1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Oh my wonderful, fellowshipping Friends in Christ, it’s a rainy spring day! But don’t worry, it’s just our Lord Jehovah pouring His blessings on the earth so that it can be fruitful for us, like He had Samuel pour the anointing oil on Bruh David; ‘and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.’ (1 Sam.16:13) Our God sure doesn’t think like us, and Today’s Bit certainly highlights that. When the Lord rejected Saul as king, He called on a dejected, disappointed Samuel. I like how the Lord confronts him: ‘How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. and call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shall anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.’ (1 Sam.16:1-3) Oh Friends, a glorious example of the Lord providing the tools to do His work, making a way, when there seems to be no safe way! The situation seems contradictory though, for Samuel was scared of Saul, but the people of Bethlehem were afraid of Samuel, for when he got there; ‘the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ (1 Sam.16:4-5) So Samuel invited them all, including Jesse and his sons, to sanctify themselves and come to the sacrifice. Then the confusion begins. When Samuel, saw Jesse’s son, Eliab, he said, ‘surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.’ (1 Sam. 16:6) I guess Eliab had the stature; the strapping build, the looks and confidence that men think a king should have. But the Lord wagged His finger and said, no Sam, not that one, while gently scolding him: ‘Look not on his countenance, or the height of his stature; because I have refused him.’ That’s the big difference between God and us, my people; we take pleasure in, and judge by outward show and conformation; but not so our God. As Bruh David was later to write: ‘He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.’ (Ps.147:10-11) As I keep saying Friends; ‘for the Lord seeth not as man seeth.’ And isn’t that the sad truth, which gets us into so much trouble? ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Isa.55:8-9) That’s why He is God and we are mere mortals. ‘For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’ Unfortunately, judging by what we see on the outside, and not the real truth on the inside, can make substantial and significant differences in the outcome of a situation. Bruh Paul questioned the Corinthians. ‘Do ye look on things after the outward appearance?’ (2 Cor.10:7) And Jesus, after He had healed on the Sabbath, and they wanted to kill him, wisely advised: ‘Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement.’ (John 7:24) And that should stick a pin in most of us my people, since that’s our style; we judge by what we see on the outside, what others want us to see. Granted it’s difficult to know people’s real mind set, or what’s truly in their hearts, but that just means we should not be as quick to judge, or accept others, as we tend to do, for usually we never have all the facts, or even the important ones. Our news media is famous for that, and these days they seem to fashion our thinking. But Friends, our thinking should be fashioned by the Good Book, not the unrighteous ways of men. That’s why all of Jesse’s sons, those considered worthwhile by man, passed before Samuel, but the Lord rejected every one. So Samuel had to ask if those were all his children. Jesse replied that the youngest was out in the field keeping the sheep. Yuh see mih people! Nobody even considered Bruh David worthy, because he was young and possibly a day-dreamer and didn’t look like what we would consider king material. But the Lord saw differently, and when Bruh David was brought in to Samuel’s presence, the Good Book declares; ‘Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.’ (1 Sam.16:12) But isn’t that at least partial king material; rosy cheeks, good looking, and he must have been strong and wiry from being out in the wild with the sheep? The important thing here Friends, is that when Bruh David walked in, there was no hesitation on the Lord’s part. He must have smiled at last, stabbed the air with His right hand, and said a glorious, ‘Yes! That’s my man!’ And He immediately instructed Samuel; ‘Arise, anoint him: for this is he.’ (1 Sam.16:12) That’s because people, the Lord saw what no human could see, what was sincerely beating in his heart: A true LOVE for the Lord! As Sol said in his great prayer when he dedicated the temple: ‘Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men.’ (1 Kng.8:39) Oh Friends, having a right heart is possibly the most important part of our walk with Jesus. For if we call ourselves believers and don’t have that, then we’re just a bunch of ole hypocrites, only fooling ourselves and those around us, but certainly not God. And eventually we’ll pay for it. So let’s all look to our hearts and make them right nuh, so when the Lord looks down on us, He’ll unleash a big smile, and won’t hesitate to anoint us. Much LOVE!…oh, a heart that’s right…a heart that’s right…that’s the heralding call of Jesus…
