Our countenance displays what is in our hearts. It is through our countenance that His light shines. Moses’ face shone after he met with God in the tabernacle (Exodus 34:29-35). Both scriptures about David and Abigail, use the same word for “beautiful”. Beautiful H3303 in Hebrew means “beautiful, fair, pleasant”, from another root word that means “to be bright, be beautiful.” Beauty radiates from within, brightly reflecting His beauty and light. Like God told Samuel, He looks at the heart.

We reflect His beauty as we allow His light to shine through the hidden person of the heart. This is so precious to God! In 1 Peter 3:3-4 NASB, we read: 

Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 

God doesn’t have anything against dresses, braided hair or wearing gold! Adornment or dressing nicely is fine, but that is not to be ALL we adorn ourselves with. God wants us to focus on the hidden person of the heart. The word “person” G444 in this scripture means “countenance”. We are also to be adorned with the hidden countenance that shines His light from deep within our hearts. That is the MOST BEAUTIFUL to God!! 

So mom’s let’s concentrate on being beautiful by 

REFLECTING INNER BEAUTY FROM HEARTS FILLED WITH JESUS.

In His Love,

Suzanne