God Looks at the Heart

Well, good evening everybody. My name is Alistair. As has already been mentioned, I have the privilege of being on staff here at the church and the privilege of opening this passage of God's Word to us this evening.

But before we get to that, let's pray together. Let's pray.

God, we come before you and acknowledge that we need your help with this passage.

It is long, it is full of details, but it is beneficial for our souls.

And we pray that you'd keep us attentive and that you would transform our hearts by your Word this evening.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

You might not know it, but I can almost guarantee that the majority of you will remember

what happened on Saturday the 11th of April in 2009.

I can see you all thinking. That's good. You're with me.

Well, it was the night that Susan Boyle took to the stage for her very first audition of Britain's Got Talent.

Now, as she walked onto the stage, Susan looked a little bit out of place.

She's a small 47-year-old lady from a small town in West Lothian.

And she's now standing on an absolutely massive stage, packed with flashing lights and glitter.

And as she walked onto the stage, you could see the skepticism in the judges' faces.

Simon Cowell asked his normal question,

What's the dream?

And Susan said, Well, I'm trying to be a professional singer.

Who do you want to be like?

Elaine Page.

And everybody was surprised.

You could hear whispers in the audience.

You could see that people didn't believe it.

They were judging Susan Boyle by what they saw.

Now, none of them would have thought that this little lady from Bathgate

would go from being completely unknown to the world in 2009

to having an estimated net worth of £23 million in 2018 and six albums.

The minute she opened her mouth and sang just the very first line of the song,

I Dreamed a Dream,

the whole crowd erupted with amazement and stood to their feet applauding.

Susan Boyle is now a household name in Scotland and arguably all over the world.

And that very first audition on YouTube has over 28 million views.

Appearances can be deceiving, can't they?

And the big thing that we're going to see in 1 Samuel this evening

is that God doesn't look at things the way people do.

People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

But before we dive into chapter 16,

we need to do a quick recap of what's already happened in 1 Samuel up until now.

So a lot has happened in this book so far.

In chapter 3, God stepped into the broken life of the nation of Israel

and called a prophet, a man named Samuel.

At that point, he was a boy.

He's a spokesperson for God.

Someone who would proclaim the word of God to the nation

and then call them to a right worship of their God.

But sadly, that didn't happen.

Chapters 4, 5 and 6 show us how Israel treated God as a good luck charm.

They weren't giving God the honor or the praise that he deserves.

And then in chapters 8 to 15, we see the rise,

but sadly also the fall of a king.

In chapter 8, Israel cry out for a king to fight against their enemies.

They reject God as their ruler.

And they say they want an earthly king to sit on their earthly throne.

But despite all of Samuel's warnings,

despite this so-called brave king hiding in the luggage when they want to crown him,

they still make Saul their king.

Saul was tall.

He was handsome.

He looked the part.

He looked like the real deal, and so they made him king.

But it doesn't take long before we see that he isn't the right king at all.

Saul disobeys God's commands time and time again,

and we see the end result of that in chapter 15, verse 26,

where Samuel says to Saul,

that the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.

This is terrible news.

Israel looked at Saul's physical attributes,

and they thought, yes, this is the guy we want in the head of us.

But appearances can be deceiving.

Saul looked the part on the outside,

but on the inside, he was not obedient to the Lord.

He didn't care for God's ways.

He didn't care for God's word.

And so God rejected him as king.

And it's with that backdrop that we arrive at chapter 16,

and I'd encourage you to keep that open as we walk through this passage together.

And we are told about God,

and how God, this is the God who sees things differently.

And the first thing that we see in this passage is God's chosen leader,

in verses 1 to 13.

God's chosen leader.

So in verse 1, we see the state that this ordeal has left Samuel in.

He is mourning.

The one he anointed, the one he blessed,

the one he spent so much time with,

has now been rejected.

He is mourning, and chapter 15, verse 35,

tells us that Samuel never went to see Saul again.

That's how painful this ordeal was for him.

And this presumably went on for quite some time,

because God says in verse 1,

how long will you mourn?

Now as I read, as I was reading this verse this week,

I was convicted, and I asked myself,

when was the last time I mourned for someone else's sin?