Oh my wonderful, fellowshipping Friends in Christ, it’s a rainy spring day! But don’t worry, it’s just our Lord Jehovah pouring His blessings on the earth so that it can be fruitful for us, like He had Samuel pour the anointing oil on Bruh David; ‘and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.’ (1 Sam.16:13) Our God sure doesn’t think like us, and Today’s Bit certainly highlights that. When the Lord rejected Saul as king, He called on a dejected, disappointed Samuel. I like how the Lord confronts him: ‘How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. and call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shall anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.’ (1 Sam.16:1-3) Oh Friends, a glorious example of the Lord providing the tools to do His work, making a way, when there seems to be no safe way! The situation seems contradictory though, for Samuel was scared of Saul, but the people of Bethlehem were afraid of Samuel, for when he got there; ‘the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ (1 Sam.16:4-5) So Samuel invited them all, including Jesse and his sons, to sanctify themselves and come to the sacrifice. Then the confusion begins. When Samuel, saw Jesse’s son, Eliab, he said, ‘surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.’ (1 Sam. 16:6) I guess Eliab had the stature; the strapping build, the looks and confidence that men think a king should have. But the Lord wagged His finger and said, no Sam, not that one, while gently scolding him: ‘Look not on his countenance, or the height of his stature; because I have refused him.’ That’s the big difference between God and us, my people; we take pleasure in, and judge by outward show and conformation; but not so our God. As Bruh David was later to write: ‘He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.’ (Ps.147:10-11) As I keep saying Friends; ‘for the Lord seeth not as man seeth.’ And isn’t that the sad truth, which gets us into so much trouble? ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Isa.55:8-9) That’s why He is God and we are mere mortals. ‘For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’ Unfortunately, judging by what we see on the outside, and not the real truth on the inside, can make substantial and significant differences in the outcome of a situation. Bruh Paul questioned the Corinthians. ‘Do ye look on things after the outward appearance?’ (2 Cor.10:7) And Jesus, after He had healed on the Sabbath, and they wanted to kill him, wisely advised: ‘Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement.’ (John 7:24) And that should stick a pin in most of us my people, since that’s our style; we judge by what we see on the outside, what others want us to see. Granted it’s difficult to know people’s real mind set, or what’s truly in their hearts, but that just means we should not be as quick to judge, or accept others, as we tend to do, for usually we never have all the facts, or even the important ones. Our news media is famous for that, and these days they seem to fashion our thinking. But Friends, our thinking should be fashioned by the Good Book, not the unrighteous ways of men. That’s why all of Jesse’s sons, those considered worthwhile by man, passed before Samuel, but the Lord rejected every one. So Samuel had to ask if those were all his children. Jesse replied that the youngest was out in the field keeping the sheep. Yuh see mih people! Nobody even considered Bruh David worthy, because he was young and possibly a day-dreamer and didn’t look like what we would consider king material. But the Lord saw differently, and when Bruh David was brought in to Samuel’s presence, the Good Book declares; ‘Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.’ (1 Sam.16:12) But isn’t that at least partial king material; rosy cheeks, good looking, and he must have been strong and wiry from being out in the wild with the sheep? The important thing here Friends, is that when Bruh David walked in, there was no hesitation on the Lord’s part. He must have smiled at last, stabbed the air with His right hand, and said a glorious, ‘Yes! That’s my man!’ And He immediately instructed Samuel; ‘Arise, anoint him: for this is he.’ (1 Sam.16:12) That’s because people, the Lord saw what no human could see, what was sincerely beating in his heart: A true LOVE for the Lord! As Sol said in his great prayer when he dedicated the temple: ‘Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men.’ (1 Kng.8:39) Oh Friends, having a right heart is possibly the most important part of our walk with Jesus. For if we call ourselves believers and don’t have that, then we’re just a bunch of ole hypocrites, only fooling ourselves and those around us, but certainly not God. And eventually we’ll pay for it. So let’s all look to our hearts and make them right nuh, so when the Lord looks down on us, He’ll unleash a big smile, and won’t hesitate to anoint us. Much LOVE!…oh, a heart that’s right…a heart that’s right…that’s the heralding call of Jesus…
SCRIP-BITS 