When was the last time that I mourned,

because someone was wandering away from God,

and away from the gospel?

Does it cut us to the core,

to know that someone is skimming off their work?

Does it hurt us to see people walking away and rejecting God?

Does it hurt us, and does it make us weep,

to know that thousands of people around the world this evening

will die without being made right with God?

It should make us mourn.

And I long that our hearts would mourn like Samuel's.

I long that we would be broken,

because people are not made right with God.

Samuel is mourning.

And he knows that God has rejected Saul,

but God goes on to give Samuel some great news

at the end of verse 1.

God says, I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.

I have chosen one of his sons to be king.

So God speaks into Samuel's grief and mourning,

and he gives him hope.

God has chosen a new king.

Samuel's commanded to go and fill his horn with oil

and go to Bethlehem.

The oil was used to anoint a king,

and so in this first verse,

yes, we see mourning, but we also see hope.

Something new is about to begin.

But it makes sense, doesn't it,

that Samuel's afraid in verse 2?

To anoint a new king whilst the current king is alive and well,

well, that's a bit of a hairy situation.

The equivalent would be Scotland deciding to set up its own king or queen

in the place of Queen Elizabeth.

calling together the government and placing a crown on someone else's head

and obeying only their rule in the land.

Now don't get me wrong,

the consequences today would be far more polite and middle class

than they would be back then.

You'd probably get taken to court or sued or maybe go to prison.

But for Samuel, treason meant death.

His life was on the line.

But God has a plan.

And Samuel will not be in danger

because God tells him to take a cow

and to make a sacrifice.

And this raises a question.

In verses 2 and 3,

is God lying?

Well, the answer is no.

Samuel is going to make a sacrifice

and that happens in verse 5.

God is protecting Samuel

and he was preparing the way for his chosen king

to rule over his chosen people.

And Samuel acts out God's command.

He arrives and says

that Jesse and his son should be at the sacrifice.

And so just picture this scene for a second.

Jesse's sons are all brought before Samuel one by one.

Starting first off with the firstborn Eliab.

He's the oldest, probably the biggest.

And he fits Samuel's ideology

of what a king should look like, doesn't he?

Verse 6.

Samuel saw Eliab and thought,

surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.

Surely it's him.

But do you see the problem?

Samuel's using his eyes.

He's thinking that this new king

will be just as tall, strong and handsome as Saul was.

He's looking for a Saul 2.0.

He's looking for the upgrade.

But Samuel's got it wrong.

See, verse 7 is the key verse in this whole chapter

and it gets to the heart of the problem with our world

and it gets to the heart of the problem

of how to choose a king.

God says in verse 7,

Do not consider his appearance or his height

for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at things like people do.

People look at the outward appearance

but the Lord looks at the heart.

God sees things differently.

People look at the outward appearance

but God looks at the heart.

Now when we read verses about the heart in the Bible

we need to remember a few things.

It isn't referring to the organ that pumps blood

around our veins and around our whole body day and night.

Nor does it only refer to the emotions

like we would say to a loved one,

I love you with all my heart.

But in the Bible the heart refers to a person's emotions,

a person's mind, a person's will,

a person's character and motivation.

The heart in the Bible is all-encompassing.

Now it's easy to do something nice for someone

and to have an almost saintly appearance.

People thank you for your help

and you brush it off with a comment like

I was only serving the Lord.

But inside we long for those compliments, don't we?

We eat them up and they give us the boost that we want.

Or what about the times where we don't get thanked?

Or the times where people don't show appreciation

as we think they should, we get upset.

These are all indications that our motives,

that our heart are in the wrong.

On the outside, yes, we look the part.

We maybe even sound the part,

but on the inside our hearts are just as fallen

and broken as they have always been.

That's what God sees.

God sees the heart.

He sees things differently than we do.

Now this is both a good and a scary thing.

It's good because on the day when we stand before God,

as we all will,

He will judge us based on our response to Him.

And for Christians, we will be judged,

our actions will be weighed.

God will determine the motivations of our heart.

So in this life,

if we are weak and if we're struggling,

if we are mocked and if we are scorned,

if we are shunned and cursed

because we believe in the living God of this world,

take courage because God looks at your heart.

And you are not alone.

He sees it all.

But also be warned.

Because if all we do is look the part,

if we live out a religious life,

if we live a secret life of sin

and we lie to cover our tracks,

if we serve our own fame and glory and not God,

then we need a wake-up call.

Because God doesn't care about our religious trimmings.

He looks at the heart.

So it doesn't matter if you're a CEO or a chimney sweep.

It doesn't matter if you're young and enthusiastic

or if you're older and you're frailer.

God looks at your heart.

And you can have your head bowed

and sound your amends during prayer meetings.

But if your mind is thinking about the apples

that you forgot to put on the shopping list,

well, where's your heart at that moment?

Or maybe that time

that you made it obvious for all to see

just how much you were serving in church.

Or just how much you were giving

during the collection that week.

Or just how many hours you've spent

helping others this month.

Or what about the time you said to that person,

oh, I'm praying for you

just to make them feel better.

Or that time you shared that juicy bit of gossip,

but you wrapped it up nice and neat

in a prayer request.

what is our motivation?

What is in our heart?

Or maybe the time you didn't share the gospel

with somebody because you thought,

no, they're too far gone for God.

God can't touch them.

God looks at the heart

and as much as we try to hide our failings

and our faults,

He sees them all.

If you're here this evening

and you're serving yourself

instead of serving God,

or if you're saying the right things

to please others

as opposed to pleasing God,

if you're here

and you're just going through the motions

of living in a middle-class city

and you're happy

with middle-class religiosity,

please wake up.

because God doesn't care about any of that.

He looks at the heart.

And in verses 8 and 9,

the parade continues.

Seven of Jesse's sons

are brought before Samuel,

each one failing the test

and not being king.

And Samuel asks if anyone's missing

and he's told in verse 11

that there's one son,

but he's out tending the sheep.

Can you imagine the conversation

that they had that morning

in the Jesse household?

Jesse walks in and tells the family

that Samuel's asked specifically

that him and all of his sons

show up to this sacrifice.

But then they think,

well, who's going to look after the sheep?

And everyone turns to little young David,

the youngest brother,

the least of the lot.

Surely no one's going to even notice

if he isn't there.

This is an important day after all

and the normal worries

of sheep and cattle

shouldn't bother us.

Let's leave David behind

to look after the flock.

This sacrifice is far too important for him.

But suddenly this unimportant shepherd boy

becomes the man of the hour.

In verse 12,

David walks in.

He's glowing with health.

He's a handsome young man,

but his features are not

the determining factor

in this decision

as they were in the case of Saul.

God has chosen this boy to be king

and God says to Samuel in verse 12,

rise and anoint him.

This is the one.

This is the indication

that Samuel's been waiting for

and he doesn't waste any time.

God has chosen David to be king,

but do you see how in verse 13

God equips him for the task at hand?

Samuel took the horn of oil

and anointed him

in the presence of his brothers

and from that day on

the Spirit of the Lord

came powerfully upon David.

David was not in this by himself

because from that day

the Spirit of the Lord

was with him.

God has chosen him to rule

and he's equipped him to do so.

Doesn't this make your mind

wander to a greater anointed

and chosen one?

Doesn't David make you think

about Jesus,

how he too had the appearance

of the least important

of the world?

And yet he turned out

to be the chosen one of God.

So think back to the reading

in Matthew's Gospel.

Jesus too was someone

who we would never

have picked to be king.

Born in a little town

into an ordinary family,

the son of a carpenter,

nothing special

in the eyes of the world.

He had no riches,

he had no palace,

he had no throne,

but he is God in the flesh.

Jesus is the real king

of God who came into this world

to reconcile us to God.

To bridge the void

between us and God

that is caused

by his righteous anger

against our sin

and our rebellion.

He paid the price.

He bore the wrath

and now we can stand forgiven

because of him.

Adopted into God's family.

This is a far greater work

than David could ever do.

Jesus is the true king

to whom we owe

all of our praise

and our devotion.

He came into this world

and he proclaimed

that the kingdom of God

is at hand

and that people need to repent

and believe the good news.

And that is the same message

that we proclaim.

But we are not alone.

Jesus has called us

to himself

and he's given us,

given his people,

the Holy Spirit

who lives within us,

who helps us

and who transforms

our hearts

and makes us more

into the likeness of Jesus

every single day.

God sees things differently

than we do.

And I thank God

for that every single day

because if he didn't,

you and I

would still be cut off

from God.

Because we don't deserve

his forgiveness.

And yet God saw fit

to send his son

so that we can be

reconciled to him.

Is this true for you?

Remember that God

looks at the heart

and he knows the truth.

Don't go another day

without being sure

that your heart

is right with God.

The second thing

that we see

in this passage

is the rejected ruler

in verses 14 to 23.

The rejected ruler.

So if the first half

of this chapter

focused on God's

chosen king

and it ended up

with the wonderful news

that the spirit of the Lord

was with him

from that day forward,

the second half

of this chapter

focuses on the rejected king

and we see devastating news

in verse 14.

It says,

Now the spirit of the Lord

had departed from Saul

and an evil spirit

from the Lord

tormented him.

Now I find myself

asking two questions

of this verse.

How

and why?

So how can

the spirit of the Lord

depart from somebody?

Now it's important

to make a distinction here

between the Old Testament

and the New Testament.

In the Old Testament

the spirit of the Lord

came upon people

and they fulfilled

certain tasks.

So you see that

with Saul himself

in chapter 10.

The spirit of the Lord

comes upon him

and he prophesies.

But the way that Saul

has been living

in these previous chapters

indicate that he isn't

really following the Lord.

He doesn't seem

to want to obey God

and so the outward

appearance is great.

I mean he is king

after all.

But on the inside

he's not great.

He's not fine.

He's not walking

with the Lord.

Saul is no longer

divinely empowered

to act as God's

anointed king

over his people.

He has rejected

God's guidance

and words

time and time again.

And now God

has left him

for good.

For us today

the most important

thing to know

is that the Bible

says if we put

our faith in Jesus

then we will have

the Holy Spirit

within us.

In the Bible

people are given

opportunities

and time to repent

before God's judgment

comes.

And that day

will come

when those who are

not in Jesus

will be judged.

But until that day

there is time

to repent.

God does not

cut people off.

He doesn't enjoy

sending people

made in his own

image

into an eternity

without him.

And the second

question that I

was asking

is why would

God send

an evil spirit

to torment

Saul?

And the truth

is that we

haven't been given

much information

by the author

regarding this

spirit so therefore

we don't actually

know much about it.

But what we do

know is that

this evil spirit

whatever that may

have looked like

was sent by God.

It was a form

of God's judgment

on Saul

for his rebellion

and rejection

of God.

But this does

not mean

that God

did something

evil.

Throughout the

Bible

we see God

sometimes

using evil

people to

accomplish his

good and

sovereign will.

For example

the Babylonians

capturing Israel

or the sinful

people who

condemned Jesus

to death

and shouted

crucify him.

Each situation

seems to be

under the control

of the evil

party

and yet we

know that God

was working

out his purposes.

Now if you

have questions

about this

I'd love to

chat with you

afterwards about

it.

We don't know

exactly what

took place

and what all

of this means

but we know

that this evil

spirit was sent

by God as a

result of Saul's

rejection of God.

And for some

of you maybe

this is a new

topic and

you've never

come across it

before or maybe

this is something

that you're

struggling with.

Please come and

speak to me

afterwards and

I'd love to

speak with you

about it.

I'd love to

pray with you

about it.

But what we

need to remember

is that this

passage is not

about us.

And it is not

here to make us

look behind every

bad situation and

see an evil

spirit sent by

God.

But this

passage is

encouraging us

to see that

God sees things

differently than

we do.

So whatever

this spirit was

it was obvious

to those around

Saul when it

tormented him.

So even his

servants knew

what it was and

they knew that

God sent it to

him.

And in verse

15 Saul's

servants say to

him, see an

evil spirit from

God is tormenting

you.

Let our

Lord command

his servants

here to search

for someone who

can play the

liar.

He will play

when the evil

spirit from God

comes on you and

you will feel

better.

Saul agrees to

this and them

to find someone

and a servant

suggests David.

And notice the

attribute that

this servant uses

to describe David

in verse 18.

He is a brave

man and a

warrior.

He speaks well

and is a fine

looking man and

the Lord is

with him.

The Lord is

with him.

Something is

different about

David and

everyone can see

it.

His anointing as

the king had

been done privately

so Saul doesn't

know about it.

But now David

enters the palace

and he's liked

and he's trusted

so much so that

in verse 21 he

has made Saul's

armor bearer.

And whenever

Saul was afflicted

by this spirit

David played his

instrument and

the spirit would

leave him.

The irony is

that Saul was

becoming dependent

on his successor

and he didn't

even know it.

But this favor

would not last

long.

In just a few

chapters we see

Saul wanting to

kill David out

of jealousy and

rage.

But look at

David in this

whole situation.

he's been

anointed king.

He knows what

his job is.

He knows that

the throne is

rightfully his

as God's chosen

king and yet

what does he do?

Well he willingly

and humbly

serves.

He doesn't get

frustrated and

annoyed.

He isn't itching

to sit on the

seat of power.

But the Lord

is with him and

he goes about

his normal life

waiting for God's

time to come

to completion.

David can wait

patiently and

serve because

God is with

him.

Now contrast

that with

Saul who's

been rejected

by God.

He doesn't

care about

anything else

other than

himself in

this passage.

Even when his

servants observe

that this evil

spirit is sent

by God,

we don't see

him arguing,

we don't see

him repenting,

we see him

looking for a

quick fix to

his problem.

Appearances

can be deceiving.

People can

look the part,

they can say

and do the

right things,

but at the

end of the

day God

sees things

differently.

God looks

at the heart.

How is your

heart looking

this evening?

Are you

with God

or are you

against God

because there

is no middle

ground?

If you're

trying to work

your way into

God's good

books by

filling your

time with

church meetings,

by filling

out your

religious CV,

but your

motivation is

not the glory

of God,

then I

encourage you

to think

about that

truth,

that God

looks at

the heart.

Serve him

for who he

is and not

what he

gives,

because God

knows your

motivation.

This passage

is a wake

up call for

us to think

about the

reasons behind

our service

of him.

And it

encourages us

to think about

where we

stand before

God,

because friends,

that is the

most important

thing in the

world.

If our

heart is not

right with

God,

then we are

under his

righteous wrath

God,

and we

deserve it.

But if our

heart has

been made

right with

God through

Jesus,

then we

stand free

and forgiven

because of

him,

and that

is what

God sees.

So just

as we

draw to a

close,

think back

to Susan

Boyle,

how she

stepped onto

that stage

in 2009

as your

average

Scottish

lady.

The judges

saw a

47-year-old

woman and

everyone was

apprehensive

when she

said she

was going

to sing

I Dreamed

Dream.

But looks

can be

deceiving.

Don't judge

a book by

its cover.

And thankfully

we serve a

God who

sees things

differently.

He looks

at the

heart,

he goes

beyond the

skin,

and he

looks at

our

motivations,

our

desires,

our

wills,

and our

characters.

So as

God looks

at your

heart this

evening,

what does

he see?

Will he

find a

heart that

is filled

with

unforgiveness?

A heart

filled with

resentment,

anger,

and pride?

Will he

find a

hardened

heart that

has become

numb to

all of his

promptings?

Or will he

find a

repentant

heart?

Will he

find a

heart that

longs for

God,

and a

heart that

wants to

serve him?

God sees

things

differently.

What does

he see when

he looks at

your heart?

Let's pray

together.

And just

in the

quietness for

a moment,

take the

time to

reflect on

your state

before God,

and how

your heart

is in

relation to

him.

our

loving God

and

heavenly

father,

we come

and we

confess that

without you

we are

broken.

Without you

we are

lost,

and without

you we are

cut off.

But we

thank you so

much that you

looked beyond

our sinful

state,

and you

chose to

send your

son Jesus

Christ to

make us

whole,

to make us

right with

you, and

to make us

your sons

and daughters.

We can

never say

thank you

enough.

And we

thank you in

the name of

your son and

our saviour,

our rock and

our redeemer,

Jesus Christ.

Amen.